{"id":16071,"date":"2018-05-07T09:50:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T13:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=16071"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:25:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:25:07","slug":"mopar-dodge-srt-nhra-mello-yello-drag-racing-series-notes-quotes-nhra-southern-nationals-commerce-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2018\/05\/mopar-dodge-srt-nhra-mello-yello-drag-racing-series-notes-quotes-nhra-southern-nationals-commerce-georgia.html","title":{"rendered":"Mopar®<\/sub> Dodge\/\/SRT®<\/sup> NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series: Notes & Quotes NHRA Southern Nationals, Commerce, Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leah Pritchett, Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Dodge\/FireAde Top Fuel Dragster<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 4 Qualifier \u2013 3.788 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis win feels incredible. It\u2019s been a while, but I think a (win) drought is all relative. This FireAde\/Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>\/U.S. Army team knows what it\u2019s like to win and we still have that in our hearts and that\u2019s what we grasp to. And, yes, we may have been the only Top Fuel car for DSR that advanced out of the first round today, but we felt the world of support from the entire organization knowing they were all behind us as we made our run to this win today. Thank you, Don Schumacher, for believing in me and giving me a chance two years ago. And for all of Don Schumacher Racing, all the fans, all the guys back at the shop that put those racecars together and keep us safe, this one is for you. It was a special weekend here in Atlanta for a lot of reasons, including the ability to fulfill a dream of Make-A-Wish child Luci Toman. She is a true inspiration and it was great having her with me all weekend. We both got our dreams to come true this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Hagan, Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 11 Qualifier \u2013 4.054 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAll in all, a good day. It\u2019s like old-school match racing with this track prep. (Crew chief) Dickie Venables did a great job adapting. I can\u2019t say enough about my Mopar Express Lane Dodge team. We had a hole out, killed the tree. It was all there for the taking, it was just a matter of it all coming together, but hey, it\u2019s drag racing. We\u2019ll go to Topeka and get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

On starting race day from the back half of the field:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve won from the back, I\u2019ve won from the front; it\u2019s just a matter of being in it to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 10 Qualifier \u2013 4.038 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a competitor and I\u2019m always upset when we get beat, but you\u2019ve got to recognize big picture. We did a good job this weekend. We went to the semifinals; we lost to another Mopar, so we know a Don Schumacher Dodge is going to be in the final round. We\u2019re going a long way towards inching towards that championship so there\u2019s no reason not to feel optimistic moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 3 Qualifier \u2013 3.968 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a really good racecar and I felt confident going into the day. It\u2019s been a really hard track to navigate. There\u2019s bumps out there and they\u2019re experimenting with track prep. We seemed to have been adapting pretty well, but, unfortunately, the bump got us the second round. It was in the lead and pulling away then hits the bump and comes loose. It\u2019s aggravating, but we\u2019ll keep learning and see if we can\u2019t make what we learned today work for us down the road and make us better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 12 Qualifier \u2013 4.107 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe came in as defending champions in this race last year. It\u2019s a tricky track with tricky conditions and we thought we were going to take the NAPA Dodge in the winner\u2019s circle again, but we got stuck in the left lane. It\u2019s a little more difficult to get down there. We had Cruz Pedregon, who\u2019s probably got the toughest car right now in the class. You\u2019re always disappointed when you don\u2019t win, but I think we made huge gains as far as where we started out Friday in qualifying. We\u2019re going to go on to Topeka, where we won last year and see if we can\u2019t get back in winner\u2019s circle there and start the streak that we did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 5 Qualifier \u2013 3.794 ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew we were in trouble as soon as I hit the gas. Litton had only gone down the track once all weekend and we weren\u2019t taking him lightly. We were prepared to make a run in the 3.70s. Hats off to him for making it down the track again, we just couldn\u2019t get by him on seven cylinders. You do everything you can to be ready, but sometimes in racing, something out of your control costs you. This U.S. Army team is filled with incredibly talented and smart people, and we will not give up. I know we will win races. It\u2019s on to Topeka now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to Leah Pritchett for putting the Mopar and Dodge brands in the winner\u2019s circle at the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Leah\u2019s victory also marks the third for a Mopar-powered driver in seven NHRA events and puts an exclamation point on our brand\u2019s early-season success on the drag strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Beahm, Head of Passenger Cars, Dodge\/\/SRT\u00ae<\/sup>, Chrysler and FIAT\u00ae<\/sup>, FCA North America<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHats off to Leah Pritchett for earning her first victory of the season at the NHRA Southern Nationals. With three wins early on in the season, it\u2019s clear the combination of Dodge, Mopar and the Don Schumacher Racing organization is a successful one.\u201d<\/p>\n

2018 NHRA Championship \u2014 Point Standings After Round 7 of 24 <\/strong>(Season Wins in Parentheses)<\/p>\n

NHRA Top Fuel <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Steve Torrence (3) \u2013 581<\/li>\n
  2. Tony Schumacher, Mopar HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> \u2013 461<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Doug Kalitta (1) \u2013 458<\/li>\n
  4. Clay Millican \u2013 448<\/li>\n
  5. Leah Pritchett, Mopar Dodge HEMI (1) \u2013 435<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Antron Brown \u2013 390<\/li>\n
  7. Brittany Force (1) \u2013 375<\/li>\n
  8. Terry McMillen \u2013 336<\/li>\n
  9. Richie Crampton (1) \u2013 280<\/li>\n
  10. Mike Salinas \u2013 275<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    NHRA Funny Car<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Courtney Force (2) \u2013 546<\/li>\n
    2. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger R\/T (1) \u2013 538<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger R\/T (1) \u2013 487<\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R\/T \u2013 436<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. J.R. Todd (2) \u2013 428<\/li>\n
    6. Robert Hight \u2013 421<\/li>\n
    7. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R\/T \u2013 404<\/strong><\/li>\n
    8. Cruz Pedregon (1) \u2013 357<\/li>\n
    9. Shawn Langdon \u2013 301<\/li>\n
    10. Tim Wilkerson \u2013 293<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Leah Pritchett, Mopar\u00ae Dodge\/FireAde Top Fuel Dragster No. 4 Qualifier \u2013 3.788 ET \u201cThis win feels incredible. It\u2019s been a while, but I think a (win) drought is all relative. This FireAde\/Mopar\u00ae\/U.S. Army team knows what it\u2019s like to win and we still have that in our hearts and that\u2019s what we grasp to. And, yes, we may have been the only Top Fuel car for DSR that advanced out of the first round today, but we felt the world of support from the entire organization knowing they were all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":16106,"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-16071","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\/2018\/05\/nhra-southern-nat-recap-notes-thumbnail.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16071"}],"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=16071"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43966,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16071\/revisions\/43966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}