DSR BIG GO COUNTDOWN

Brownsburg, IN – The folks at Don Shumacher Racing have some great events planned for this week.  Check out all the happenings at DSR below.

Big week ahead for red-hot DSR teams before the start of 59th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indy track

Don Schumacher Racing has a short trip to the Big Go and it’s been a long, successful ride for the seven-team drag racing juggernaut as the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals marks the end to the 18-event regular season in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

The six-day U.S. Nationals, long known as the “Big Go,” starts next Friday evening for the professional categories at Lucas Oil Raceway, which is 2 miles from DSR headquarters in Brownsburg, Ind.

The big Labor Day Weekend kicks off Friday with the 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 8th annual DSR Open House to benefit Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health and Camp Riley.

The theme of the free Open House at 1681 E. Northfield Drive will be a celebration of DSR recording its 200th NHRA event title in March and the May 2 induction of team owner and legendary Funny Car driver

Don Schumacher into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, Ala.

All seven DSR drivers and Schumacher will attend the Open House and be available for autographs.

DSR is coming off a remarkable season when it won 22 of a possible 46 national event titles and world championships in Top Fuel (Antron Brown) and Funny Car (Jack Beckman).

In 2013, DSR is ahead of that pace after 17 of 24 Mello Yello events:

• DSR has won 20 of a possible 34 nitro titles this year (59 percent);
• DSR has won 11 of 17 Funny Car titles (Johnny Gray 4, Matt Hagan 4, Ron Capps 3) and 9 of 17 in Top Fuel (Spencer Massey 4, Tony Schumacher 3, Brown 2);
• DSR drivers will start the U.S. Nationals in Funny Car with Hagan in the points lead, Capps second, Gray third and Beckman seventh; in Top Fuel, Massey is second, Schumacher third and Brown sixth;
• DSR owns all four NHRA nitro national records for elapsed time and speed, which were set last season;
• DSR now has won 216 NHRA national event titles and 211 since 1999;
• And DSR won both nitro titles at the last event (Brainerd, Minn.) to mark the sixth time in 17 events this year and 38th time since 2003 that it has “double-upped” to two titles at the same event.

The U.S. Nationals is the last race in the 18-event Mello Yello season with the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship starts Sept. 13 near Charlotte for the top-10 drivers in the final regular season standings in each of NHRA’s four pro categories.

DSR Open House for Riley kids set for Aug. 30 with free day, car-bike show, auction, driver visits

Fans and friends of Don Schumacher Racing are invited to join the biggest team in professional racing on Aug. 30 at the 8th annual Don Schumacher Racing Open House to benefit Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health and Camp Riley.

The festive, free event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on that Friday will feature a giant car and bike show, entertainment and appearances by each of DSR’s seven professional drivers along with owner Don Schumacher at DSR headquarters at 1681 E. Northfield Drive in Brownsburg.

The Open House, which attracted a record-crowd of more than 4,000 fans last year and boosted DSR’s contributions to Riley past the $200,000 mark, invites all to celebrate DSR’s 200th NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series title.

The first 500 guests who arrive at the Open House after 10 a.m. will receive a free “DSR Win No. 200” sticker, commemorative Don Schumacher Hall of Fame Tribute autograph card and a chance to win a unique prize package of 40 1/24-scale DSR diecast collectibles from various seasons valued at a total of $3,500. (Additional raffle tickets will be available for $10 each.)

Popular Open House features returning will be: Indy Hi-Winders Car Show, DSR/Riley Silent Auction, DSR Driver Autograph Session, Raminator Monster Truck, live entertainment with the Army Entertainment Group; 330-mph Art Show featuring motorsports artists Bruce Tatman, Thomas Patsis and Todd Myers; DSR CNC/Machine Shop tours; and more surprises!

All seven DSR drivers qualify for $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootouts

Seven of the 16 drivers in the second annual $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will represent Don Schumacher Racing in the all-star events to be held during qualifying for the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis.

The first seven spots in the eight-car Top Fuel and Funny Car fields went to the first drivers to win Mello Yello titles in the first 16 events of the season.

In Funny Car, reigning world champion Jack Beckman has not won a title this season but was highest in points among the non-winners to earn the seventh spot in the field. The eighth position in each category will go to the winner of a lottery weighted on voting in an NHRA.com poll.

DSR’s Spencer Massey won last year’s Top Fuel Shootout while John Force took the title in Funny Car over Ron Capps.

The Funny Car Shootout will be featured on Saturday of the U.S. Nationals and the Top Fuel edition will be held on Sunday. The first two rounds of eliminations will be contested concurrently during qualifying on each respective day with the two finalists making an additional run for the title that will earn the winners’ teams $100,000.

The following are first-round match-ups for the Shootouts:

TOP FUEL (Saturday):
No. 1 Shawn Langdon vs. No. 8 fan vote/lottery winner
No. 2 SPENCER MASSEY vs. No. 7 Bob Vandergriff
No. 3 TONY SCHUMACHER vs. Steve Torrence
No. 4. Khalid alBalooshi vs. No. 5 ANTRON BROWN.

FUNNY CAR (Sunday):
No. 1 MATT HAGAN vs. No. 8 fan vote/lottery winner
No. 2 RON CAPPS vs. No. 7 JACK BECKMAN
No. 3 JOHNNY GRAY vs. No. 6 Courtney Force
No. 4. Cruz Pedregon vs. No. 5 John Force.