Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals
Event 2 of 24 (Phoenix)
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
Chandler, Arizona
February 22-24, 2019
DSR Phoenix Elimination Highlights:
- Matt Hagan raced to victory for the 30th time in his Funny Car career and third time at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
- Hagan’s Arizona Nationals triumph secured Funny Car win No. 150 for DSR
- Hagan became the first MOPAR-powered driver to park the new Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat body in the winner’s circle
- By winning the Phoenix race, Hagan advanced to second in the Funny Car point standings
- Leah Pritchett advanced to the Top Fuel final round and propelled to third in the Top Fuel rankings
- Pritchett’s final round appearance was her third Phoenix final in four years
Driver Information:
Funny Car
(EXCERPT)
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 4 (3.911 E.T. at 326.95 MPH)
The Results:
E1: No Time defeated Jim Campbell, Foul (centerline infraction)
E2: 5.048 E.T. at 134.74 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.967 E.T. at 323.27 MPH
Race Recap:
Tommy Johnson Jr. celebrated the 30th anniversary of his nitro racing debut this weekend in Phoenix at Wild Horse Motorsports Park. The 2006 NHRA Arizona Nationals Funny Car winner qualified the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car fourth and was part of a wild first-round matchup versus Jim Campbell.
Johnson had the advantage on the starting line but suffered a chain reaction of mechanical issues just past the 330-mark, which resulted in an explosion. While Johnson controlled his machine and brought it safely to a stop, Campbell drove away and looked to be on his way to victory. Before reaching the finish line, Campbell crossed the centerline and made contact with the timing block which resulted in a disqualification.
With extensive damage to Johnson’s Funny Car, the Make-A-Wish team worked feverishly to get him back to the lanes for his second-round matchup with reigning Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd. Johnson and Todd launched together, but Johnson’s machine dropped a cylinder early into the run and gave way to another big boomer while Todd drove away with the clean round win.
Quotable:
“Today was a rough day. We had two separate totally different problems, and they happened on the same day, back-to-back. It’s awful rough. I felt we had a pretty good car going into race day, and actually first round it was running well before the axle broke on us. That just shows you what kind of team we have – the fact we came back from that and made it back up in time for second round. It’s a shame we had to have an issue again second round, it was totally unrelated. We’ll go back to shop, take the two weeks before Gainesville to regroup and come back swinging.”
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Billy Torrence – 178
2. Doug Kalitta – 172
3. Leah Pritchett – 145
4. Steve Torrence – 137
5. Terry McMillen – 132
6. Mike Salinas – 122
7. Antron Brown – 115
8. Austin Prock – 106
9. Jordan Vandergriff – 77
10. Richie Crampton – 66
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight – 205
2. Matt Hagan – 160
3. Jack Beckman – 151
4. Tommy Johnson Jr. – 132
5. Bob Tasca III – 129
6. John Force – 126
6. J.R. Todd – 126
8. Shawn Langdon – 111
9. Ron Capps – 89
10. Cruz Pedregon – 86
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) is the winningest team in NHRA Drag Racing history, having claimed more than 325 NHRA national event titles and 17 world championships since opening its doors in 1998.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR fields seven professional teams competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series. In Top Fuel, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, the MOPAR/Pennzoil/Sparkling Ice dragster driven by Leah Pritchett and eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher’s machine. In Funny Car, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driven by 2016 world champion Ron Capps, the Mopar Express Lane/Pennzoil/Sandvik Coromant Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat piloted by Matt Hagan, and in Terry and Doug Chandler’s ‘giving cars,’ 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, and Tommy Johnson Jr. behind the wheel of the Make-A-Wish Dodge.
DSR also campaigns two Factory Stock Showdown entries. The duo is piloted by Pritchett, the 2018 Factory Stock Showdown Series champion, and former Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at Shoeracing.com, on Twitter and Instagram at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.