Mopar Driver Schumacher Puts Top Fuel Dragster No. 1 in Abbreviated Atlanta Qualifying

May 6, 2017 , Commerce, Ga. -  Due to persistent rain on Friday, competitors in the Nitro categories of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series had only two tries this weekend to lay down the quickest qualifying lap for the 37th annual Southern Nationals. It mattered little to eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and his Mopar-backed team. They put HEMI^® power No. 1 in the Top Fuel category during their last chance to claim the top spot at Atlanta Dragway on Saturday afternoon.

­­­­Schumacher turned in a lap of 3.736 seconds at 325.45 mph in his U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster during Saturday’s second and final round of the one-day qualifying program. The pass was good enough to claim the fourth No. 1 qualifying position for Mopar-powered Top Fuel cars fielded by Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) this year. It is the 82nd No. 1 of Schumacher’s career and puts him in prime position to pick up his first win at the track northeast of Atlanta.

Schumacher also claimed the No. 1 spot at the Gatornationals in March, while his teammate Leah Pritchett has been the top qualifier in the Top Fuel category on two occasions in 2017. Pritchett will start from No. 11 on the elimination ladder in her Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil machine.

Friday’s washout meant that each team got just two passes on Saturday instead of the usual four scheduled over the first two days of the event.

Mopar Funny Cars also made the best of the abbreviated schedule, with three of the four in the DSR contingent making laps that will put them in the top four when the elimination ladder begins to pare down the 16-car field on Sunday. Matt Hagan led the way in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, turning in a pass of 3.930 seconds at 325.45 mph to put him in the No. 2 position. Tommy Johnson Jr. qualified No. 3, while Ron Capps laid down a lap that puts him in the No. 4 spot.

Five Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car drivers are in the running to hoist the Wally trophy.

Mopar/Dodge Notes & Quotes
(best elapsed time in bold)
*Friday qualifying sessions rained out

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 1, will face No. 16 Brittany Force
Saturday: (3.778 seconds at 323.35 mph – Q1); (3.736/325.45 – Q2)

“The first round was a decent run and we’ve been suffering through too many decent runs. We’ve been putting cylinders out and (crew chief) Mike (Green) on that last run said, ‘We’re making a change. We’ve absolutely got to make a change.’ That thing was just stuck in from the beginning to the end. It was a good, straight run down the racetrack. I couldn’t be happier going into racing No. 1.

“This is the only race that the trophy doesn’t sit on my shelf. We’re going in No. 1; we’ve got every chance in the world to win it now.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 2, will face No. 15 Cruz Pedregon
Saturday: (5.516 seconds at 129.16 mph – Q1); (3.930/325.45 – Q2)

Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 11, will face No. 6 Terry McMillen
Saturday: (3.862 seconds at 304.05 mph – Q1); (6.513/98.56 – Q2)

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 3, will face No. 14 Jack Beckman
Saturday: (4.731 seconds at 169.85 mph – Q1); (3.937/319.97– Q2)

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 4, will face No. 13 J.R. Todd
Saturday: (5.537 seconds at 15.30 mph – Q1); (3.955/323.97 – Q2)

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 14, will face No. 3 Tommy Johnson Jr.
Saturday: (5.584 seconds at 124.27 mph – Q1); (5.738/120.08 – Q2)

Tune-In Info
FOX Sports 1 will broadcast the elimination rounds from the 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 7.

For more information on Mopar and Dodge in NHRA, check out the Mopar brand’s official blog, http://blog.mopar.com.

About Mopar Motorsports
The Mopar brand’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2016, thanks to Don Schumacher Racing driver Ron Capps, Mopar captured its fourth NHRA Funny Car World Championship in the last six years. As Mopar celebrates 80 years as a brand in 2017, it will focus its NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series efforts on NHRA Funny Car and, with rising star Leah Pritchett, NHRA Top Fuel Dragster. Mopar will also bolster its commitment to NHRA Sportsman racing with new contingency rewards, factory support and at-track technical advice and guidance.

Mopar-First Features
During the brand’s 80 years, Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
• wiADVISOR: first to incorporate a tablet-based service lane tool
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format

Mopar
Mopar is the global name for Stellantis genuine parts and authentic accessories.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over more than 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar  expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com and the newly redesigned Mopar blog at www.blog.mopar.com. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

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