Johnson Drives Make-A-Wish Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to Victory in Las Vegas, Loge Wins Super Stock in Barracuda

Las Vegas – The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series made its first of two 2017 trips to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, and the event ended the same way the season’s first three races have: with a Mopar HEMI®-powered Nitro machine in the winner’s circle.

Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T from the No. 6 qualifying position to victory in the 18th annual NHRA Nationals, defeating Swedish driver Jonnie Lindberg from the right lane on a pass of 3.933 seconds at 323.66 mph with a .059-second reaction time. Lindberg turned in lap of 4.016 at 302.14 with a .071. The victory is the 14th Funny Car win for Johnson (who has also has two Top Fuel victories) and the third for the Mopar Funny Cars from the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) stable this season. Johnson, a native of Ottumwa, Iowa, previously won in Las Vegas in 2001.

Not only did Mopar take home the Funny Car victory this weekend, Dodge and Plymouth vehicles also made headlines in the Sportsman classes, with Mike Loge collecting the Super Stock event win in his SS/LA ’72 Plymouth Barracuda.

Funny Car driver Johnson was not qualified after Friday’s first two sessions, but after Saturday found himself in the sixth spot. He began his Sunday march to the class win by beating Dodge driver Jim Campbell in the first round before besting Robert Hight in the second after a Hight red light. Johnson next knocked out 16-time Funny Car champion John Force to reach the final against Lindberg.

Johnson’s teammate and current Funny Car points leader, Matt Hagan, drove his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T to the second round of competition in Las Vegas. He knocked out Del Worsham in the first round, then found himself matched up against another champion in the form of John Force in round two. Hagan’s car dropped a cylinder, allowing Force to claim the round win.

Jack Beckman also took his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the second round after Cruz Pedregon redlighted in the first. Beckman then dropped a cylinder to be bested by upstart Lindberg in round two.

2016 Funny Car champion Ron Capps made an unusual first-round exit when he was defeated by Jonnie Lindberg after Capps’ NAPA Dodge Charger R/T also had cylinder issues.

In Top Fuel, Mopar fell short of victory for the first time this season, but Tony Schumacher took his Mopar-powered, U.S. Army-backed machine to the final round for the second consecutive event after winning the Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway two weeks ago. In Las Vegas, Schumacher fell to Antron Brown in a rematch of the Gatornationals finale.

Schumacher made a solo pass in the first round after scheduled competitor Terry Haddock had mechanical issues and was unable to make the starting line, then took down Terry McMillen in round two with both cars having cylinders out. He defeated the stout Doug Kalitta in the semis before lining up against Brown in the final.

Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster driver Leah Pritchett defeated Troy Buff in the opening round, then took on Brittany Force in a rematch of the NHRA Arizona Nationals final just over a month ago. Like she did in Phoenix, Pritchett defeated Force and found herself matched up against 2016 Top Fuel champion Brown, where her day came to an end in the semifinals.

The Las Vegas track is known to be one of the most difficult ones on the NHRA circuit for drivers and tuners alike due to the facility’s elevation and unique setting, forcing many to gamble on setups between each pass. This year a sandstorm on Thursday evening, rain on Friday, cool temperatures Friday evening, wind throughout the weekend and a hot track on Sunday wreaked havoc with teams, forcing many to make less-than-stellar passes and creating a number of upsets.