It’s a long, long way to the end of the Mello Yello season, but so far it’s been ‘The Year of The Shoe’ in NHRA

BROWNSBURG, IN – Don Schumacher Racing left the last NHRA Mello Yello event on May 7 near Atlanta with Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team winning its third straight event title to sweep the three-race Southern Swing.

In addition to Capps arriving at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., leading the Funny Car championship standings with his 2017 Dodge Charger R/T, teammate Leah Pritchett and the Papa John’s Pizza dragster is atop the Top Fuel standings with three event titles in eight races.

After seven of 24 events this year – so far – it has been “The Year of The Shoe.”

When the seven-car juggernaut Powered by Pennzoil gets on track Friday for qualifying at Topeka consider what

DSR has accomplished this year:

• DSR has won 11 of a possible 14 nitro titles this year and increased its win total to 304 since Don Schumacher founded the organization in1998. Its combined record in eliminations this season is 99-36 (64 percent) led by Pritchett (19-4) and Capps (17-4);
• DSR Top Fuel dragsters have won five of seven event titles led by three by Pritchett, and one each by two-time reigning world champion Antron Brown (Matco Tools) and eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army);
• DSR Funny Cars have won six of seven with Matt Hagan (Mopar Express Lane) opening the season with two titles along followed by one by Iowa-native Tommy Johnson Jr. (Terry Chandler’s Make-A-Wish team) and the last three by Capps;
• DSR ranks 1-2-4 in the Mello Yello Top Fuel standings with Pritchett leading the way and has led after six races with Schumacher holding the top spot after the other; and 1-2-5-6 in Funny Car where Capps and Hagan have been the only points leaders;
• Pritchett set the NHRA world time record at Phoenix with a run of 3.658 seconds. Her Papa John’s team became the first since 1974 to open the year with two wins from No. 1 qualifying positions, and at Houston became only the –
• 10th Top Fuel team to win three of the first five races;
• DSR holds all four NHRA nitro world records;
• Hagan matched the world records he set last year when he posted a time of 3.822 seconds at 335.57 mph at Pomona. He now holds 14 of a possible 42 nitro track records including both at Topeka (3.862 and 335.57 that he set a year ago that at the time were world records);
• DSR holds 41 of a possible 84 track records at the 21 venues on the 24-race Mello Yello tour;