Solid weekend at Seattle has Hagan, Mopar Dodge prepared for race to Countdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hagan advances to 10th semifinals round, but battle is on to maintain No. 2 spot in standings with Mopar Dodge Charger R/T SEATTLE (Aug. 6, 2017) - Matt Hagan has spent most of this year looking up to Don Schumacher Racing teammate and NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Ron Capps atop the standings, but now he has to look over his shoulder. Hagan and the 80th Anniversary Mopar/Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T team led the standings for the first five events of the season but Capps has led every week since. With Capps holding a 158-lead over Hagan after Sunday's NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Seattle where Hagan advanced to the semifinals, he is now only eight points ahead of John Force Racing's Robert Hight, who has won two of the last three events including the NHRA Northwest Nationals on Sunday near Seattle. And only two events are left before points are reset for the 10 drivers who qualify for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins at Charlotte after the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend. "It's a strong way to finish the (Western) Swing," Hagan said of qualifying No. 2 and advancing to the semifinals for the 10th time in 16 events. He opened with a win over veteran Gary Densham and used a quicker reaction to beat a quicker Alexis DeJoria before losing a close race to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. "We had good drag races today against Densham and ran good against TJ (Tommy Johnson Jr. in the semifinals). I feel good rolling into Brainerd. I think that we've got kind of some momentum back a little. Hopefully Brainerd will be cool and fast and you never know what will happen there. Our Dodge is running good, it's been down the racetrack every time this weekend. It's been a real productive weekend." "We've got Brainerd and Indy, and then the Countdown. Having some momentum is huge. "The biggest thing is we need to put this Mopar Funny Car in the winner's circle. The car's running good. We're always consistent and right there in the hunt. We can be where we need to be at the end of the year." The following are Sunday's eliminations results from Seattle and current Mello Yello standings: FUNNY CARS Event winner: Robert Hight (John Force Racing) No. 1 qualifier: Hight, 3.8383 sec., 329.34 mph MATT HAGAN, 80th Anniversary Mopar/Express Lane 2017 Dodge Charger R/T Crew chief: Dickie Venables; Assistant: Michael Knudsen SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS First round: HAGAN (3.920 sec., 330.47) def. Gary Densham (3.965, 319.37) Second round: HAGAN (3.958, 326.71) def. Alexis DeJoria (3.956, 324.12) Semifinals: Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.935, 319.67) def. HAGAN (3.955, 326.08) QUALIFYING RESULTS Qualified: No. 2 FRIDAY: 4.059 sec., 314.97 mph, (first session); 3.999, 322.19, (second session) SATURDAY: 3.930, 328.54, (third session); 3.950, 327.90, (fourth session) SEATTLE BY THE NUMBERS Last event (July 30), Sonoma, Calif.: Qualified No. 6, lost in first round to Del Worsham A year ago at Seattle: Qualified No. 5, lost in semifinals to Del Worsham Career at Seattle: Wins 1 (2013); Runner-ups 1 (2012); Poles 0 2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS (Official after Seattle; 16 of 24 events: wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS) 1. RON CAPPS (6) 1,330 ----- 2. MATT HAGAN (3) 1,172 -158 3. Robert Hight (2) 1,164 -166 4. JACK BECKMAN (2) 1,104 -226 5. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 1,081 -249 6. Courtney Force 951 -249 7. John Force (1) 877 -453 8. Tim Wilkerson 759 -571 9. J.R. Todd (1) 756 -574 10. Cruz Pedregon 601 -729 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the Mopar Brand Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product but truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, Mopar is FCA's service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 130 markets, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for FCA vehicles - a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com. About Don Schumacher Racing Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields seven 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, 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge driven by 2016 Funny Car champion Ron Capps and Chandler's Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. DSR has won 313 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=5uv7snbab&m=1101041391262&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1128551339926 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by vaughnl@shoeracing.com. Update Profile/Email Address https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=0017P0pCepJ2GP2dMQV03_KHA%3D%3D&ch=215770c0-32a8-11e3-b4ae-d4ae527548e1&ca=0f64a8d3-f33a-4d71-bb52-3018afaa75b7 Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM) https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=0017P0pCepJ2GP2dMQV03_KHA%3D%3D&ch=215770c0-32a8-11e3-b4ae-d4ae527548e1&ca=0f64a8d3-f33a-4d71-bb52-3018afaa75b7 Privacy Policy: http://www.constantcontact.com/legal/service-provider?cc=about-service-provider Online Marketing by Constant Contact(R) www.constantcontact.com Don Schumacher Racing | 1681 E. Northfield Drive | Suite A | Brownsburg | IN | Contact Information