DSR leaves NHRA event without a Mello Yello trophy for first time since Labor Day, Brown and Hagan depart with points leads in Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Don Schumacher Racing team’s incredible run since Labor Day of 2014 experienced what most Las 
Vegas tourists learn quickly: You can’t win all the time.
Despite being shutout for the first time in 10 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events, DSR was able to leave The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the championship points leads in both nitro categories: Antron Brown (Matco Tools/U.S. Army) held the top spot in Top Fuel for the second race and Matt Hagan (Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots 2015 Dodge Charger R/T) regained the Funny Car lead after five of 24 races on the circuit.
Spencer Massey (Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (Make-A-Wish) salvaged a challenging Sunday for DSR by advancing to the semifinals of their respective categories in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals.
It is the first time since Labor Day Weekend of 2014 that DSR did not leave an NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event with a coveted Wally trophy. During that span of ten events DSR won 15 of a possible 20 event titles; eight in Top Fuel and seven in Funny Car.
The bright spots for DSR at Las Vegas started with Hagan winning the third No. 1 qualifying spot for DSR this year and retaking the lead in the Funny Car championship standings. Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army) qualified second in Top Fuel and teammate Antron Brown held on to the points lead.
The dismal, sunny day also stopped DSR’s record streak of winning five straight Funny Car trophies including last year’s finale.
DSR had its worst first-round performance of the year when four of its seven teams were eliminated in the opening round. And after the next round, only Massey and Johnson remained alive.
Massey was the only one of DSR’s Top Fuel dragsters to advance to the second round after Brown and Schumacher lost in the first round.
In Funny Car, seventh-seeded Ron Capps and Jack Beckman, who qualified No. 2, were upset early.
