DSR Phoenix Pre-Race Report

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Phoenix Pre-Race Report
NHRA Arizona Nationals
Event 2 of 24 (Phoenix)
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
Phoenix, Ariz.
Feb. 23-25, 2018

 

Noteworthy:

  • DSR doubled-up at the 2017 Phoenix race (Leah Pritchett-Top Fuel event champion/Matt Hagan-Funny Car event champion)
  • Leah Pritchett is looking for her third consecutive Phoenix event win in 2018
  • Matt Hagan enters the 2018 event as the most recent Funny Car winner, having won the 2018 NHRA season-opener, and the defending event champion
  • Leah Pritchett became the unofficial fastest Top Fuel pilot in NHRA history during the 2018 Phoenix pre-season test session (334.73-mph)
  • 2017 Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier: Leah Pritchett
  • 2017 Funny Car No. 1 qualifier: Tommy Johnson Jr.
  • All DSR Funny Car final in 2017 (Matt Hagan vs. Ron Capps)
  • All current DSR drivers have been to the Phoenix winner’s circle at least once
  • Tony Schumacher leads the Top Fuel class in number of wins at Phoenix (five): 2000, 2002, 2005, 2013, 2015
  • Tony Schumacher leads the class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (five) at Phoenix: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2015
  • Leah Pritchett won her first Top Fuel title at the 2016 Phoenix event

DSR-Owned Track Records:
Top Fuel, E.T.: 3.658-secs, Leah Pritchett (2017)
Funny Car, E.T.: 3.837-secs, Tommy Johnson Jr. (2017)
Funny Car, speed: 333.58-mph, Ron Capps (2017)

Funny Car
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation
Dodge Charger R/T

NHRA Arizona Nationals Event Highlights:
2017 Funny Car No. 1 qualifier
Reset the track Funny Car E.T. record in 2017:
E.T.: 3.837-secs
Career-best
2006 Funny Car event winner

2017 Phoenix Recap:
Qualified No. 1; Defeated Phil Burkhart in E1, Robert Hight in E2; defeated by Matt Hagan in E3)

Last event (Pomona I):
Qualified ninth; First round exit (defeated by Cruz Pedregon in E1)

2018 Season Statistics:
Ranked 10th in points (three-way tie)

Career Statistics:
423 races; 17 wins (two Top Fuel); 15 No. 1 qualifiers (one Top Fuel)

Noteworthy:
Made his NHRA debut at the 1989 Phoenix event

Quotable:
“Looking forward to getting back to Phoenix. We qualified No. 1 there last year and ran really well.

“We made some really good test runs during the Phoenix pre-season test session; we just stumbled at Pomona. We’re looking forward to getting back on track this weekend. Pomona wasn’t how we wanted to do it, so we’ll see if we can’t build off of what we did in Phoenix during testing.”

About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields seven professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown and the Mopar/Papa John’s Pizza/Pennzoil/FireAde/U.S. Army dragster driven by Leah Pritchett; and in Funny Car, 2016 world champion Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T; two-time world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger/Sandvik Coromant R/T, and 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in Terry and Doug Chandler’s Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge and the Chandlers’ Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.

DSR has won 319 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.