{"id":45061,"date":"2020-10-29T15:13:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T19:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=45061"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:12","slug":"dominant-season-long-performance-by-don-schumacher-racing-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-cars-to-conclude-with-crowning-of-world-champion-at-dodge-nhra-finals-in-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2020\/10\/dominant-season-long-performance-by-don-schumacher-racing-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-cars-to-conclude-with-crowning-of-world-champion-at-dodge-nhra-finals-in-las-vegas.html","title":{"rendered":"Dominant Season-Long Performance by Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT®<\/sup> Hellcat Funny Cars to Conclude with Crowning of World Champion at Dodge NHRA Finals in Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat from the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR)\nstable will be crowned the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing\nSeries Funny Car World Champion this weekend at the Dodge Finals Presented by\nPennzoil. While that is a certainty, there is still heightened anticipation and\ndrama heading into the season finale with much left to be determined on the\ntrack at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, intrigue remains heading into the Dodge NHRA Finals regarding which of the four DSR drivers will be crowned Funny Car World Champion as Matt Hagan (842 points), Tommy Johnson Jr. (800 points), Jack Beckman (799 points) and Ron Capps (679 points) sit 1-2-3-4 respectively atop the standings where they jostled for position all season long while dominating the category. With the adoption of a format awarding points-and-a-half for the final event of the season, all four are still mathematically in contention with 183 points up for grabs. However, the focus is sharply on the three-way battle between Hagan, Johnson, and Beckman, as just 43 points separates them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lot of confidence in\nour team, and our car, and what we\u2019re doing,\u201d says Hagan who will run the\nsinister looking Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye paint scheme for the final\ntime this season in tribute to the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan\nin the world. \u201cWe\u2019ve made up a lot of ground in a little bit of time. We\u2019ve\ndone what we needed to do to put ourselves in this position to have the points\nlead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having won the Funny Car title in\n2011 and 2014, Hagan takes nothing for granted even if he comes into the\nweekend as the defending winner of the event and with the points advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to go out there this\nweekend at the Dodge NHRA Finals Presented by Pennzoil and treat it like a\nregular race,\u201d adds Hagan. \u201cWe want to qualify well and take it one round at a\ntime, and if we can do that, we\u2019ll be successful. We\u2019re 43 points ahead, but\nwith the points-and-a-half deal things can really turn quickly, but I\u2019d rather\nbe leading than following, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now. We\u2019ve got to\nkeep digging, stay focused, and go rounds in Vegas, and if all goes according\nto plan, I\u2019m looking forward to partying hard Sunday night and celebrating with\nmy team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The possibility of an undefeated\nseason looms large for the DSR foursome. They will stage their HEMI\u00ae-powered\nFunny Cars for this weekend\u2019s Dodge NHRA finals having won every national event\nthis year leading up to the season finale with Beckman and Johnson both having\nearned three Wally trophies, while Hagan and Capps have a pair each. While the\nseason schedule was shortened to 11 national events due to the pandemic, the\nfeat is still worthy of note as it is merely an extension of a streak that\nbegan in October of 2019 and has already set the NHRA record for most\nconsecutive wins by a team at 13 national titles, surpassing the previous mark\nof 10 set by the same lineup of DSR drivers in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of this season\u2019s 10 national\nevent wins to date, the DSR teammates have battled head-to-head in the final\nround on six occasions. Johnson has been involved in four of those six Hellcat\nversus Hellcat finals, the latest of which was last weekend in Houston at the\nMopar\u00ae<\/sub> Express Lane SpringNationals, which resulted in his third win and a\nchance to vie for the Funny Car title at the season finale for the first time\nin his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m excited to come into Vegas\nwith a shot at this championship and the team has had a great season,\u201d says\nJohnson who has finished top-three in points on four occasions, including a\nrunner-up finish in the 2016. \u201cIt’s a track where I have had some success and\ndo pretty well at. I’m a round-and-a-half behind Matt (Hagan), and Jack\n(Beckman) is right on our heels. To see the dominance that the Don Schumacher\nFunny Cars have had all season is really exciting. I think we are all excited\nto see if we can’t close out the season and sweep all