DSR shutout for third straight NHRA Mello Yello Series event

ENNIS, TX – Don Schumacher Racing picked the wrong time to go into a slump, and it continued Sunday in the AAA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas.

Losing its winning edge two events into the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship was not the best timing.

The seven-team organization, which won 20 Mello Yello Series titles through the first 17 events, has now gone three straight without reaching a winner’s circle marking only the sixth time in 20 races this year that DSR did not leave with an event title in either Top Fuel or Funny Car.

Compounding the disappointing weekend, DSR’s Spencer Massey lost in the semifinals and relinquished his Top Fuel points lead to Shawn Langdon of Al-Anabi Racing and Doug Kalitta of Kalitta Motorsports, who are tied for the top spot. Massey trails both by two points.

In Funny Car, Matt Hagan of DSR was able to hold his points lead despite losing in the second round of eliminations. His teammate, Ron Capps, started the Fall Nationals ranked second but was upset in the first round and fell to sixth, one spot behind Jack Beckman, another DSR driver.

Hagan, the 2011 NHRA Funny Car world champion, started the weekend with an 82-point over Capps but will arrive Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis with a slim 51-point lead over Cruz Pedregon, who won the title near Dallas.