Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 2 Qualifier – 3.872 seconds at 329.58 mph

“It was a great weekend by the guys. It always hurts a little bit when you get into the final and then you fall a little bit short. But reflecting right now, we didn’t beat ourselves. We gave them a great race and that’s where you’ve just got to go over and shake their hand and tell them, ‘Great race’ because that was a pretty awesome side-by-side run.

“We didn’t want to give it away. We went up there to run a high .80 and we just lost a little bit in the middle of the track and that’s where they got us on speed. So it was another close race. It’s going to come down to the wire.”

Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar_® Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
No. 6 Qualifier – 3.748 seconds at 323.12 mph

“Against Antron, we were facing a three-time world champion. It was a great race for the fans, just not for our Papa John’s team. We made a good run with our 3.709, but his 3.687 was one of the best all day. We lost some points in our chase for the championship, but we still believe it’s possible. When you believe, anything is possible. We know we’ll move up in the standings in these next two races.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 13 Qualifier – 3.991 seconds at 324.51 mph

“We’ve kind of hit a little rough patch here with some of these races in the Countdown. We’ve changed some wholesale pieces coming into this. We’ve got a brand-new car out here that we’ve been ironing out and we’re changing some of our stuff in our bellhousing. So it’s just not really working the way that we hoped or would like to see it work. So when things don’t go the way you want, you go back to what you know, and that’s what we’re going to do on Monday. We’re going to go and get the old car back, set some stuff up and make some laps and try to finish as strong as we can.”

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 3 Qualifier – 3.873 seconds at 332.34 mph

“I’m going to take the silver-lining approach to this. Yeah, it’s crushing to not leave here with the trophy, but we’ve picked up points positions. We could’ve left here having closed the gap on first and second quite a bit. We let those two pull away from us. But our day could’ve ended in the first round. We went up there and smoked the tires in what was one of the oddest first rounds I’ve seen in a long time. Then we could’ve been beat second round, too. So the fact of the matter is we’re going to leave here with 40 points, we’re going to leave here fourth in points, within one round of third. So we checked a bunch of things off our list except getting that darn trophy at Texas. So we’ll just have to settle for one at Vegas and one at Pomona.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 7 Qualifier – 3.930 seconds at 327.59 mph

“It was just a weird first round, a lot of people were having issues and we were going right down there and came loose. I tried to pedal it and it wouldn’t go. I could hear him (John Force) coming. It’s frustrating to lose that close after all the issues. We actually had a better racecar this weekend; we’re just still not on top of it. We’ve got to get better. Going back to Vegas, where we won in the spring, will hopefully bring a little bit of our luck back and we can get back on track.”

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
No. 2 Qualifier – 3.692 seconds at 327.66 mph

 “It’s unfortunate. We’re too good of a team to go out that early. But it goes to show you that you need to bring your A-game each and every run because the guy in the other lane is doing the same, no matter who they are. I pedaled it four times and just could not get it to hook up. The car was just bucking left and right like a bull. It’s kind of a fun ride, but it’s certainly no fun at all to be out in the first round when there is a big chunk of points to be made up. But it goes to show even the best teams out there make mistakes. We’ll stay here and test tomorrow and figure this thing out. There are two more races to win before we’re ready to call it a season.”

Up Next: NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas
On October 26-29, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series makes its second trip of 2017 to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the fall edition of the NHRA Nationals. Last year, Mopar Funny Car driver Jack Beckman qualified No. 1 with a 3.871-second pass. Beckman’s teammate Ron Capps has five wins at the track, Mopar driver Tommy Johnson Jr. has visited the winner’s circle twice in Vegas (including this spring) and Beckman has claimed one victory there. Mopar-powered Tony Schumacher has won at the track on eight occasions in Top Fuel.

At noon local time on Saturday, October 28, Mopar drivers will participate in an autograph session at the Mopar display trailer with special guest Roland Leong. For many years Leong campaigned “Hawaiian” Mopar-powered Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars.

The NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be shown throughout the weekend on FOX Sports 1. Elimination rounds will be broadcast LIVE on the network at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 29.

For more information on Mopar and Dodge in NHRA, check out the Mopar brand’s official blog, http://blog.mopar.com.

2017 NHRA Championship – Point Standings After Round 22 of 24
(Season Wins in Parentheses)

NHRA Funny Car
1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R/T (8) – 2,495
2. Robert Hight (4) – 2,471
3. Courtney Force – 2,324
4. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R/T (2) – 2,309
5. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger R/T (3) – 2,269
6. John Force (1) – 2,252
7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R/T (1) – 2,224
8. Tim Wilkerson – 2,206
9. J.R. Todd (2) – 2,199
10. Cruz Pedregon – 2,128

 

NHRA Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence (8) – 2,465
2. Brittany Force (3) – 2,408
3. Doug Kalitta (1) – 2,389
4. Antron Brown (4) – 2,360
5. Leah Pritchett, Mopar HEMI^® (4) – 2,285
6. Tony Schumacher, Mopar HEMI (1) – 2,273
7. Clay Millican (1) – 2,268
8. Shawn Langdon – 2,193
9. Terry McMillen – 2,147
10. Scott Palmer – 2,137