DSR heads to Sonoma with Schumacher looking for win #2

Published July 28, 2016

‘Southern California girl’ Pritchett anticipates first race at Sonoma in her charge to Countdown with new DSR Mopar/Pennzoil dragster

BROWNSBURG, IN – Leah Pritchett returned last week to Bandimere Speedway near Denver to race for the first time at the track since she was 14 years old and competed in a half-scale, five-horsepower Jr. Dragster in NHRA’s youth racing program.

That’s light years ahead of the experience she has at Sonoma Raceway near San Francisco where she will drive Don Schumacher Racing’s Mopar/Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster this weekend in the NHRA Sonoma Nationals along with her three DSR dragster teammates.

“I’ve never, ever taken anything down the Sonoma track – not a racecar, not a scooter, not a Razor. Nothing,” said the 28-year-old native of Redlands, Calif. “I’ve only been there twice in my life and that was as a crew member for Melanie Troxel and Brian Fields on their Funny Car teams. It seems odd that I haven’t raced at Sonoma considering I’m a Southern California girl. I’m very excited and anxious to get there Friday.”

Sonoma will be the second race for Pritchett with support from Mopar and Pennzoil. It also is her fifth race of the year with DSR and the team led by crew chiefs Mike Guger and Joe Barlam as they continue to build a bond and have success with help from veteran crew chiefs from other DSR teams.

“Overall, every part of last weekend was phenomenal by joining Pennzoil in bringing Mopar back to Top Fuel that gives Mopar big representation in each of NHRA’s three top professional categories,” she said. “We got there and were aggressive and are close to taking the next step by going more rounds on race day.”

Denver’s mile-high altitude forces teams to use tune-ups applicable for only one of the 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. She qualified 10th and lost in the opening round to DSR’s Shawn Langdon with whom she raced Jr. Dragsters.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to end the weekend,” said Pritchett, who won this year’s second event title and her first in Top Fuel that complements three national event titles in Pro Mod.

Despite missing one race this year when she was without a team and sponsor, she has battled to hold the No. 10 position in the standings and last position in the Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff. She has four races to remain in the top-10 yet only committed sponsorship for two of them, although it’s likely additional support will be secured for her.

“Every race there’s been something new and we want to keep progressing,” she said. “Just like our car has been moving forward and making progress, so are we with Don (Schumacher) in the boardroom.

“We’re going to continue our chase to achieve our dreams of a full season in Top Fuel and fighting to the end for the championship. We not only plan to stay in the top-10 but to move up in the standings.”

Western Swing treks west where Langdon, Red Fuel team look to pick up third win of the season at this weekend’s Sonoma Nationals

– Sonoma Raceway is a fan-favorite destination for drag racing and for Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon, a highlight on the 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.

This weekend’s second stop on the annual Western Swing is the 29th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals and Langdon is ready to return to sea level to let his 10,000-horsepower nitro machine breathe after being deprived of oxygen at the mile-high altitude of last weekend’s event near Denver where the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant team finished in the quarterfinals.

“A couple of the races that we ran before going to Denver, we should have similar conditions to that at Sonoma,” Langdon said. “Sonoma is a great place. There’s always great air and you can make a lot of power there. It’s just a matter of using our notes from the last few races which we felt very confident with.

“We were able to make some good runs at those races before Denver so hopefully we can parlay that information over to Sonoma. I always enjoy going there. Sonoma is a great facility, a good track. The crowds are always great there. It’s definitely one my top-five tracks that we go to.”

Langdon has two event titles this season and is ranked sixth in Top Fuel points standings with the Red Fuel team led by crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler. Only four races remain before the points are reset for the annual Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff that begins near Charlotte in September.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “We have a good car. We had a good car in Denver. We’ve really had a good car the last eight races. We are capable of winning at every event we go to. Heading into the Countdown, I think it’s more just a matter of doing a little bit of fine tuning.

“There’s a couple of little areas that we feel like we can improve on with our setup. But I think for the majority, I feel like this team is ready to go for the Countdown. We will definitely use these next couple of races to fine tune everything within the racecar, we will do a little bit of testing before Indy and the Countdown.”

The Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals kicks off with nitro qualifying at 5:15 p.m. Friday and Sunday’s championship eliminations will be broadcast live on FOX national network on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Brown seeks fifth Top Fuel title at this weekend at Sonoma as Matco Tools team looks to extend NHRA Mello Yello lead

– In 2008, when Antron Brown made the switch from a Pro Stock Motorcycle competitor to NHRA’s elite Top Fuel category, he did it with ease, picking up two wins in his debut season.

Since then, he has gone on to win 41 Top Fuel titles and the versatile driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster heads to Sonoma Raceway this weekend seeking his fifth Top Fuel title in wine country at the 29th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Brown has 57 career event titles and currently leads the Mello Yello series Top Fuel points standings, sitting 57 marks ahead of second-place Doug Kalitta after Brown was runner-up Sunday in the Mile-High Nationals near Denver at the start of NHRA’s annual Western Swing.

