Brown Tops DSR Vegas Qualifying Report
Brown takes Matco to second straight spring pole at Las Vegas; Johnson nearly puts Make-A-Wish No. 1 to lead DSR Funny Cars
LAS VEGAS, NV – The good news for Don Schumacher Racing is that its three Top Fuel dragsters qualified in the top-five led by 
pole winner Antron Brown for Sunday’s championship eliminations in the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at Las Vegas.
The bad news is that all three are in the top half of the 16-car bracket so only one can advance to the championship round at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In Funny Car, DSR qualified three of its four Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars in the top-six led by Tommy Johnson Jr. in the Make-A-Wish Dodge that qualified third with crew chief John Collins.
A key first-round pairing in Funny Car pits Johnson against DSR teammate Jack Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car world champion.
For Antron, it is his second straight No. 1 qualifying position in the spring event at Las Vegas and the 35th of his career. His Matco Tools team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald was runner-up at the spring event a year ago and later won the Las Vegas fall title.
Brown, who ranks second in the points standings, has advanced into two of this year’s three championship rounds and won the title near Phoenix in the year’s second Mello Yello Series event. The 2012 Top Fuel world champion also won two of last year’s final four events including the fall event at Las Vegas. He was runner-up at Las Vegas in the spring race.
Schumacher finds consistency with U.S. Army dragster’s new tune-up and earns No. 5 spot for Sunday at Las Vegas
Tony Schumacher is ready to start the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Although winning always is paramount to Tony and the seven-time world championship U.S. Army team, equally important – if not more so – through the season’s first three events has been crew chief Mike Green and assistant Neal Strausbaugh developing an even better race car for the last 21 events beginning with this weekend’s SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It has required patience by Tony and the team that hasn’t advanced past the second round this season. But no time is better to return to the level that has seen the team win an NHRA-record 72 times and a record seven times at Las Vegas; three times in the spring and four times in the fall.
And it looks like the U.S. Army team is closing in on more success.
Tony started strong Friday by being the second and fifth quickest, respectively, in each session. On Saturday, Tony briefly lost traction and slowed to 4.594-second run on the first run before ending qualifying with a time of 3.797 seconds at 324.28 mph to earn the No. 5 spot.
“We were consistent on three of our four runs and that’s what we’ve been looking for,” Tony said.
“We just needed to get some more runs with our new tune-up. It’s nice to have great weather like this so we can make good qualifying runs. The last run could have been better but we just missed it by an inch.
“Our U.S. Army needs to go rounds on Sunday. We just have to. It’s time for us to win.”
Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher team has good luck charm that pays off for No. 4 qualifying effort in Las Vegas
The Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel team brought their good luck charm to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 15th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals.
Crew chief Todd Okuhara’s son Shane, along with other Okuhara family members, is on site near Las Vegas cheering on Spencer Massey and the Battery Extender team for this weekend’s championship eliminations.
“Todd’s son Shane is here and we think of him as our good luck charm,” Spencer said. “He comes out to a few races a year and it seems like we always do well when he’s around. I know it’s special for Todd and his brother Scott our car chief to have their family from Hawaii here in Vegas.
Another special treat for the team is the Hawaiian cuisine provided by Aloha Specialties, a Las Vegas restaurant that keeps Massey’s team and friends well fed throughout the weekend.
“I think I always leave the Vegas races with a few extra pounds,” Spencer said. “It’s cool though. Everyone it the pits comes over and grabs a plate.”
The Hawaiian mojo resulted in a solid qualifying performance for Spencer. The No. 4 starting position is their best staring spot this season in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Okuhara and crew chief Phil Shuler tuned Spencer to a 3.794-second pass at 323 mph, their best of the weekend, during Saturday’s fourth and final qualifying session under overcast skies.
“We’re definitely getting our car back to what it was when we were running strong last year,” Spencer said. “We’re back to being consistent and the car is responding to the changes Phil and Todd make.
“That last qualifying run was a boost of confidence for this team. A 3.79 is the kind of run we’re going to need to make in the first round tomorrow so now we have all of that data to work off.
“We’re looking to not only make it to our first final of the season but we want to get that Wally and get some momentum going.”
Capps uses new good-luck charm to qualify 6th at Las Vegas
Ron Capps is ready. Crew chief Rahn Tobler is ready and so is the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team.
And there would be no better place for Ron to win his first NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series title of the season than at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he has won a track-record five Funny Car titles.
It is one of four tracks the resident of Carlsbad, Calif., considers home and he’s had great success at each. Of his 41 NHRA titles, 15 (37 percent) have come at West Coast tracks: Las Vegas 5; Sonoma, Calif., 4; Phoenix 3; and Pomona 3.
He has won once in the Las Vegas spring race and four times when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns in the fall for the year’s penultimate event.
The Southern Nevada events afford his family the opportunity to drive over from California.
“Vegas has turned into a home race for me. I get a lot of my family here along a lot of friends from NAPA. It’s cool to be racing with my brother here and it was fun to watch him qualify Saturday.”
