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DSR Regroups and Heads to Sonoma

Beckman, Valvoline team falter on the mountain near Denver, must regroup at Sonoma to reclaim spot in NHRA top-10

DSRBROWNSBURG, IN Jack Beckman has raced eight times at the track second closest to his home in Southern California and if ever there were magic in California air the 2012 NHRA Funny Car world champion needs it now.

Jack and his Valvoline SynPower Dodge Charger R/T team seemed ready to climb higher than 10th in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series standings on Sunday at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, but a quarterfinal loss to Tim Wilkerson enabled the driver known as “Wilk” to move around Beckman for the No. 10 spot in the standings.


Holding no worse than the No. 10 spot in the standings will be critical after the next four events are completed when NHRA determines the 10 teams to compete for the world championship in the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff.

Jack and the Valvoline team led by crew chief Rob Flynn and assistant Chris Cunningham only trail Wilkerson by three points and are 73 points out of eighth. Each win in eliminations on Sunday pays 20 points.

“In a word, it’s just been frustrating,” Jack said of the points battle. “I would’ve bet we would be battling for fifth not tenth. I’m very optimistic that our car will make the Countdown. I just didn’t think we’d be doing it in such dramatic fashion.”

The Mello Yello Series shifts to Sonoma Raceway where Jack has not visited the winner’s circle but won the pole and was runner-up in 2010.

“Sonoma has been an everything track to me,” he said. “I’ve won a Wally (trophy) in sportsman and have raced there a dozen times in the sportsman category. I’ve run in the 3-second range there in a Funny Car and have been the No. 1 qualifier.

“I’ve pretty much done everything there but win in a Funny Car and I’d like to change that this weekend.”

Antron knocks off leader near Denver to narrow gap heading to Sonoma stop this weekend on Mello Yello
‘Western Swing

Antron Brown won the most important race he and his Matco Tools Top Fuel team faced on Sunday in the mile-high altitude of Bandimere Speedway near Denver.

He was paired with points-leader Doug Kalitta in the opening round and Antron’s quicker reaction time at the starting line enabled his Don Schumacher Racing dragster to overcome Kalitta’s quicker elapsed time.

The hole-shot win by Antron, the 15th such win in his Top Fuel career, allowed the Matco team to get within 25 points of Kalitta but a loss in the second round prevented them from cutting deeper into Kalitta’s lead. Each round-win in eliminations is worth 20 points so Brown could have taken the points lead had he advanced to the championship round.

“Gaining those 20 points was big,” said Antron, who last led the points chase after the sixth event of the year near Houston. “Yeah, it would have been nice to get the lead back but Mark and Brian have a plan and we’re on course to get there.”

Four Mello Yello events remain before NHRA resets the points for the top-10 in the six-race Countdown for the Championship playoff.

That’s the big picture, but Antron and the Matco Tools team focus only on the next race down the track. And that will be Friday when qualifying begins for the Sonoma NHRA Nationals north of San Francisco and they go for their category-best sixth title of the season in 15 events.

“We ran strong on the mountain (at Bandimere) and that’s the toughest race of the year for our boys,” he said. “It’s the only time all year we race in mile-high altitude; that was tough our Matco dragster and our guys. It was hot too.”

The Mello Yello series returns to sea level this weekend at Sonoma, which is the second stop of three races in three weeks on the “Western Swing,” which Antron swept in 2009 with wins at Denver, Sonoma and the finale near Seattle.

Antron has won three titles at Sonoma in five championship round appearances.

NAPA’s Capps enjoying family time before racing begins near Sonoma

Ron Capps is 49 but doesn’t look his age and he certainly doesn’t feel it.

The driver of Don Schumacher Racing’s NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car only feel his age when he looks at his daughter, Taylor, and son, Caden.

“My daughter will be 18 on Friday. Part of being in our sport is things happen fast and she’s growing up too quick for me,” Ron said. “I’m able to spend time with her and that’s great about Sonoma. Having my son Caden there, hanging out with the crew guys and my whole family.

