DSR Dominates Friday Qualifying at Auto Club NHRA Finals

POMONA, CA –  Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) lead the nitro classes after day one of the 54th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. The Mopar-powered teammates swept Friday qualifying, launching to session-best passes during both sessions.

Pritchett navigated the Mopar Dodge Top Fuel dragster to a Q2 run of 3.649-seconds at 329.34-mph to secure the provisional No. 1 position. The Todd Okuhara/Joe Barlam-led team held the top spot going into the second session after laying down a session-best 3.774 at 312.64 in the first round of qualifying.

“The biggest thing is win lights, of course, but when you have this kind of weather, you can just feel the energy; you get to execute what you set out to do,” said Pritchett of racing to the provisional No. 1 spot at her hometown track.

“We knew it was out there. When we ran that 77 in Q1, we knew that there was so much more in it, so we built off of that. That 3.64 is a testament to some new chassis work we were able to do back at the DSR shop. We were able to put that power to the ground, and we did it in leaps and bounds. These are the moments, besides eliminations, that you can’t wait for because that’s the epitome of all of the power and all of the work coming down to that ‘Olympic moment.’

In Funny Car, Johnson is seeking his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier of 2018 and is well on his way to accomplishing that goal after the John Collins/Rip Reynolds tuning duo dialed the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T to a 3.960 at 317.42-mph pass during round one, and then backed it up with a stout 3.881 at 328.54 to hold on to the top spot in round two.

“We’ve had three No. 1’s in a row, and we come here, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t do that again,” said Johnson of his impeccably consistent Dodge Funny Car. “Tonight, I’m in the car and I’m listening to what the other teams ran before us and thought ‘okay we should be able to go 88’ and John said I’m going to try and get it to go 281 (mph) at half-track, that speed should get us to where we need to be. Sure enough, it ran 281 at half-track and went 3.88.”

Johnson, who raced to the No. 1 qualifying position at Dallas, Charlotte II, and Las Vegas II, hopes to retain his top-of-the-pack standing going into Sunday as he attempts to capture the Auto Club NHRA Finals Wally for the third year in a row.

“We came in here so confident,” said Johnson who captured the event win in 2016 and 2017 and finished as the runner-up in 2015. “When you’ve had that much success at one track, it’s hard to beat it because you’re not beating yourself. I feel comfortable here. I’ve been fortunate here; I wish more of them were like this.”

Leah Pritchett
Driver of the Mopar Dodge Top Fuel dragster

Q1: 3.774 E.T. at 312.64 MPH (Four bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Q2: 3.649 E.T. at 329.34 MPH (Four bonus points for quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Eight

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 1
Tommy Johnson Jr.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T

Q1: 3.960 E.T. at 317.42 MPH (Four bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Q2: 3.881 E.T. at 328.54 MPH (Four bonus points for quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Eight

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 1

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools Maximus 3.0/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster

Q1: 3.791 E.T. at 325.37 MPH (Three bonus points for second quickest run of the session)
Q2: 3.704 E.T. at 329.50 MPH (Two bonus point for third quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Five

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 3

TONY SCHUMACHER
Driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster

Q1: 3.792 E.T. at 326.24 MPH (Two bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q2: 6.748 E.T. at 98.23 MPH

Bonus Points: Two

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 11

Funny Car:

JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Q1: 4.317 E.T. at 217.04 MPH
Q2: 3.901 E.T. at 323.35 MPH (Three bonus points for second quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Three

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 2

RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T

Q1: 6.172 E.T. at 111.99 MPH
Q2: 3.948 E.T. at 320.66 MPH

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 5

MATT HAGAN
Driver of the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Q1: 4.256 E.T. at 214.62 MPH
Q2: 7.246 E.T. at 91.65 MPH

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 13