“The big thing is we made a great weekend out of a weekend that didn’t start off very good,” Brown said following Denver. “We got the points lead and put some points between us and Doug (Kalitta). Our game plan is just to keep going rounds and keep putting rounds between us and to go into the countdown No. 1. We’re trying to win another championship, that’s our goal and it starts right now.”

The two-time champion Matco Tools team have four races before the Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff begins in September near Charlotte where they will begin the defense of their 2015 world title.

The Matco Tools team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald with assistant Brad Mason have six final round appearances in 2016 with three event titles.

“Sonoma’s always going to be a fast track,” Brown said. “The Friday night run is going to set the tone for everybody because we’re not going to get the same type of conditions on Saturday when it’s earlier in the day. You have to gear up to get a good qualifying position, and then Saturday dictates what your set-up is going to be for Sunday.

“Our Matco Tools/Toyota team has run well at the Toyota Sonoma Nationals, but we can’t go in there thinking we’ll do well just because we’ve run well there in the past. We have to go in there with our head right and take it one step at a time. Hopefully, if we take that approach, it will get us out there in front.”

Mopar/Rocky Boots team with Hagan continues farther west on NHRA Western Swing, seeks first Sonoma title this weekend

– The second stop on the three-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ annual Western Swing is this weekend at the 29th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals near San Francisco, and getting back to sea level will be welcomed by Matt Hagan and the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots team.

The Swing started last weekend near Denver at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals where Hagan and the Dickie Venables-led Mopar/Rocky Boots team finished in the quarterfinals at one of the most challenging events of the season.

“That’s a tough one and we’re glad it’s behind us,” Hagan said. “You change so much to race there and now the guys have to change everything back before driving 1,000-miles to the next one. It’s a pretty tough stretch for everyone.”

This weekend the series heads farther west to Sonoma Raceway where Hagan has one runner-up finish in his Funny Car career that includes two world championships.

“Going to Sonoma is always something that we look forward to,” Hagan said. “It’s a very nice facility and the track produces some great runs because of the weather. We haven’t been able to pull down a win there just yet but I have all the confidence in the world in Dickie and this team that we can pick up a trophy there.”

Only four races remain before the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins in September near Charlotte. Hagan and the Mopar Express Lane team have scored two event titles and two poles this season and are currently ranked fourth in Mello Yello standings.

“We’re looking for consistency right now,” Hagan said. “That’s key. If you have a consistent racecar it gives you confidence. We’ve got a few more races to get this beast figured out before it’s on for the championship. Dickie has a game plan and I have a lot of confidence in him. He’s making the right calls, making the right decisions and with a little bit of luck on our side we will be turning on win lights.”

The NHRA Sonoma Nationals kicks off with nitro qualifying at 5:15 p.m. Friday and Sunday’s championship eliminations will be broadcast live on FOX national network on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Johnson ready to visit winner’s circle and climb up Funny Car points standings with Make-A-Wish team this weekend at Sonoma

– Tommy Johnson Jr. is looking forward to returning to this weekend’s 29th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals with good memories from last year’s event where the Make-A-Wish team reached the final round.

It was one of eight final round appearances in 2015 for the Make-A-Wish team funded by Terry Chandler, and Johnson is looking to start a final round streak again this weekend.

“Last year at Sonoma, we started a streak of three straight final rounds and that was just the momentum we needed to have heading into the Countdown (to the Championship playoff),” Johnson said.

“We kind of have to start over again after Denver. We change so many things just to be able to race there in the high altitude and so we have to change everything back. I’m really proud of the effort these Make-A-Wish guys put in at Denver. We didn’t hurt anything, we were competitive on race day and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Make-A-Wish team led by crew chief John Collins and assistant Rip Reynolds kicked off NHRA’s grueling Western Swing with a quarterfinal finish at last weekend’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals near Denver. The tour will visit Pacific Raceways near Seattle next weekend before taking a weekend off.

“This stretch of events, it can be really challenging if you don’t pace yourself,” Johnson said. “The guys had a lot of work to do after Denver to get the car back to normal and you just hope that you pick right back up and continue making our car stronger as we near the Countdown.”

The Make-A-Wish team sits seventh in Mello Yello points standing, but just two rounds behind Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in fourth.

“There’s a pretty tight grouping in the points from fourth to about eighth,” he said. “A lot can change in one event so it’s important to go rounds. Sonoma was good to us last year, has been good to me in the past but we just haven’t been able to get the job done. We’d like to get one more win light than we did last year.”

The NHRA Sonoma Nationals kicks off with nitro qualifying at 5:15 p.m. Friday and Sunday’s championship eliminations will be broadcast live on FOX national network on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

First-round loss costly for Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge team but visit with American heroes provides longer lasting memories

– It might have been a lost opportunity, but it wasn’t a lost weekend for Jack Beckman at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver.

