Pritchett, Johnson qualify third to lead DSR in Carolina Nationals; Hagan faces monumental match-up Sunday to open Countdown

CONCORD, NC – Reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps wants to celebrate a disappointing No. 10 qualifying position after Sunday’s eliminations in the 10th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, buy teammate Matt Hagan also has a lot riding on his opening race.

Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil arrived at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte with a 20-point lead in the Countdown to the Championship standings after winning the regular season title.

Second in points is Robert Hight of John Force Racing while Hagan is third, only 10 points behind Hight.

While Capps has a stout match-up against Tim Wilkerson to open racing at noon (EDT), Hagan, who qualified 11th, faces the higher seeded Hight.

Hagan, a Virginia cattle farmer and two-time world champion, owns three titles from zMAX in but could only muster a No. 11 qualifying position in his Freightliner Funny Car at one of his home tracks, but was the quickest DSR Dodge in the last session.

“It is what it is, man. It’s hot out here,” he said. “Obviously on a 130-degree racetrack it’s tough to negotiate it as far as tuning and driving. It’s home so we need to put on a show. We’ve made two decent runs out of four to work off. On our last lap, (crew chief) Dickie Venables kind of started reeling it in (4.000/323.89) and understanding where the track’s at in these conditions.

“We’ll be just fine tomorrow. It’s probably going to be similar conditions, maybe a little cooler first round, press a little bit more so we’ll see what happens.”
While the Capps’ NAPA AUTO PARTS team led by crew chief Rahn Tobler was disappointed with qualifying 10th, it produced its best run of the weekend of 3.980 seconds and 323.04 mph on Saturday’s last run in the heat of the day under conditions similar to what is expected for Sunday.

“We wanted to get some qualifying points but the main goal is being ready to run on Sunday,” said Capps, who won the Four Wide Nationals title at the track in April. “Tobler was able to give us our best time on our last run and that gives us confidence going into eliminations.”

The quickest Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing is Tommy Johnson Jr. in Terry and Doug Chandler’s Make-A-Wish Dodge that held onto the No. 3 qualifying spot.

Johnson powered to a 3.901 (325.06) Friday with crew chief John Collins and assistant Rip Reynolds and the day’s temperatures in the low 80s under mostly sunny skies made it a challenge to get the necessary traction.

“It was a nice qualifying effort. It’s going to be warm again tomorrow and the hotter tracks have been our forte,” said Johnson, ranked fifth in points. “So if we can go out there and put four solid runs together tomorrow and get off to a good start in the Countdown that’s what I’m looking for.”

In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett with crew chief Todd Okuhara and assistant Joe Barlam were third quickest in both sessions on Friday and will be the No. 3 seed Sunday. Her second run Friday was the best for the Papa John’s Pizza/FireAde team that was unable to improve on Saturday.

“Our No. 3 spot’s a great seed, great qualifying points, that’s what we’ve been looking for. Didn’t quite pick up as many qualifying points as we were looking for, but what counts most is what you have at the end of race day.

“Everything is going forward and we’re excited about the opportunities. A lot of our competition is on fire and we’re just going to use our FireAde and put it out as best we can.”

Three-time and reigning Mello Yello Top Fuel champion Antron Brown is ranked fourth but was unable to make a full pull in the heat on Saturday in the Matco Tools dragster led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald with assistant Brad Mason.

“We know the Countdown starts right here tomorrow, but we’ve been in this mindset for quite some time,” said Brown. “It’s been serious for us every race. We’ve been battling and trying to win every race we can right now. This race is no different. We are just poised right now and I think we are coming into our own in that zone that we need to be in to compete at a high level in this Countdown. We’re looking forward to the challenge of getting out there tomorrow and seeing what we can make happen.”

U.S. Army’s eight-time championTony Schumacher struggled on Friday’s two qualifying sessions but improved to make two solid runs in the heat on Saturday afternoon at zMAX Dragway in conditions similar to what is expected for Sunday’s eliminations.

“Today was great,” said Schumacher. “I’m really proud of these U.S. Army guys led by Mike Green. We made two really good laps today in hot conditions, which is what we are expecting tomorrow. The data shows us that we got the early numbers in that last run and that’s great. We have something we can work it. Tomorrow is trophy day and they are only giving out one.”

The Carolina Nationals is the first of six events in the Countdown to the Championship playoff that will determine NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world champions.

Qualifying resumes Saturday with sessions at 1:30 and 4 p.m. (EDT) heading to Sunday’s noon eliminations.