Schumacher Leads Mopar Drivers After Day One of Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals Qualifying
 

July 21, 2017 , Morrison, Colo. -  The first day of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals is in the books, with Tony Schumacher leading Mopar-powered drivers after two qualifying sessions at Bandimere Speedway. Schumacher made a 3.776-second pass at 326.63 mph during the second session in his HEMI^®-powered U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster. The run was good enough to put him No. 3 currently at the track just outside of Denver.

Schumacher’s Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate in the Top Fuel ranks, Leah Pritchett, sits in the sixth position.

The Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars from DSR, driven by Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Matt Hagan, are eighth, ninth, 11th and 16th, respectively, on Thunder Mountain.

Hagan unveiled a new paint scheme this weekend celebrating Mopar’s 80th anniversary, but struggled in both qualifying sessions on Friday. He and his teammates will all look to improve during Saturday’s final two qualifying attempts.

This weekend’s race kicks off the Western Swing and is the 14th event overall on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Pritchett Defeats Hagan in First Demon Match Race
Mopar drivers Leah Pritchett and Matt Hagan also took part in the official public drag strip debut of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon on Friday at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. The two battled for bragging rights in the 840-horsepower machines, with Pritchett just besting Hagan in the quarter-mile contest. The two drivers will go head to head again on Saturday, July 22, between the third and fourth qualifying sessions.

16th Annual Mopar Mile-High Block Party
The 16th edition of the Mopar Mile-High Block Party kicked off this weekend’s festivities in downtown Golden, Colorado, on the evening of Thursday, July 20. The event was hosted by Willie B. of 106.7 KBPI FM and featured a Mopar driver autograph session, live music, a Mopar car show and dozens of giveaways on packed streets in the historic Colorado town.

Mopar/Dodge Notes & Quotes

Matt Hagan, Mopar 80th/Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
“It was a rough day on the mountain. Obviously at the sponsor’s race we’d like to do a little better than that, but maybe we’ll get all these issues out of the way the first day and then tomorrow will be all right. So we’ll get back after it again tomorrow and see what happens, but obviously we’d like to do better than what we did today.”

Tune-in Info
The 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals continue on Saturday, July 22, with FOX Sports 1 slated to broadcast the final two qualifying sessions that evening at 12:30 a.m. ET.

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 on a smartphone app

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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