Pritchett Takes No. 1 Qualifying Spot, Track Record for Mopar in Top Fuel at NHRA Sonoma 
 

July 29, 2017 , Sonoma, Calif. -  For the second week in a row, Leah Pritchett and her Mopar HEMI^®-powered Top Fuel dragster will begin Sunday’s elimination rounds from the No. 1 position.

Pritchett set a Sonoma Raceway elapsed-time track record with a pass of 3.669 seconds at 304.80 mph during Friday’s second qualifying session for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. The time, recorded in prime conditions under the lights, held throughout the two ensuing qualifying rounds on Saturday, giving the Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil team from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) their fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the year and second in as many weeks. They also set quick time with a track record last weekend during the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Colorado’s Bandimere Speedway.

The No. 1 position was the sixth of Pritchett’s career overall.

Mopar has now claimed quick time in the Top Fuel category during more than half of the events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar this season. Pritchett’s Mopar teammate Tony Schumacher has set low E.T. on three occasions in 2017, bringing the total No. 1 qualifying efforts to eight between the two drivers as the schedule reaches Sonoma for the year’s 15th event. Schumacher qualified fifth in the U.S. Army car.

In Funny Car, Jack Beckman led the way for Mopar and Dodge. He qualified his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T from DSR in the No. 3 spot, while two of his teammates will join him in the top six when Sunday’s elimination rounds get underway.

Tommy Johnson Jr. recovered from a wild ride in Q1 in which he lost a tire and hit the wall to put his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T in the fifth position, while Matt Hagan and the Mopar 80th/Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T team qualified No. 6. The fourth driver from the DSR camp, Ron Capps, will begin Sunday from the 12th spot in his Mopar Dodge.

Mopar/Dodge Notes & Quotes
(best elapsed time in bold)

Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 1, will face No. 16 Terry Haddock
Friday: (3.729 seconds at 328.38 mph – Q1); (3.669/304.80 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.782/324.51 – Q3); (3.906/247.61 – Q4)

“We’re definitely on a roll. It’s probably the highest confidence that we can have going into Sunday, also keeping in mind that anything can happen no matter who you’re racing. So today we took this track extremely seriously, trying to get down it in like conditions for tomorrow.

“We’re ramping up our details, we’re ramping up our strategy, we are looking constantly to improve. That didn’t show for a little while, but it’s showing now. The true colors of this team are showing, and that’s the dedication, that’s the no-sleep hours and that’s the smarts that I see and I just couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this team.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar 80th/Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 6, will face No. 11 Del Worsham
Friday: (3.904 seconds at 330.39 mph – Q1); (10.105/82.71 – Q2)
Saturday: (9.862/76.78 – Q3); (6.373/104.79 – Q4)
 
Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 3, will face No. 14 Jonnie Lindberg
Friday: (8.640 seconds at 80.39 mph – Q1); (3.854/328.70 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.983/320.28 – Q3); (3.910/324.83 – Q4)

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 5, will face No. 12 Ron Capps
Friday: (DQ, contacted wall – Q1); (3.908/327.43 – Q2)
Saturday: (25.607/40.78 – Q3); (3.896/325.85 – Q4)

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 12, will face No. 5 Tommy Johnson Jr.
Friday: (4.032 seconds at 306.12 mph – Q1); (7.001/96.47 – Q2)
Saturday: (4.000/321.96 – Q3); (5.571/126.10 – Q4)

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 5, will face No. 12 Scott Palmer
Friday: (3.769 seconds at 326.79 mph – Q1); (3.709/328.30 – Q2)
Saturday: (10.360/70.68 – Q3); (9.893/70.84 – Q4)
 
Tune-in Info
The FOX Network will broadcast the elimination rounds from the 30th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway LIVE at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 30.

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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