BROWNSBURG, IN – Aboard the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car, Ron Capps raced to a runner-up finish at the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, and successfully clinched the ‘regular season’ championship to start the Countdown to the Championship playoffs from the No. 1 position.

Capps began his march to the finals by qualifying his 11,000-horsepower Funny Car in the top half of the field on Friday night. He then went on to clock three 3.9-second passes to defeat Justin Schriefer, Robert Hight, and Alexis DeJoria during Sunday’s elimination rounds, setting up a showdown with fellow Funny Car veteran Tim Wilkerson in the finals.

While Capps won an event at Indy in 2020, the 27-year Funny Car veteran and second-winningest driver in the class has never won the coveted Wally trophy at the ‘Big Go,’ and was looking to achieve that bucket-list item this weekend. Against Wilkerson in the finals, Capps moved first to nab the starting line advantage and recorded another solid sub-four second pass, but his opponent pulled ahead and into the lead by the time they went by the Christmas tree and never trailed for the win.

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Indianapolis, IN – DSR Qualifying Highlights:

 – 2020 Dodge//SRT U.S. Nationals Top Fuel runner-up Leah Pruett will start race day from the top half of the field in the fifth seed
– Pruett will be running for two trophies on Sunday as she will compete in both the Top Fuel category and Factory Stock Showdown Series where she’s been to back-to-back final rounds, and finished as the Indy event champ in 2018
– Funny Car pilot Ron Capps also earned a qualifying position in the top half of the field, and is focused on regaining the points lead he held after his Pomona, Calif. triumph last month

Note:After persistent rain washed out day two of qualifying at the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, the Camping World Series elimination fields are set based on Friday’s sole qualifying session
– Only a handful of Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series competitors had a chance to hit the dragstrip for Q2 on Saturday morning before rain halted the rest of the session. Mopar Drag Pak pilot David Davies was the only DSR FSS driver to make a Q2 pass

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Indianapolis, IN – Highlights:

 – Leah Pruett and Ron Capps led DSR in Friday qualifying at the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals
– Pruett took her Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster into the quick half of the Top Fuel field, earning the provisional No. 5 position
– Capps’ NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge posted the sixth-quickest run of Funny Car Q1 to secure a provisional qualifying position in the top half of the field

Note:
– Matt Hagan recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has withdrawn from the 2021 Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals. Tommy Johnson Jr. has taken on the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car driving duties in Hagan’s absence.

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Indianapolis, IN – As our team prepares to take to the staging lanes for Friday qualifying at the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, Don Schumacher Racing regrets to announce that Funny Car driver Matt Hagan has recently tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be competing in this year’s event.

Hagan has not been in contact with anyone since his diagnosis, and is currently quarantining.

DSR is committed to the safety of its employees and fans, and Hagan will return to competition once all appropriate health and safety measures have been implemented.

A familiar face in the DSR camp will take on driving duties for the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car as Tommy Johnson Jr. returns to compete in this weekend’s event in Hagan’s place.

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Indianapolis, IN – Noteworthy:

– All DSR Camping World Series competitors enter the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, the final event of NHRA’s ‘regular’ season, with at least one win in 2021, and all are Countdown-clinched
– As the tour’s most recent winner, Funny Car point leader Matt Hagan returns to Indianapolis seeking to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard as he gears up to begin his 2020 Camping World Series title defense. Hagan is a two-time winner in the last five events (Denver, Brainerd)
– Ron Capps sits fifth in the Funny Car standings with a win last month in Pomona, Calif., and with the return of Indy’s unique points-and-a-half format, he is less than one round from the points lead
– While Capps won an event at Indy in 2020, the 27-year Funny Car veteran and second-winningest driver in the class has never won the coveted Wally trophy at the ‘Big Go,’ and will be looking to achieve that bucket-list item this weekend
– Pomona Top Fuel winner Leah Pruett will have the unique opportunity to double-up on the hardware by competing in both the Top Fuel and Factory Stock Showdown Series. Pruett has taken her Dodge Mopar Drag Pak to back-to-back final round appearances at the two most recent FSS events (Denver, Topeka), and aims to take her Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster a step further after finishing as the runner-up in 2020 at the ‘Big Go’

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BRAINERD, MN – Last month, reigning Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan was able to check ‘winning Denver’ off of his racing bucket list, and on Sunday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway, Hagan was able to cross another item off the list when he won the NHRA Brainerd Nationals for the first time in 12 attempts. Hagan drove the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye into the winner’s circle for the second time in 2021, and 38th time in his career when he clocked a stout .051 reaction time and 3.923 second E.T. to defeat Cruz Pedregon’s 3.935-second effort in the final Funny Car showdown.

