Championship Battle Persists Between DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Cars in Qualifying at Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil

Las Vegas, NV — Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car drivers Matt Hagan and Ron Capps continued to battle back and forth for the lead in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) “Countdown to the Championship” through qualifying at the Dodge//SRT Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the sixth of seven playoff events to determine who’ll earn the coveted world championship title.

While Capps drove his HEMI®-powered Pennzoil Synthetics NAPA Auto Parts machine into the weekend leading his DSR teammate by one point and then added another two bonus points to his tally by posting the second quickest run in the second qualifying session, Hagan retook the championship points lead after qualifying No. 4 by driving his Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a 3.905-seconds/ 321.65 mph pass to post the quickest run in the final qualifying session. The defending Funny Car champion will begin his elimination battle against No. 13-seed Chad Green as he works to take home a third consecutive Wally trophy from Dodge//SRT Nationals.

Cruz Pedregon earned the No. 7 spot on the Funny Car ladder with a solid final qualifying effort of 3.918 seconds at 325.69 mph aboard his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, the fourth quickest pass of Q2, while looking to improve on his current fifth place position in the championship standings. The Cruz Pedregon Racing HEMI-powered machine will have lane choice over No. 10 seed Tony Jurado for his first round pairing.

Capps, a five-time winner at the Las Vegas venue, ended up with the eighth quickest qualifying run to secure his place on the eliminations ladder against No. 9 seed Tim Wilkerson for Sunday’s opening round, while trailing Hagan in the Funny Car standings by just two points.

DSR pilot Leah Pruett qualified both her Direction Connection dragster and Direct Connection Mopar Drag Pak in the top half of the eliminations ladder in her final double-duty weekend racing in both Top Fuel and Factory Stock Showdown categories.

The special “Direct Connection” graphics on both Hagan and Pruett’s respective Dodge//SRT race cars provide a sneak-peek at one of two new performance initiatives set to be announced November 8 at Dodge.com.

In Top Fuel action, Pruett will line up her Direct Connection Mopar Dodge//SRT dragster next to DSR teammate Antron Brown for the opening round of eliminations after qualifying ninth with her final run of 3.769 seconds at 314.61 mph.

The final Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) event of the season will have Pruett launch her 2021 Direct Connection Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak from the No. 4 position against No. 13-seed Ryan Priddy on the strength of her final qualifying run at 7.963 seconds/173.21 mph. After four years of competing in both categories, Sunday’s Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals will be the 2018 Factory Stock Showdown champion’s last opportunity to attempt to double-up on trophy hardware aboard DSR Dodge race cars.

Pruett’s FSS teammate Mark Pawuk qualified his DSR-prepared 2021 Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak No. 5 with a 7.970-second run at 174.39 mph in the second session to start his race day against No. 12 John Cerbone.

David Davies II had his best run of 8.039 seconds at 172.47 mph in Q2 as well to put his 2021 D H Davies Racing Mopar Drag Pak in the No. 14 spot on the FSS eliminations ladder and pair him up with No. 3 qualifier Jason Dietsch for the opening round of the Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals.

Television coverage of Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the sixth of seven “Countdown to the Championship” playoff events, including LIVE coverage of the final round of the Dodge//SRT Nationals Presented by Pennzoil, will air on FS1 on Sunday, Oct. 31, 5-8 p.m. (ET.)