the races with the DSR\nFunny Cars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funny Car World Champion in 2012,\nBeckman finished runner-up last year and came back strong again this season\nwith a category-leading five final round appearances, winning three Wally\ntrophies, two of them against DSR teammates. He hopes to collect some hardware\non Sunday as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s probably going to be one of\nthe most thrilling conclusions ever and I fully expect the Funny Car\nchampionship is probably going to go down to the final round of the final race\non the final day of the season,\u201d says Beckman. \u201cFor a fan that’s amazing and\nfrom a driver’s perspective that’s the deal you want; to be in it going into\nthe last race of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as we win the race and\nMatt (Hagan)’s car is not in the other lane for the final round, I would\nconsider that as perfect a year to a season as I’ve ever had, so I\u2019m very much\nlooking forward to this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capps first climbed into a Funny\nCar in 1997 and captured his world championship in 2016. At the conclusion of\nthe 2020 NHRA season he will have finished Top 10 in points for 16 consecutive\nseasons and earned a Wally from every NHRA drag strip he has raced in his\nillustrious career. Should he finish out the year in fourth place or better,\nthis year will mark the 14th<\/sup> time he will have a wrapped up a\nseason in the Top 5.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After battling atop the Top Fuel\nstandings all season long, Leah Pruett saw her championship hopes put on hold\nuntil next year after a quarterfinal holeshot loss at last weekend\u2019s Mopar\nExpress Lane SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park. However, Pruett will\nstill be pursuing a win in the finale in order to put her \u201cDemon-possessed\u201d\nDodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed dragster firmly in the top-three in the\nTop Fuel standings to improve upon the pair of career-best fourth place\nfinishes posted the last two seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruett will also close out the\nseason by also taking the wheel of her Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak in\nFactory Stock Showdown (FSS) competition alongside her teammate Mark Pawuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Pawuk, while the winner of\nthe FSS championship was determined last weekend at Houston after his semifinal\nmatchup and loss to points leader Aaron Stanfield, he\u2019ll work to secure a\nrunner-up finish in the standings for the Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak with\nfour more rounds of racing left on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 NHRA season will\nconclude this weekend at the Dodge NHRA Finals in Las Vegas with FS1 television\ncoverage airing on Sunday, Nov. 1, from 4- 7 p.m. ET and featuring live\ncoverage of the final rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NHRA Championship Points Standings:<\/strong> (Following the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil)
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 842 (2)<\/em><\/strong>
2. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 800 (3)<\/em><\/strong>
3. Jack Beckman (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 799 (3)<\/em><\/strong>
4. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 679 (2)<\/em><\/strong>
5. Bob Tasca III \u2013 595
6. J.R. Todd \u2013 584
7. Tim Wilkerson \u2013 570
8. Alexis DeJoria \u2013 489
9. Cruz Pedregon \u2013 388
10. Paul Lee \u2013 382 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOP FUEL (season wins in\nparentheses)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Steve Torrance \u2013 868 (4)
2. Doug Kalitta \u2013 767 (1)
3. Billy Torrence \u2013 675 (1)
4. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge\/\/SRT) \u2013 670<\/em><\/strong>
5. Shawn Langdon \u2013 544 (1)
6. Antron Brown \u2013 534
7. Justin Ashley \u2013 485 (1)
8. Terry McMillen \u2013 436
9. Tony Schumacher \u2013 415 (1)
10. Clay Millican \u2013 414 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae Hellcat from the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) stable will be crowned the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Series Funny Car World Champion this weekend at the Dodge Finals Presented by Pennzoil. While that is a certainty, there is still heightened anticipation and drama heading into the season finale with much left to be determined on the track at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway. First and foremost, intrigue remains heading into the Dodge NHRA Finals regarding which of the four DSR drivers will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":45067,"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-45061","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\/2020\/10\/matthaganfeature.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\/45061"}],"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=45061"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59048,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45061\/revisions\/59048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}