DSR Dallas Final Qualifying Report by the numbers
Ennis, TX – AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals
DSR Dallas Saturday Highlights:
Starting from second on the Top Fuel ladder, Leah Pritchett leads DSR heading into Sunday’s elimination rounds
Antron Brown will also start from the ‘quick half’ of the Top Fuel field
In Funny Car, Ron Capps and Matt Hagan earned top-half starting positions
Round one will feature an intramural battle between Capps and Jack Beckman
The DSR Dodge Challenger Drag Pak duo of Pritchett and Mark Pawuk earned round-one victories, and both drivers will advance to Sunday’s quarterfinal round
Driver Information:
Top Fuel:
ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools ‘Tools for the Cause’ Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 8 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 9 Richie Crampton
The Results:
Q1: 3.816 E.T. at 325.06 MPH
Q2: 3.717 E.T. at 327.82 MPH
Q3: 4.551 E.T. at 170.73 MPH
Q4: 3.743 E.T. at 328.54 MPH
Quotable:
“We’re feeling good, to be honest. We’ve made a lot of great strides this weekend, we’ve been doing some new things, and this Matco Tools Toyota is responding. When you have a car that does that, it gives the crew chiefs, Mark (Oswald) and Brad (Mason), confidence that we can make improvements and get more aggressive as we go knowing the car is going to do what it should do. I’m feeling good. It’ll be a tough first-round match-up; all of these Top Fuel cars are really good right now.”
LEAH PRITCHETT
Driver of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 2 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 15 Kebin Kinsley
The Results:
Q1: 3.767 E.T. at 324.28 MPH
Q2: 3.681 E.T. at 332.10 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)
Q3: 3.801 E.T. at 327.43 MPH
Q4: 3.814 E.T. at 316.90 MPH
Bonus Points: Two
Quotable:
“We had some major power issues after we ran that 3.68 in Q2. The power ghosts were among us, and they stole it right out of us today; we were chasing it all day. But luckily, our strategy of qualifying well when it counts on Friday night has paid great dividends for this Pennzoil team to start off in a good position to go rounds on Sunday.
“We look forward to putting on a great show for the fans. This is very much a pivotal point in the Countdown; points are tight, and this is when you’re going to see this Pennzoil team shine.”
Funny Car:
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 12
The Competition: No. 5 Ron Capps
The Results:
Q1: 3.937 E.T. at 327.11 MPH (One bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q2: 4.202 E.T. at 220.22 MPH
Q3: 3.990 E.T. at 316.90 MPH
Q4: 4.601 E.T. at 177.09 MPH
Bonus Points: One
Quotable:
“It’s a bummer we missed it on the Q2 hero run; we pushed it too hard. In Q4, the car started moving over to the right, and I’m turning further left, and left, and left, and I just let it get too far to the right and lost traction, but hopefully, we got far enough down the track that we got data for tomorrow. I think it’s going to be warmer tomorrow, I think we’ve got a decent hot track tune-up, and I think we have a good chance at getting four win lights.”
RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 5 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 12 Jack Beckman
The Results:
Q1: 4.047 E.T. at 273.27 MPH
Q2: 3.881 E.T. at 332.43 MPH
Q3: 4.633 E.T. at 179.88 MPH
Q4: 4.022 E.T. at 290.19 MPH
Quotable:
“Obviously, we qualified well on Friday night, and that’s important to set the field. We’ve been fighting some adversity here, but you always hear me brag about the NAPA Know How our team has, and I’m confident we’ll get these issues worked out before race day. We’ve been in these types of situations before, and we don’t want to race a teammate first round, but Jack Beckman is ahead of us in points, and there are only two races left in the Countdown when we leave here tomorrow. I’m excited about tomorrow. This is the excitement of the Countdown, and it’s awesome for NHRA fans.”
MATT HAGAN
Driver of the Western Technical College/MOPAR CAP Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody
Qualified: No. 6 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 11 Blake Alexander
The Results:
Q1: 4.068 E.T. at 267.96 MPH
Q2: 3.890 E.T. at 310.77 MPH
Q3: 4.122 E.T. at 245.27 MPH
Q4: 3.950 E.T. at 317.49 MPH
Quotable:
“We struggled a little bit in that right lane, so hopefully we can keep lane choice tomorrow and stay over in the left lane. All in all, we are really proud to have Western Tech and the MOPAR CAP program along for the ride with us this weekend here in Dallas. This Dodge Charger SRT Widebody Hellcat Funny Car has been running really good. We just need to go out and win a race. It’s time to get it done tomorrow.”
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 9
The Competition: No. 8 Paul Lee
The Results:
Q1: 4.179 E.T. at 224.28 MPH
Q2: 3.920 E.T. at 324.44 MPH
Q3: 3.993 E.T. at 319.22 MPH
Q4: 3.936 E.T. at 316.60 MPH
Quotable:
“We definitely have a ‘hot weather’ kind of car, so if we can get those conditions tomorrow, I’ll feel very confident. Our Make-A-Wish Dodge is consistent when it’s cool out, but even more so when it’s hot.”
Factory Stock Showdown Series:
MARK PAWUK
Driver of the Empaco Equipment MOPAR Dodge Challenger Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 9 (7.947 E.T. at 173.16 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 7.909 E.T. at 173.65 MPH defeated Doug Doll Jr. 8.232 E.T. at 162.86 MPH
Quotable:
“After struggling in qualifying, crew chief Kevin Helms, Terry Snyder, and Kyle Pawuk really turned this Dodge Challenger around in the first round. We were facing the No. 1 qualifier. The driver did his job, the crew did their job, and we ended up knocking out the No. 1 car. It’s just awesome for our Don Schumacher Racing/Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger team. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I’m glad we can race on Sunday. Let’s hope we can get some more round wins.”
LEAH PRITCHETT
Driver of the MOPAR Dodge Challenger Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 2 (7.889 E.T. at 172.36 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 7.934 E.T. at 172.61 MPH defeated David Barton 7.948 E.T. at 172.74 MPH
Quotable:
“The competition has been a question of parity all season long. NHRA has done a good job of wrapping up the season with all three major power players on a more even playing field. I ran against one of my toughest competitors, David Barton, and we had a phenomenal race. (Crew chief) Kevin Helms put in a great tune-up that was able to get down the track, and we knew that as long as we didn’t beat ourselves, we would be okay. Man, we’re hungry. Great way to start a Sunday, and we’re focused on keeping the momentum going.”
