Auto Club NHRA Finals
Event 24 of 24 (Pomona II)
Countdown Event 6 of 6
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
November 15-17, 2019
DSR Pomona II Elimination Highlights:
- Funny Car pilot Jack Beckman closes out the season with a win at the Auto Club NHRA Finals
- Beckman’s victory was his 30th overall, second of the season, and first at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
- Beckman closed out 2019 second in the standings and with the opportunity to choose a Dodge SRT high-performance vehicle to drive for a year
- Matt Hagan advanced to the semifinal round and finished the season ranked third in the Funny Car standings
- Leah Pritchett raced to a semifinal finish and improved one spot up to fourth behind the wheel of her MOPAR-powered Top Fuel dragster
- With Beckman’s win at the season-closer, all current DSR nitro drivers have been victorious at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
- Beckman Closes 2019 with Funny Car Victory
(EXCERPT)
Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 7 (3.918 E.T. at 323.97 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 4.101 E.T. at 258.02 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.974 E.T. at 323.19 MPH
Race Recap:
After posting his best regular-season results, Tommy Johnson, Jr. was confident in his team’s 2019 championship chances driving the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. Unfortunately for Johnson, the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs didn’t play out the way he had hoped. After qualifying No. 7, Johnson’s season ended with a first-round loss to J.R. Todd at the 55th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, snapping four consecutive final appearances in the season-ending event.
Johnson finished the year ranked eighth. 2019 marked his 30th season behind the wheel of a nitro-burning machine, and it was chocked full of highlights, including capturing two event wins in four final rounds. He reached his 50th final round while competing in Joliet, Ill., and the Las Vegas Four-Wide race marked his 450th professional event.
Quotable:
“Our race day wasn’t good, obviously. Just not the way we wanted to finish, especially having so much success here every year. I felt pretty confident coming in. The track today was just incredibly tricky. You try to make all the right calls. We were good until we hit the bump out there. We hit the bump, and it came loose. We have a tremendous team and had a great season. Unfortunately, we just had a horrible Countdown. It’s tough when your season is based on the last six races. The guys did a great job all year, and we just stumbled when it came time to run for a championship. Our two wins and four final rounds still show we have a really good team. We’ll regroup and have a nice off-season and come back strong for next year.”
2019 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Final Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence – 2607
2. Doug Kalitta – 2604
3. Brittany Force – 2555
4. Leah Pritchett – 2474
5. Billy Torrence – 2458
6. Richie Crampton – 2399
7. Mike Salinas – 2381
8. Austin Prock – 2379
9. Antron Brown – 2329
10. Clay Millican – 2300
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight – 2637
2. Jack Beckman – 2629
3. Matt Hagan – 2563
4. John Force – 2471
5. Bob Tasca III – 2446
6. Ron Capps – 2414
7. J.R. Todd – 2391
8. Tommy Johnson Jr – 2360
9. Shawn Langdon – 2358
10. Tim Wilkerson – 2283
About Don Schumacher Racing:
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) is the winningest team in NHRA Drag Racing history, having claimed more than 335 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.