{"id":51188,"date":"2021-05-18T15:08:29","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T19:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=51188"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:21:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:28","slug":"mopar-and-dodge-srt-entries-have-high-horsepower-hopes-heading-to-houston-for-mopar-express-lane-nhra-springnationals-presented-by-pennzoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2021\/05\/mopar-and-dodge-srt-entries-have-high-horsepower-hopes-heading-to-houston-for-mopar-express-lane-nhra-springnationals-presented-by-pennzoil.html","title":{"rendered":"Mopar<sup>&reg;<\/sup> and Dodge\/\/SRT<sub>&reg;<\/sub> Entries Have High-Horsepower Hopes Heading to Houston for Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The National Hot Rod Association\n(NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series is headed to Texas this week for the\n34th annual Mopar<sub>\u00ae<\/sub> Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil, returning\nto its original early-season date at Houston Raceway Park after a rescheduled\nfall edition took place last October. The sea-level drag strip located near\nBaytown, a suburb of Houston, is known for high-horsepower performances and\nrecord runs when cool air blows in from the Gulf of Mexico.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be back on the\ntrack with\nour partners from Pennzoil for the Mopar Express Lane\nNHRA SpringNationals,\u201d said Mark Bosanac, North America Vice President,\nMopar Service, Parts &amp; Customer Care. \u201cWe look forward to cheering on our\ndrivers as they compete for wins while showcasing the Mopar\nbrand to ultra-passionate drag racing enthusiasts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This weekend\u2019s competition marks\nthe first of five NHRA national events supported by Mopar and Dodge\/\/SRT<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> title\nsponsorship during the NHRA\u2019s 70th anniversary season. The four other upcoming\nnational events which will see the brands\u2019 support in 2021 are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>July 16-18 \u2013 Dodge\/\/SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Denver)<\/li><li>Sept. 1-5 \u2013 Dodge\/\/SRT U.S. Nationals (Indianapolis)<\/li><li>Sept. 10-12 \u2013 Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Reading, Pennsylvania)<\/li><li>Oct. 29-Nov. 1 \u2013 Dodge\/\/SRT NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil (Las Vegas)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Houston venue will be\nappropriately dressed for spring with the yellow, white and blue signature look\nof Mopar Express Lane brand signage. This signage is synonymous with the speedy\nin-and-out, high-quality, factory-backed service by certified technicians who\nkeep customer vehicles in tip-top shape while providing everything from\nconvenient oil changes to complimentary multi-point check-ups.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the two HEMI<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>-powered Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) nitro-fueled entries of Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett will prominently feature eye-catching Pennzoil primary paint schemes for the brand\u2019s home race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the May 21-23 event, fans\nwill be invited to visit Mopar\u2019s exhibit at the track\u2019s Manufacturers Midway where\nthey have the opportunity to feel the thrill of being in the driver\u2019s seat\naboard an actual Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car simulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On-track action begins Friday at\nHouston Raceway Park, with reigning Funny Car world champion Hagan looking to\nearn an elusive first win of the 2021 season aboard his Pennzoil Mopar Dodge\nCharger SRT Hellcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pumped up to get to Houston,\u201d says\nHagan. \u201cThat\u2019s where I got my first NHRA Funny Car win, so it will always have\na special place in my heart. Houston always brings a great crowd, it\u2019s a great\nfacility and it\u2019s a Pennzoil race track. There\u2019s nothing better than going to\nyour partner\u2019s event at a partner\u2019s track and we really want to put on a great\nshow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have a great race car underneath me and\nit\u2019s handling well and responding to the changes we\u2019re making to it,\u201d adds\nHagan, who goes into this weekend fourth in the standings with a runner-up and\nsemifinal finish after four events. \u201cWe\u2019re coming off of a hard knock in\nCharlotte and just focused on redeeming ourselves in Houston. We\u2019re excited to\nsee all of the folks down there in Baytown and it should be a fun weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hagan\u2019s DSR teammate, Capps, has\ntaken home four Wally trophies from Houston (2006, 2007, 2015 and 2017) during\nhis 27-year tenure and came close to adding another at the October 2020 edition\nwith a runner-up finish. Capps has qualified in the top-five at every event so\nfar this year but would like to have four solid runs on Sunday aboard his Dodge\nCharger SRT Hellcat to secure a fifth win at the venue and his first of the\nseason to help him move up from his fifth place standing in the Funny Car\npoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, fellow Dodge Charger\nSRT Hellcat driver Cruz Pedregon has three wins of his own at Houston (1992,\n1998, 2013) and is working to build on his semifinal finish last weekend at the\nNHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina, to continue the steady\nprogress his Snap-on Tools Pedregon Racing team has made through the first four\nraces of the 22-event NHRA season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DSR Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett\nwas pleased with her Mopar Dodge\/\/SRT dragster\u2019s No. 3 qualifier effort at the\nprevious event and is looking forward to a long day of racing on Sunday after\nseeing her last two race days shortened by first round losses. She still has the\nmemory of her 2017 Houston victory to fuel her drive to get back to the\nwinner\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very excited to get to Baytown,\u201d says\nPruett, who will be getting to town early to take part in a promotional event\nwith Dodge\/\/SRT customers along with DSR teammate Hagan. \u201cWe get to kick off\nthe week with Ride &amp; Drive events with Dodge. It\u2019s looking like we\u2019re going\nto have great weather out there. It\u2019s supposed to be cool and we\u2019ll be at sea\nlevel, and I have no doubt we\u2019ll be making those fast runs that get all of us\nhyped up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pruett will also be back behind\nthe wheel of the new 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak in the Factory Stock\nShowdown (FSS) series at Houston for the first time since she debuted the\nquickest, fastest, most powerful Drag Pak ever at the 2021 Gatornationals. She\nposted her quickest and fastest speed ever in FSS in the season opener with her\nnew ride, clocking a 7.806-second pass at 177.44 mph. Her goal for this outing\nis to get the most out of each vehicle and drive the maximum amount of runs in\neach category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be back to pulling double-duty, running\nboth my Top Fuel dragster and Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak,\u201d says Pruett. \u201cI\ntruly feel like when we get to Houston it\u2019ll be our \u2018get healthy\u2019 race and\nit\u2019ll be a new beginning for us. We\u2019re looking forward to laying down maximum\nhorsepower on the Pennzoil proving grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fellow DSR-prepared Drag Pak driver Mark Pawuk will also be competing in the Sportsman class event aboard his third-generation Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger. Pawuk battled atop the FSS standings throughout 2020, finishing third overall, and after kicking off this year\u2019s eight-race FSS series with a semifinal appearance in March he\u2019s looking to steadily improve with each opportunity. All on-track action at the Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil on Friday through Sunday will be streamed online via NHRA.TV, while television coverage will be broadcast on FS1 with qualifying shows airing Saturday, May 21, from 10-11 p.m. ET and Sunday, May 22, from noon-1 p.m. ET, while the elimination rounds will air Sunday evening from 6-9 p.m. ET. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series is headed to Texas this week for the 34th annual Mopar\u00ae Express Lane SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil, returning to its original early-season date at Houston Raceway Park after a rescheduled fall edition took place last October. The sea-level drag strip located near Baytown, a suburb of Houston, is known for high-horsepower performances and record runs when cool air blows in from the Gulf of Mexico.&nbsp; \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be back on the track with our partners from Pennzoil for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":51190,"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-51188","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\/2021\/05\/matthaganfeature.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\/51188"}],"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=51188"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59040,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51188\/revisions\/59040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}