After officially clinching a Countdown berth during qualifying, Hagan began race day from the fourth seed and with a round-one matchup versus Dale Creasy Jr. where he posted the second-quickest E.T. of the session to advance to round two. Against Paul Lee, his quarterfinal opponent, it was Hagan’s right foot that sealed the victory when he took a starting line advantage all the way to a holeshot win. In the semifinals, Hagan once again used his machine-like reflexes coupled with a solid 3.932-second pass to propel him to victory over Bob Tasca III, and earn a bid to the finals for the fourth time this season. By winning the Brainerd hardware, Hagan moved into the Funny Car point lead with only one event remaining – the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis – before playoff positions are set and the Countdown to the Championship chase begins.

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Brainerd, MN – DSR Qualifying Highlights:

– 2020 Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan and defending Brainerd Nationals event champion Ron Capps both qualified their Dodge Charger SRT Hellcats in the top half of the Funny Car field on Saturday
– Hagan posted the second-quickest run of Q2 to earn two bonus points and secure the No. 4 starting position
– Capps will start from the top half of the field for the 11th time in 12 races
– Antron Brown was third-quickest of Top Fuel Q2 and will start race day from sixth with the advantage of lane choice
– Defending Top Fuel event champ Leah Pruett qualified eighth on the strength of her Q1 pass which was second-best of the session, and set up a Pomona final round rematch versus Justin Ashley in round one on Sunday morning

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster

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Brainerd, MN

 – DSR Qualifying Updates: Defending Top Fuel event champion Leah Pruett leads DSR in qualifying at the Brainerd Nationals, clocking the second-best run of Friday’s lone session to earn the provisional No. 2 spot and two bonus points
– Antron Brown joins his Top Fuel teammate in the quick half of the field, occupying the provisional No. 7 spot
– Reigning series champion Matt Hagan and defending Funny Car event champ Ron Capps are currently qualified 10th and 13th, respectively, and will look to capitalize on Saturday’s forecasted cooler temperatures to improve their standings in the field

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

ANTRON BROWN

Driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster

Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 7

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Brainerd, MN – Noteworthy:

– All DSR Camping World Series competitors are currently ranked in the ‘top five’ heading into Brainerd, Minn., the penultimate event of NHRA’s ‘regular season,’ and all four will be jockeying to continue to improve their standings before Countdown positions are set at the conclusion of the next event, the U.S. Nationals
– Both Antron Brown and Ron Capps have officially clinched a berth in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship. Brown is currently ranked third in the Top Fuel standings, and Capps occupies the second position on the Funny Car leaderboard; Leah Pruett (4th) and Matt Hagan (5th, tied) will be looking to join their teammates and officially clinch their Countdown berths this weekend
– Pruett and Capps return as the defending event champions, having ‘doubled-up’ for DSR the last time the NHRA competed at BIR (2019)
– Brown has been victorious in both the Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories in Brainerd
– Hagan recorded the first 3.8 second Funny Car pass during the 2015 Brainerd event (3.879 seconds)

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Topeka, KS – DSR Elimination Highlights:

Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals

– Leah Pruett took her Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak to its second consecutive final round appearance, and has advanced to third in the Factory Stock Showdown Series point standings
– Ron Capps and Antron Brown clinched berths into the 2021 Countdown to the Championship playoffs during qualifying at Heartland Motorsports Park, and made it official by signing and adding their names to the leaderboard on Sunday morning
– Capps advanced to the quarterfinals and departs Topeka ranked second in the Funny Car standings; Brown occupies the No. 3 spot in the Top Fuel rankings
– All DSR Camping World Series competitors are currently ranked in the ‘top five’ heading into the next event in Brainerd, Minn.Pruett sits fourth in the Top Fuel rankings, and reigning Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan, who clocked low E.T. of race day, is tied for fifth

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster

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