{"id":13771,"date":"2017-07-26T12:42:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T16:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drivesrt.com\/news\/?p=13771"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:25:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:25:37","slug":"mopardodge-notes-quotes-route-66-nationals-joliet-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2017\/07\/mopardodge-notes-quotes-route-66-nationals-joliet-il.html","title":{"rendered":"Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>\/Dodge Notes & Quotes: Route 66 Nationals, Joliet, IL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capps Wins Sixth Wally, Extends Points Lead<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ron Capps, NAPA Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/strong>
\nNo. 9 Qualifier – 3.942 seconds at 292.08 mph<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a season you can\u2019t even dream about. It may have looked on the outside like maybe we were struggling (this weekend) and I\u2019m sure some of our opponents may have thought the same. But as every Sunday goes with (crew chief) Rahn Tobler, he wakes up in the morning and he is a big-picture guy. It\u2019s so fun to race with him and he\u2019s taught me a lot. I get up to drive that car and make him proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis weekend, on top of everything else with Terry (Chandler), the fans were just crazy. You already knew how much she was loved, but people that had never met her before were wanting to give their respects. Then to be lined up with one of her cars (in the final), I saw her standing outside my car because I guess you just get so used to it and I had to shake my head for a second. You\u2019re not used to her not being here. So it was a very emotional weekend. Bittersweet, but at the same time, it\u2019s a DSR car and I\u2019m glad we can give Don (Schumacher) the trophy to do what he\u2019s going to do with her family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Hagan, Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Express Lane Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/strong>
\nNo. 4 Qualifier – 3.895 seconds at 332.10 mph<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would do things a little different than what we did in the semis, but we still went to the semis. Obviously, we\u2019re trying to catch (Ron) Capps and he\u2019s just kind of pulling away. But that\u2019s why they have the Countdown nowadays. So we\u2019re just going to keep working on it. I wouldn\u2019t trade (crew chief) Dickie Venables or (assistant) Mike Knudsen for anybody out here. I know when things cool down a little bit, nobody can touch our racecar so I\u2019m really looking forward to the Countdown and the last six races.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leah Pritchett, Papa John\u2019s Pizza\/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster\u00a0<\/strong>
\nNo. 2 Qualifier – 3.723 seconds at 326.56 mph<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never a good thing when you race Antron Brown in the second round; you want to meet him in a final. Our issue in the second round was our clutch regulator had hung open and we smoked the tires. We hadn\u2019t smoked the tires all weekend. But more than anything, we\u2019re proud of the nine points we picked up in qualifying, which almost equals out to a round win. But, man, every little bit counts between (Steve) Torrence and Antron.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a high note, going out there, Antron and I were pretty much side-by-side. I go up in smoke, I pedal it one time and then I see he\u2019s on a clean run and there\u2019s no way I\u2019m getting to the finish line now before him, even if he chucks the belt. That\u2019s doing two things at once. You\u2019re racing, you\u2019re trying to make it, but you\u2019re also being smart about your moves because we have a big swing coming up that\u2019s going to require a lot of parts and pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/strong>
\nNo. 6 Qualifier – 3.913 seconds at 3260.00 mph<\/strong>
\n\u201cIt was a tough weekend for everybody with the loss of Terry (Chandler). I\u2019m proud of the guys for sticking together and wanting to go out here and win this thing for Terry. To have to put the stickers on the car in memory of her was tough and we wanted nothing more than to win this race for her. No matter what, I know she was proud of us. But we wanted to win this one awful bad for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/strong>
\nNo. 2 Qualifier – 3.856 seconds at 330.23 mph<\/strong>
\n\u201cNormally, I leave here with a philosophical approach and a silver-lining type of thing. We really just had one goal this weekend. Terry (Chandler) was just laid to rest and we wanted to put her car in the winner\u2019s circle. We didn\u2019t get it done. So that\u2019s a little bit heartbreaking. To put it in context, though, we get a chance at another race. We can still do some great things for her and for Infinite Hero the rest of the year. We\u2019ll have a week to look at data and think about it. It\u2019s been a tough weekend. I thought today would be a little bit easier for me to flip that switch and go into race mode. Once the car started, it was okay; but when it\u2019s not, it\u2019s a tough day. It\u2019s just a lot to deal with having lost somebody that did so much for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster<\/strong>
\nNo. 5 Qualifier – 3.758 seconds at 325.37 mph<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>\u201cThat was a terrible way to end a weekend at home. The game has always been a timing thing and you can push blame off and make excuses. I had a terrible light. I thought he redlighted, but I still should have had a much better light. The bottom line is that I need to get better. I need to do a better job and the car needs to run faster. As a team, we just have to be better and I have all the confidence that we will get it together. I am surrounded by an incredible group of people and this U.S. Army team will be ready when we show up on the mountain in a couple weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next Event<\/strong>
\nThe yearly Western Swing is up next on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, kicking off in two weeks with the 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, near Denver. Last year, Mopar Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher took the event win in the category, his third at the track. Jack Beckman leads all current Mopar Funny Car drivers with three wins at the facility, while Ron Capps has one.<\/p>\n

Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson has claimed seven \u201cKing of the Mountain\u201d titles to lead all current competitors, including a win at Bandimere last summer.<\/p>\n

Mopar will host a number of special events throughout the week, including a block party in downtown Golden, Colorado, on the evening of Thursday, July 20.<\/p>\n

The Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals will take place July 21 – 23, with qualifying coverage provided by FOX Sports 1. The FOX Network will broadcast eliminations LIVE on Sunday, July 23 at 3 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

For more information on Mopar and Dodge in NHRA, check out the Mopar brand’s official blog,\u00a0http:\/\/blog.mopar.com.<\/p>\n

2017 NHRA Championship – Point Standings After Round 13 of 24<\/strong>
\n(Season Wins in Parentheses)<\/p>\n

NHRA Funny Car<\/strong>
\n1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R\/T (6) – 1,208<\/strong>
\n2. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger R\/T (3) – 1,022
\n3. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R\/T (2) – 914<\/strong>
\n4. Robert Hight – 853
\n5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R\/T (1) – 833<\/strong>
\n6. Courtney Force – 749
\n7. John Force (1) – 718
\n8. Tim Wilkerson – 599
\n9. J.R. Todd – 559
\n10. Cruz Pedregon – 463<\/p>\n

NHRA Top Fuel<\/strong>
\n1. Steve Torrence (5) – 1,188
\n2. Leah Pritchett, Mopar HEMI (3) – 1,087<\/strong>
\n3. Antron Brown (2) – 1,085
\n4. Tony Schumacher, Mopar HEMI (1) – 894<\/strong>
\n5. Doug Kalitta – 813
\n6. Brittany Force (1) – 795
\n7. Clay Millican (1) – 773
\n8. Terry McMillen – 509
\n9. Scott Palmer – 496
\n10. Troy Coughlin Jr. – 480<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capps Wins Sixth Wally, Extends Points Lead Ron Capps, NAPA Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car No. 9 Qualifier – 3.942 seconds at 292.08 mph \u201cIt\u2019s been a season you can\u2019t even dream about. It may have looked on the outside like maybe we were struggling (this weekend) and I\u2019m sure some of our opponents may have thought the same. But as every Sunday goes with (crew chief) Rahn Tobler, he wakes up in the morning and he is a big-picture guy. It\u2019s so fun to race […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":13773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[528,849,615],"class_list":["post-13771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-drag-racing","tag-dsr","tag-nhra"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Route-66-Nationals_SportsHighlight_Thumbnail.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59217,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13771\/revisions\/59217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}