Beckman was disappointed he was sidelined in the opening round of eliminations Sunday to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps by a narrow margin. Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team started the day ranked second to Capps in Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points and trailed by 126.

It was the scenario he and crew chief Jimmy Prock wanted, a chance to take a big chunk out of Capps’ lead but Beckman came up short with a 4.078-second run to Capps’ 4.047. Capps lost in the next round and extended the margin over Beckman to 144. Courtney Force advanced to the final round and moved around Beckman in the standings.

“That was a big one for us,” said Beckman, who had won the previous event near Chicago. “We got our early round match-up with (Capps) and we lost. That’s huge. It was a bitter disappointment; those are the ones that feel like a punch in the gut. You have a scenario line up for you, and we did. And you have to capitalize, and we didn’t.

“In this sport, you have to be good enough. Sometimes you don’t even have to be good, you have to be good enough. And we weren’t good enough.”

But that was in the mile-high altitude of Denver and this weekend Beckman gets back to sea level and a chance to defend the event title he won a year ago at Sonoma Raceway near San Francisco. He also won the pole for that race.

The Denver weekend, however, is one of Beckman’s most memorable.

The Infinite Hero Fund, which provides grants to assist veterans who return from war with physical or psychological injuries, hosted three American heroes: J.R. Martinez and identical twins Morgan and Marcus Luttrell, each of whom are retired Navy SEALs. It was only a few days after Marcus, author of the book “Lone Survivor” that recounts his harrowing experience during a 2005 military operation in Afghanistan, shared an inspirational message to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

“I got to hang out with J.R. when we did the Mopar autograph signing together,” said Beckman, whose Infinite Hero team is funded by Terry Chandler.

“It’s interesting to see people and the way they deal with life-changing events. That guy is so inspirational.

“And then I’m strapped in to our racecar towing up to the starting line and the Luttrell brothers point into me and give the thumbs up.

“And I think, OK, this is as close to combat as we’re going to get in the civilian sector – strapped into a nitro Funny Car going out there to do battle on the track. But those are guys who have REALLY gone into combat on a regular basis.”

Capps happy to return to sea level for Mello Yello race at home track

– Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car team won what will be one of their biggest first-round match-ups Sunday in the Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver, and he can’t wait to shift from high-altitude to the sea-level confines of his home track in Sonoma, Calif.

Capps with crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant Eric Lane have been the dominant Funny Car this season with their Dodge Charger R/T winning four of the first 13 events on the 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit.

But that was before they had to climb the mile-high mountain at Bandimere Speedway where oxygen is a scarcity and chokes 10,000-horsepower engines.

Capps started the day leading Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman by 126 points for the top spot on the standings. The combination of Beckman qualifying sixth and the NAPA seeded 11th with its worst qualifying effort of the year.

But when the pressure was on, Tobler tuned Capps to 4.047-second run to eliminate Beckman’s 4.078 to extend his lead over Beckman although Courtney Force advanced to the final round and moved around Beckman to second in the standings.

“That first round win was huge,” said Capps. “We lost the next race because Tobler was aggressive and I love that about him. We’re No. 1 in points because that’s how he’s been approaching it the last couple months and that’s what we need to do to keep the lead.”

Capps isn’t only pleased to be back at sea level because of how it makes his Dodge Charger R/T happier than when it is in the mountains. This weekend he gets to race at Sonoma Raceway, where he has won four times in six final rounds. It is the closest NHRA track to his hometown of San Luis Obispo about 275 miles away.

He’s spent the past two weeks with family and friends camping near San Luis Obispo except for the foray to Denver. It’s always an emotional return to Sonoma for other reasons. This year he will get to visit the plaque he received when he was inducted into the Sonoma Raceway Wall of Fame.

“It was such an honor to be mentioned with the people on the Sonoma Raceway Wall of Fame,” he said. “I have so many great memories at Sonoma, and it’s always truly felt like my home track. I love the facility, the fans, supporting its Speedway Children’s Charity and it is incredibly special to be inducted.”

His stay in Sonoma will begin with a bittersweet event that honors the memory of late Funny Car driver Eric Medlen, who grew up in Northern California. He died in 2007 in a testing accident.

“I can’t believe this is the 10th year we’ve celebrated Eric,” Capps said. “You always expect to walk into him at the races with that big smile on his race. Everybody was his friend, and he sure liked his ice cream.

“I’m so glad his dad (John Medlen) has been one of our crew chiefs at Don Schumacher Racing because it’s like having a piece of Eric with us all the time.”

Capps will celebrate Medlen’s life with friends and family on Thursday during the 10th annual Eric Medlen Nitro Night Charity Dinner at Bay Club Stone Tree, five miles from the raceway in Novato. In addition to raising funds for Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC), the charitable arm of Sonoma Raceway, the evening is dedicated to the memory of Medlen, a native of the San Joaquin Valley.

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