ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 10, 2017) – Hot racetracks usually result in unhappy Funny Cars but Terry Chandler’s Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. seemed to have no issues on the warm Old Bridge Township Raceway Park racetrack on Saturday.
“We’ve always seemed to excel in the heat,” Johnson said. “It’s starting to show that now with some of the conditions we’ve seen this weekend.”
Temperatures rose to the mid-80s at Englishtown on Saturday making the racetrack hot and sticky, and it is forecast to get even hotter on Sunday in the final day of the 48th annual NHRA Summernationals.
During the final qualifying session, Johnson cruised to a 3.954-second pass at 322.96 mph for third quickest of the session.
“It’s been the hottest we’ve seen all year. Tomorrow will be even hotter than today. So, to go out and run a .95 with only a couple thousandths off low of the round and getting a bonus point, that shows that we’re going in the right direction. We’re pleased with how the car ran today – especially with the weather that’s coming tomorrow.”
Johnson will enter race day on Sunday as the No. 7 qualifier with a time of 3.945 (326.71) that he ran during Friday’s cooler second session.
The Make-A-Wish team will race No. 10 qualifier Bob Tasca in round one.
DSR FUNNY CARS
No. 1 qualifier: Courtney Force (John Force Racing), 3.862 sec.-track record, 331.12 mph
TOMMY JOHNSON JR., Terry Chandler’s Make-A-Wish 2017 Dodge Charger R/T
Crew chief: John Collins; Assistant: Rip Reynolds
Qualified: No, 7
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: Bob Tasca III
QUALIFYING RESULTS
FRIDAY: 4.312 sec., 217.60 mph, (Session 1); 3.945, 326.71, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 4.034, 316.67, (Session 3); 3.954, 322.96, (Session 4)
Best Time, Speed: 3.837 sec. (Phoenix 2017); 330.80 mph (Seattle, 2016)
Last event (June 2-4, Epping, NH): Qualified No. 9, lost in semifinals to Matt Hagan
A year ago at Englishtown: Qualified No. 5, lost in second round to Del Worsham
Career at Englishtown: Wins 1 (2007), Runner-ups 0, Poles 1 (2007)
ABOUT MAKE-A-WISH
Make-A-Wish® grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true can have positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illnesses, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Based in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 27,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 37 minutes. It has granted more than 254,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; more than 14,200 in 2014 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at wish.org to learn more.
About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields eight professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown and the Papa John’s Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett; and in Funny Car, 2016 world champion Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T; 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.
DSR has won 307 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368|
Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988