{"id":54266,"date":"2021-08-12T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T10:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=54266"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:21:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:07","slug":"aiming-for-the-top-in-topeka-menards-nhra-nationals-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2021\/08\/aiming-for-the-top-in-topeka-menards-nhra-nationals-preview.html","title":{"rendered":"Aiming for the Top in Topeka: Menards NHRA Nationals Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The countdown to the “Countdown to the Championship” will begin this weekend at the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park near Topeka, Kansas. This race marks the first of three remaining national events before the NHRA’s seven-race playoff series starting on September 9 at the Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil in Reading, Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) drivers sitting in at least the top ten, now’s the time to buckle down an extra loop and set their sights on the next set of races to secure more points. Here\u2019s what the drivers had to say after the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California, in preparation for the next race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funny Car: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matt Hagan, DSR Performance Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat Redeye<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"DSR<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a tricky track all weekend here at Pomona with these hot temps and (Crew Chief) Dickie (Venables) got the car to go down a very tough race track to give us a fighting chance. It just didn\u2019t run good enough. We learned a lot racing in this heat and in conditions of which we had very little data. Now we do have some data if we face hot conditions like this in the future. We\u2019re ready for a little break next weekend before we start again in a few weeks at Topeka (Kan.) and Brainerd (Minn.). It\u2019ll be hot in Kansas and maybe some of what we learned here will help us there. We have a lot of racing left; this is the halfway point of the schedule. We\u2019re going to dig in deep, work hard and win a few more of these races.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron Capps, DSR NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"DSR<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was hoping a win was coming. This team, time and time again, they\u2019ve given me one of the coolest cars to drive and this (weekend) was one of the most extreme conditions we\u2019ve ever had. To do it at Pomona in the summer, with all my friends and family here, I can\u2019t even tell you how amazing it is. We\u2019re going to have a blast (celebrating).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was thinking this week maybe I should stop saying \u2018a win\u2019s coming,\u2019 because I felt like I was jinxing it, but I truly felt like Pac-Man. You know, we were just chomping through these Camping World series points \u2013 semifinal after semifinal, a final in Houston. We\u2019ve been consistent and just chomping these points up week after week. I really think we can have the regular season point lead going into the Countdown, we just need to keep doing what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese were probably some of the most extreme conditions I\u2019ve driven a Funny Car in, and maybe even the most fun car to drive. Everyone\u2019s been tearing their hair out trying to get down the track and we had things happen and cylinders going out and (Crew Chiefs) Guido (Dean Antonelli) and (John) Medlen were just leaving it be because my NAPA Dodge was running like a bracket car. They\u2019ve got such a nice tune-up that you can put a cylinder out and get through that rough spot and still make it down the track. We were quietly going about it every run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon Racing Snap-on\u00ae<\/sup> Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Cruz<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a good solid event. We qualified fourth, which is great, with a 3.96-second run at 317 mph on Friday. We stumbled a little bit on Saturday trying to get the track figured out. Sunday, we were strong starting out with a 4.10-second pass to dispose of Tim Wilkerson. In the second round, we faced John Force and it was a great close race with a 4.35 to 4.36 but came up short. I clicked it off just a little bit early after I spun the tires at half-track and I just went on auto pilot and shut the engine off when I got concerned about the engine revving up, but I probably could’ve kept going for a few more feet and won that round that would have put us in the semis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, it was a good event for us. It was challenging with the track at more than 140 degrees track temperature, which is hotter than we’ve been on in years. In fact, (Crew Chief) JC (John Collins), even with all the data he had accumulated through the years, had never been in this hot of a condition; so overall, when you get a quarter final result, it\u2019s a good day for the Snap-on\u00ae<\/sup> Tools Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat. We\u2019ll look forward to a match race in Norwalk on Saturday night, the traditional ‘Night Under Fire’ exhibition event before we focus on Topeka (Kansas). Topeka is a great event for me. I\u2019ve won quite a few races there with Larry Miner and Joe Gibbs. I love the atmosphere there and the track is strong with really good grip and maybe one of the best surfaces on the circuit, so I\u2019ll be looking forward to that. We\u2019re still figuring things out, working out some kinks to make our racecar better and I\u2019m trying to do a better job as a driver, but overall the needle is pointing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOP FUEL:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leah Pruett, DSR Sparkling Ice Spiked Dodge\/\/SRT Dragster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"DSR<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Justin (Ashley) is an incredible competitor and I wanted nothing but to race against him. This is about the perseverance of this Sparkling Ice Dodge\/\/SRT Mopar team, our dedication to do this on a home track is phenomenal. Thank you so much to everybody that stuck with us. I mean, we dug deep. It’s been a long time since I\u2019ve seen Wally (trophy). The most impressive part for me today was how our team has continued to persist and persevere and grow into the success region that we have right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor (Crew Chief) Todd Okuhara to have an aggressive tuning persona and an application while being in the mud, and Neal Strausbaugh, having leadership ability and bringing us all together. It’s about the fundamentals of what’s happening in the trailer and having each other’s back and pulling the rope in the same direction. We had been doing that, but we really got in sync together and that’s what makes me the most proud. This win is because of the progression over the last couple of weeks and what it has taken. The Dodge SRT Sparkling Ice team definitely deserves every bit of this one no matter how it came. I’m very proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NHRA Championship Points Standings:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the rescheduled NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)<\/strong>
1. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 734 (1)<\/em><\/strong>
2. Bob Tasca III \u2013 729 (2)
3. John Force \u2013 698 (2)
4. Robert Hight \u2013 697 (2)
5. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 689 (1)<\/em><\/strong>
6. J.R. Todd \u2013 677 (1)
7. Alexis DeJoria \u2013 632
8. Tim Wilkerson \u2013 552
9. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) \u2013 537 (1)<\/em><\/strong>
10. Blake Alexander\u2013 343<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)<\/strong>
1. Steve Torrence \u2013 1,014 (6)
2. Antron Brown \u2013 701(1)
3. Brittany Force \u2013 625
4. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge\/\/SRT) \u2013 579 (1)<\/strong>
5. Shawn Langdon \u2013 514
6. Mike Salinas \u2013 513
7. Justin Ashley \u2013 466
8. Billy Torrence \u2013 448 (1)
9. Doug Kalitta \u2013 439
10. Clay Millican \u2013 388<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The countdown to the “Countdown to the Championship” will begin this weekend at the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park near Topeka, Kansas. This race marks the first of three remaining national events before the NHRA’s seven-race playoff series starting on September 9 at the Mopar\u00ae Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil in Reading, Pennsylvania. With all Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) drivers sitting in at least the top ten, now’s the time to buckle down an extra loop and set their sights on the next set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":54276,"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-54266","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\/08\/aimingforthetopintopekanhrapreviewfeature.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\/54266"}],"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=54266"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54317,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54266\/revisions\/54317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}