Massey is No. 2 heading into defense of his Shootout title; Hagan leads DSR Dodge Funny Cars with No. 5 effort

BROWNSBURG, IN – On a very hot, humid Friday evening for the opening day of the NHRA U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis, Don Schumacher Racing’s Spencer Massey qualified second in Top Fuel with four qualifying sessions remaining over the next two days.

Massey, with crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler tuning his Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster, was in the last pair down the track and recorded a time of 3.837 seconds at 316.38 mph.

“It was a pretty solid run,” said Massey, who is second in the points standings. “We wanted to make a good, consistent pass and get down the track and we did. That will help us get ready for Saturday.”

Saturday consists of more than two qualifying sessions. The $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout for the Top Fuel class will run concurrently with the qualifying sessions and the two finalists advance to determine the Shootout champion at 8:15 p.m. that is about when Massey raced Friday.

After qualifying 24th a year ago in the first session, Massey went on to win the Shootout title and $100,000 bonus for his DSR team.

“There was a little bit of pressure on us last year going into the Shootout because we weren’t qualified for the race. Now we can go into Saturday focused on the Shootout and defending our title.”

Massey’s teammates Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher also are in the Shootout but did not run well on Saturday; Browns sits precariously at 15th for Monday’s 16-car field while Schumacher is 19th and not qualified.

In Funny Car, points-leader Matt Hagan led the DSR teams in the Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T with a run of 4.102 seconds at 311.63 mph to earn the provisional No. 5 qualifying spot.

Johnny Gray ranks seventh, Jack Beckman is 10th and Ron Capps is 11th.

The eighth annual Don Schumacher Racing Open House Friday to benefit Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health and Camp Riley was a resounding success.

Another record crowd estimated to be 4,000 guests contributed to a record silent auction that raised more than $25,000 to push the amount DSR has raised for Riley to over $225,000 thanks to a plethora of items donated for the auction by DSR partners and friends.

The free, festive event featured a giant car show and appearances by all seven DSR drivers along with team owner Don Schumacher.

“It was a pretty hot afternoon but it showed how great NHRA drag racing fans are because the line for driver autographs was an hour long,” said Mike Lewis, DSR’s senior vice president.

“Next year is the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Nationals and we promise that our Open House on Friday of that weekend next year will be our biggest ever.