Jon Capps, who lives in Las Vegas, qualified 16th and could only face older brother Ron if each wins its first three races Sunday and meet in the championship round.
“Hey, that would be fine with me,” Ron said, “as long as we beat him.”
“The good part is we’ve gone down the track all four runs. But what a weekend so far with what the Speedway has done with the track. Both lanes are holding up for great runs, the crowd definitely got their money’s worth.
“We have a race car that we can take to the starting line that’s consistent and there’s a lot of room for improvement for our NAPA Dodge and the conditions are going to hold some pretty good runs on Sunday. I have a lot of confidence going into Sunday.
What already has made the weekend special is Ron’s 12-year-old son, Caden, has been his shadow. In the past his daughter Taylor, 17, was his sidekick at West Coast races but a high school prom prevented her from joining the family at Las Vegas.
“I really miss not having Taylor here but it’s been so much fun with Caden,” Ron said. “I guess this means Taylor is getting older and that means I’m getting older.
“Our NAPA guys also call Taylor our good-luck charm but Caden might be taking her place,” Ron said. “With Caden in our tow vehicle on Friday we were the second and then the third quickest. Now our guys are saying Caden might be ready to step into Taylor’s spot.”
Hagan, Mopar Express Lane team has powerful No. 5 qualifying performance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
It’s been a feel good weekend for Matt Hagan and his Mopar Express Lane Funny Car crew at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Mopar/Rocky Boots team went to the final round at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season-opener at Pomona but then struggled in qualifying and suffered first-round losses at the following two events prior to this weekend’s Las Vegas event.
Crew chief Dickie Venables vowed after the Gainesville, Fla., event that he and the team would “get back to racing.”
And that they did with a stellar qualifying performance in the 15th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas. Hagan’s 4.131-second pass, 4.063-second lap and 4.046-second run were the best in each of the first three qualifying session.
“We’ve been running our new car for the last three races and it’s been kind of hit or miss so Dickie said let’s go back to what we know. He did that and we pulled it out of the box and went straight to the top.
“We definitely have a great race car. It’s running strong and responding to all the changes that Dickie is making. It’s just one of those things where you just feel good about it. I think that it is definitely something we needed after having two bad races.”
Hagan held the No. 1 position until the final qualifying session when he slipped to the No. 5 spot on Saturday afternoon in overcast conditions. Four Funny Cars, including DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr., bested his 4.046-second pass in the final session.
“You never know what tomorrow brings,” Matt said. “It’s tricky, that’s why we race them. Just the morale of the crew, everyone is cutting up and laughing and it’s just good. It’s nice to bring it out and come right back to the top. I’m excited about tomorrow. Hoping for four win lights and win in Vegas.
“I love being here in Vegas. I love the track, the people. The whole thing is just a neat deal. It’s nice to be able to go low in both sessions.”
Beckman wants to give son Jason a return to winner’s circle after Sunday’s eliminations in the SummitRacing.com Nationals
Jack Beckman has taught thousands how to drag race and his tutelage was turned Saturday toward a “Fast Jack” in training.
Joining Jack and Don Schumacher Racing’s Valvoline MaxLife Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team this weekend at the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas was his son Jason, who turned 7 three weeks ago.
Jason was with Jack at the “rope” signing autographs and posing for photos with fans at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I just need to get him to quit signing his name over my face,” Jack said of the team’s autograph cards.
Jack, the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel world champion who finished third in points a year ago, hopes Sunday he can get Jason acquainted with celebrating in the winner’s circle after championship eliminations.
It’s been a while since the Southern California native and resident of Norco, Calif., has been there after winning 15 times through his career. The team’s last NHRA national event title was at St. Louis in the 20th race of the 2012 season, which is a span of 30 events over three years. That’s the longest stretch of Jack’s nine-year career that he has not won an event title.
Jack’s Valvoline Max Life Dodge Charger R/T team led by crew chief Rob Flynn had its most challenging qualifying sessions of the season after finishing in the 14th spot for the 16-car field.
“It’s just an unusual deal, to sit 14th going into Sunday,” Jack said. “We only made it down the racetrack one time. We actually hurt parts on two of our four qualifying runs which is highly unusual for our team. I am not as concerned that we qualified 14th as I am that the car hasn’t been predictable for us, that we’ve hurt things that we don’t typically do, that we’re struggling to make to the finish line.
“At this point, since NHRA isn’t going to give us a test lap before eliminations tomorrow, this is where Rob and (assistant crew chief Terry Snyder) just get together with the other crew chiefs.”
There might be one crew chief, who is among the most helpful in the Don Schumacher Racing stable, who might not be able to provide help.
Jack’s first-round opponent is DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Make-A-Wish team that qualified third with a time of 4.023 seconds.
“For whatever reason, we have a parts malfunction or we’re just off on this tune up. We are just not in the window where it’s doing what it’s supposed to do. We don’t have any more runs to fix it.
“The next time we tow it to the starting line in needs to be right.”
