Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar® Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
No. 1 Qualifier – 3.733 seconds at 326.24 mph
“We were bleeding (Mopar®) blue all weekend long, like we normally do. The passion of the fans here on the mountain doesn’t get any higher. I think they were a driving force in our success this weekend and keeping us going throughout some of our woes. I can’t tell you any other race that I’ve ever wanted to win so much for a partner. Home turf, top of the mountain in the final round, giving it all we’ve got. It just stinks a little bit. I think I could have done a little better. The best way that (crew chief) Todd (Okuhara) put it was the car just doesn’t like to react like it normally would when you’re up on the mountain. It doesn’t listen. It’s a bad listener up here. It listened really well on Friday and really well on Saturday night. Today, it listened okay, kind of like a toddler.
“We’re incredibly proud to represent Mopar and wish we could have won today.”
Matt Hagan, Mopar 80th/Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 15 Qualifier – 4.942 seconds at 160.10 mph
“We built a new car and blew both bodies off, so a tough weekend up on the Hill. We’ll roll back down to sea level in Sonoma next weekend and get back out there. Obviously, we wanted to do better here for our sponsors. We tend to struggle up here, but everybody does, so it’s the same for everybody. I don’t know, maybe we’ll test up here next year and see if we can have a little better outcome and result.”
Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 12 Qualifier – 4.058 seconds at 304.87 mph
“I really like the way the car has been performing, especially on race day and going rounds. You know you have to peak at the right time with the Countdown coming. This always seems to be when we turn the corner and start making a move. We want to get some wins, but I’m not unhappy with the way we’ve been going a lot of rounds lately.”
Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 6 Qualifier – 3.978 seconds at 316.97 mph
“We had to scramble to change engines before the second round, we had an issue where we didn’t even get to warm (the car) up on nitro, so we got behind the eight-ball and that really affected the performance of the car. And it’s really unfortunate because I think we had a car that could’ve won.”
Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
No. 5 Qualifier – 3.965 seconds at 313.73 mph
“It’s tough to lose that way (on a holeshot). We had a great car, and you win by the sword and you lose by the sword. Today, I lost by the sword. So, we’re going to go on to Sonoma still with the points lead and are just having a great season. I’m so proud of our guys and the hard work they do.”
Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
No. 4 Qualifier – 3.776 seconds at 326.63 mph
“That was a great race right there. We were separated by seven-thousandths of a second. Those are the runs you just keep your chin up. What are you going to do? I couldn’t have found any bit more out of me and the car was just on a rail. It was a good race. It is what it is. The guys did an excellent job getting this backup car ready, working late into the night last night.”
Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar) FCA – Global
“Sportsman racing is the backbone of the NHRA, so it’s very special when a Mopar-powered driver takes home a trophy. Congratulations to Kevin Helms on the Stock Eliminator win in his 2013 Dodge Challenger during this weekend’s Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.”
Next Event
The Western Swing of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series rolls on next week with the 30th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California. Last year, Mopar Funny Car driver Ron Capps went to the final round in wine country. Capps has claimed four wins in the event over his career, while Mopar teammate Jack Beckman has one win to his credit. Mopar’s Matt Hagan holds the speed record for Funny Car with a pass at 330.15 mph in July of 2015.
Mopar-powered Tony Schumacher has won at the track twice in the Top Fuel category.
The 30th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals are scheduled for July 28-30. FOX Sports 1 will provide television coverage throughout the weekend, with the elimination rounds airing LIVE on the network at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 30.
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 14 of 24
(Season Wins in Parentheses)
NHRA Funny Car
- Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R/T (6) – 1,244
- Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger R/T (3) – 1,058
- Robert Hight (1) – 973
- Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R/T (2) – 970
- Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R/T (1) – 925
- Courtney Force – 793
- John Force (1) – 757
- Tim Wilkerson – 634
- J.R. Todd – 612
- Cruz Pedregon – 538
NHRA Top Fuel
- Steve Torrence (5) – 1,253
- Antron Brown (3) – 1,199
- Leah Pritchett, Mopar HEMI® (3) – 1,183
- Tony Schumacher, Mopar HEMI (1) – 974
- Doug Kalitta – 873
- Brittany Force (1) – 871
- Clay Millican (1) – 826
- Terry McMillen – 541
- Scott Palmer – 528
- Troy Coughlin Jr. – 496