“This is the closest race to where I grew up in San Luis Obispo, and we’ve been camping out just south of Sonoma. It’s been real fun with the family. It’s been real fun getting to spend some time with the kids.”

There are at least four more reasons why he enjoys racing at Sonoma. He has won four event titles at Sonoma Raceway – including last year and three of the past five – and been runner-up twice.

Ron and his team led by crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant Eric Lane advanced to the semifinals on Sunday near Denver and will arrive at Sonoma ranked third in points with their sights set on second-place driver John Force.

“It’s a home track for me, but it is a huge event for NAPA and there is a lot of stuff going on. The best part of the whole weekend is Thursday night at the Eric Medlen dinner, that’s always something special for everyone so we look forward to that.”

There are only four races left before the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car points are reset for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs, and a strong finish to the Western Swing could help vault the NAPA team to second place in the standings.

Capps, Tobler and Co. hope another solid weekend of Sonoma home cooking can help vault them closer to the top.

Massey has confidence as Battery Extender team seeks round wins, search for momentum at this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Spencer Massey has seen the win light shine bright 179 times in his 109-event NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel career.

But the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher team has struggled lately and Spencer wants nothing more than to see some lights on Sunday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.

For the past three NHRA events (Chicago, Norwalk and Denver), the team led by crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara, hasn’t advanced past the first round during championship eliminations.

“It’s unusual for us to be in a streak like this,” Spencer said. “But I’m not that concerned. Our car is running fine, we’ve just ran into little problems and a bit of bad luck here and there.

“I have all the confidence in the world in Phil, Todd and these Battery Extender guys. We’ve won two races already this year and I feel like the next one is going to happen before this Western Swing is over.”

The annual “Western Swing” began last week near Denver and the series races in Sonoma, Calif., this weekend before its final stop near Seattle on Aug. 1-3.

The Battery Extender team was runner-up to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown at Sonoma in 2012 and the team has never won at Pacific Raceways near Seattle.

Only four races remain until the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel points standings are reset for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins after the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis. The Battery Extender team sits sixth in points after Denver but is less than one round behind DSR teammate Tony Schumacher in fourth.

“Fourth through seventh in points is kind of bunched up so if we could have a couple good races and get in that top-5 I feel like that’s where we need to be when they reset the points after Indy.

“We need to get some momentum going heading into the Countdown for sure. I’ll take a mid-season slump over an end of the season slump. We want to win rounds, win races and that’s how you put yourself in position at the end of the year for the championship.”

Hagan seeks first NHRA Sonoma Nationals event title with Mopar Express Lane team during part two of Western Swing

– After the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series visited arguably its toughest facility on the 24-event tour last week near Denver, things will get back to normal this weekend at the 27th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif.

From Bandimere Speedway that’s situated roughly 5,860 feet above sea-level to Northern California’s Sonoma Raceway that’s just 15 feet above sea level, the cars and stars of the NHRA will return to standard racing conditions.

And that makes the driver of the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T quite happy.

“Man, that mountain was tough,” Matt said. “Tough on everybody. The cars, the crew chiefs, the guys that work on these things and even the drivers. The cars need oxygen to run and there just wasn’t much of it up on that mountain and it affected everybody. I can’t wait to get on track at Sonoma.”

Last year at Sonoma Raceway, crew chief Dickie Venables had the fastest car on property qualifying No.1 with Matt’s career best time of 3.986-seconds but was defeated in the opening round of championship eliminations. That was the 10th three-second Funny Car elapsed time.

“Man, we had such a great car there last year but we didn’t get the job done on Sunday and I’ve been ready to go back ever since. I feel like we lost a big opportunity to win there last year and I want to get a win there.”

A win would propel Matt and the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T team into the top-five in points with four races remaining until the points are reset for the Countdown to the Championship following the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis.

“We’re just barely four rounds out of fourth place in standings and that’s huge,” he said. “We didn’t have a great start to the season but with a little bit of consistency and luck I think we can get into the top-5 before Indy.

“I’m just real proud of this team. It’s no secret that we struggled early this year and we’re really coming around here lately. It took a lot of work by Dickie and the guys and I have all the confidence in the world in them.”

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