DSR NHRA Las Vegas 1 Qualifying Report
LAS VEGAS – NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
DSR Qualifying Highlights:
– All four Don Schumacher Racing entries secured qualifying positions in the top half of the field to start race day on Sunday
– Antron Brown and Leah Pruett made their best runs of the weekend in the third and final qualifying session to earn the advantage of being second to choose their preferred lane
– Ron Capps rocketed into the No. 4 starting position from the bump spot with his stout Q3 pass. He will have first pick at lane choice among his round-one quad
– Starting from the No. 7 position, reigning Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan will be second in his quad to choose his lane
– As the most recent Vegas winners, both Brown and Hagan will be seeking their second consecutive victories at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Driver Information:
Top Fuel:
ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 8 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 1 Brittany Force, No. 9 Justin Ashley, No. 16 Bye
The Results:
Q1: 3.840 E.T. at 314.83 MPH
Q2: 4.836 E.T. at 151.43 MPH
Q3: 3.808 E.T. at 287.05 MPH
Quotable:
“We definitely wanted to qualify higher but this weekend has been tricky. The car was running in the mid-to-high-3.70 range, and I’m looking at the crew chiefs in the lounge and they’re doing what they do. I have confidence in this Matco team. The track is good. It’s Four-Wide, and tomorrow is race day. We’re happy with the 60-foot times. We feel we have a good hold on things, and there’s a lot more left in the tank. We’ll squeeze on it. We’re up against a tough group with Brittany Force, the No. 1 qualifier, and Justin Ashley, and we’re going to give it our all and make it do what it do. We had so much fun with our Matco distributors today, and TRD is giving us great data and information, and we’ll utilize that for race day and go out and have some fun. It’s Four-Wide, baby!”
LEAH PRUETT
Driver of the Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 7 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 2 Steve Torrence, No. 10 Greg Carrillo, No. 15 Cameron Ferre
The Results:
Q1: 3.938 E.T. at 260.51 MPH
Q2: 3.843 E.T. at 307.65 MPH
Q3: 3.800 E.T. at 312.13 MPH
Quotable:
“The Four-Wide is a unique way to race, love it or hate it. As conditions had it, we had some unique events of our own. In Q2, the car made a really hard move through the lights to compound things, and the smartest thing we can do is to take our lessons from the past. The team had a spare chassis ready to go so we brought out the spare car and fixed our fuel system to better our qualifying position, which we did. I’ve been entirely impressed with our Mopar Dodge//SRT team and our qualifying effort, and we’re very much ready for competition tomorrow.”
Funny Car:
RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Qualified: No. 4 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 5 Bob Tasca III, No. 12 Jim Campbell, No. 13 Bobby Bode
The Results:
Q1: 6.844 E.T. at 98.23 MPH
Q2: 4.418 E.T. at 246.21 MPH
Q3: 3.919 E.T. at 323.89 MPH
Quotable:
“It was sort of crazy these last two days with these three qualifying runs. That heightens the pressure. We had an issue the first run, so then we were down to two laps, and it’s moments like that when you rely on the NAPA Know How that I brag about, and these guys have that. These are the times you should be nervous, sitting on the bump going into the last session, but it’s a calming effect to see my NAPA AutoCare crew guys around me. There was a chance to get knocked out, but ‘Guido’ (co-crew chief Dean Antonelli) sets up that NAPA Dodge on autopilot and sends it right down for a 3.91 and that put us No. 2 at the time. It was a great run and just a great job. Tomorrow should be a lot of fun. It’s so nice to be out here with all the fans this weekend.”
MATT HAGAN
Driver of the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye
Qualified: No. 7 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 2 John Force, No. 10 Blake Alexander, No. 15 Chris Morel
The Results:
Q1: 3.946 E.T. at 325.22 MPH (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session)
Q2: 4.641 E.T. at 176.33 MPH
Q3: 4.073 E.T. at 247.11 MPH
Bonus Points: Two
Quotable:
“We’re looking forward to race day. This four-wide deal is always kind of crazy. Today was a tough day. We were on two really good runs and pulled the tires loose in Q2, and on the last run, I just let it get inside too far and it pulled them loose. I feel like we have some good data, but sure, we’d like to have a full run. All-in-all, I think we have a real good race car and this four-wide stuff can be crazy, but this Hellcat Dodge is running great and we’ll try to get three win lights.”
