Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals
Event 16 of 24 (Seattle)
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
Aug. 2-4, 2019
DSR Seattle Elimination Highlights:
- Ron Capps raced to his third final round appearance of the 2019 season; it was the fifth consecutive event where DSR has placed a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car in the finals
- Capps’ run to the final advanced him to fourth in points and allowed him to clinch a berth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship
- Jack Beckman’s semifinal finish also helped him secure a berth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship; Beckman is currently ranked fifth
- Countdown contender (Sonoma clinch) Tommy Johnson Jr. leads the DSR Funny Car brigade and leaves Seattle ranked third in the championship standings
- Antron Brown closes out the Western Swing by moving into second in the Top Fuel standings
(EXCERPT)
Driver Information:
Funny Car:
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 9 (3.919 E.T. at 327.19 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 5.182 E.T. at 141.86 MPH defeated by Jack Beckman 3.937 E.T. at 327.59 MPH
Race Recap:
After opening the Western Swing with a triumph at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Tommy Johnson Jr. was hoping to bookend The Swing with another win on Sunday at Pacific Raceways. Behind the wheel of the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, Johnson made his best lap of the weekend to close Saturday and set up his seventh 2019 matchup with teammate and fellow Hellcat Funny Car driver, Jack Beckman. Johnson defeated “Fast Jack” in the second round in Denver and was looking to make it two straight. He had a slight advantage at the start, but that lead was short-lived when his machine went up into tire-smoke just after 200 feet. Johnson, who clinched his spot in the Countdown last weekend in Sonoma, is ranked second in the standings with two races remaining before the points are reset for the six-race championship battle.
Quotable:
“Our qualifying position bit us more than anything. It hurt not having lane choice in the first round. The track became a one-lane-track pretty fast during that first round and not having lane choice was definitely a disadvantage. We’ll go home and put a new front-half on this car and go into Brainerd with a fresh car, and get our consistency back, and get back on a high note. I’d grade the swing a B for us, overall, with a win and a semifinal finish. You never like a first-round loss, and if we could have gone some rounds today, it would have been an A.”
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence – 1587*
2. Antron Brown – 966
3. Clay Millican – 955
4. Brittany Force – 953
5. Doug Kalitta – 940
6. Mike Salinas – 883
7. Leah Pritchett – 786
8t. Richie Crampton – 753
8t. Austin Prock – 753
10. Terry McMillen- 676
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight – 1341*
2. John Force – 1155*
3. Tommy Johnson Jr – 1117*
4. Ron Capps – 1057*
5. Jack Beckman – 1039*
6. Bob Tasca III – 985*
7. Matt Hagan – 965
8. J.R. Todd – 949
9. Shawn Langdon – 840
10. Tim Wilkerson – 792
*Clinched berth in NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship
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.