NHRA Winternationals
Event 1 of 24 (Pomona I)
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, Calif.
February 7-9, 2020
Highlights:
- 2019 Mello Yello Series Funny Car runner-up Jack Beckman, and third-place finisher Matt Hagan look to pick-up where they left off by building upon their late-season momentum at the
- 2020 season-opener
Beckman returns to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona as the most recent Funny Car winner after having won the 2019 season-closer. He also posted a runner-up finish at the 2019 NHRA Winternationals - Antron Brown earned his first No. 1 qualifier in the Top Fuel category at the 2008 Pomona I event
- Beckman, Ron Capps, and Leah Pruett consider Pomona to be a hometown track.
- Beckman resides in Norco; Capps resides in Carlsbad; Pruett grew up in nearby Redlands
- Team patriarch Don Schumacher won the 1973 event in the Funny Car category
- All current DSR drivers have been victorious at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona at least once
DSR-Owned Track Records:
Funny Car, E.T.: 3.822 seconds, Matt Hagan (Pomona I 2017)
DSR Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Pomona I Event Highlights:
2005 event champion
2001 No. 1 qualifier
2019 Pomona I Recap:
Qualified third; Semifinal finish (defeated Tim Wilkerson in E1, Shawn Langdon in E2; defeated by Jack Beckman in E3)
Last Event (Pomona II 2019):
Qualified seventh; First round exit (defeated by J.R. Todd in E1)
Career Statistics:
470 races; 19 wins (two Top Fuel); 18 No. 1 qualifiers (one Top Fuel)
Quotable:
“I’m super excited to kick off the 2020 season. We had a great test session in Las Vegas. The car performed really well, and that always gets the whole team excited heading into the year.
“There’s always something special about the season-opener in Pomona. We’ll get to ‘officially’ debut our new look with the MD Anderson Cancer Center livery. We’re proud to be able to represent (team sponsor) Doug Chandler and the new, well-deserving charity that he chose. We’d love nothing more than to start the season off with a win for Doug and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and get things rolling on the right foot right out of the box.”
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Established in 1998 as a single-car Top Fuel team, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has grown to become the winningest organization in NHRA Drag Racing history. Including team owner Don Schumacher’s five NHRA Funny Car titles from the 1970s, DSR’s current win count stands at 345 entering the 2020 season, and DSR is looking forward to reaching the ‘350 milestone’ early in the year. DSR owns 17 world championships in three different NHRA categories.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR currently fields six professional teams competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In Top Fuel, the Matco Tools/Global Electronic Technology/Toyota dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, and the Mopar/Pennzoil/Okuma dragster driven by Leah Pruett. 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 two-time series title-holder Matt Hagan, and in 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 MD Anderson Dodge.
DSR also campaigns two Factory Stock Showdown entries. The duo is piloted by Pruett, the 2018