{"id":59842,"date":"2022-02-20T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T14:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=59842"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:42","slug":"nhra-season-kicks-off-with-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-car-as-no-1-qualifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2022\/02\/nhra-season-kicks-off-with-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-car-as-no-1-qualifier.html","title":{"rendered":"NHRA Season Kicks Off with Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sub> Hellcat Funny Car as No. 1 Qualifier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\nDodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat that won last year\u2019s Funny Car world title kicked off\nthe 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series\nseason at the top of the qualifying timing sheets as driver and new team owner\nRon Capps claimed the No. 1 qualifier position for the season-opening 62nd\nannual Lucas Oil Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto\nClub Raceway at Pomona, California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Capps,\nalso the defending Winternationals winner, drove his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge\nCharger SRT Hellcat to the provisional No. 3 spot in Friday\u2019s qualifying\nsession, posted the quickest run of the second session, then bettered that with\na stout 3.857 second elapsed time lap at 332.43 mph under the lights to secure\nhis 30th career No. 1 qualifier position. He\u2019ll battle the No. 16 seed and\nfellow veteran racer John Force in the first eliminations round of the year to\nkick off his 28th NHRA season of competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matt<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last\nseason\u2019s runner-up in the Funny Car championship and three-time (2011, 2014,\n2020) NHRA World Champ Matt Hagan launched the new Tony Stewart Racing (TSR)\nteam\u2019s season with a strong Friday evening qualifying run aboard his Dodge\nPower Brokers machine to provisionally sit No. 2 with 3.886-second pass at\n329.344 mph. He repeated the exact same elapsed time lap under the lights in\nthe final qualifying session, clicking off just before the finish line, to\nsecure the No. 3 spot on the eliminations ladder to pair him with No. 14 seed\nChad Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Matt<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two-time\nFunny Car champ Cruz Pedregon, who is looking to build on a productive 2021\nseason that saw his team earn two national titles and finish fourth in the\nchampionship, took his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the fourth\nquickest time of the second session, then improved on that performance in the\ncooler evening air with a 3.906 sec.\/ 325.22 mph run that moved him from the\nseventh spot to No. 4 qualifier position. The Cruz Pedregon Racing HEMI\u00ae<\/sup>-powered\nmachine will have lane choice over No. 13 seed Terry Haddock as a first round\npairing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leah<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In\nTop Fuel qualifying, Leah Pruett took her Dodge Power Brokers dragster for its\nfirst official qualifying runs with the fledgling TSR team while looking to\nprepare to defend her 2021 Winternationals win. She took her HEMI-powered\nmachine to the fourth quickest pass of the second qualifying session with 3.768\nsecond elapsed time run at 326.63 mph, then powered to a 3.768 second\/ 326.63\nmph on her final run to keep her seventh overall placing on the timing sheets.\nPruett will face off against No. 10 seed Antron Brown in Sunday\u2019s first\nelimination round of the new season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights of qualifying at the Winternationals will air on FS1 this Sunday, February 20, at 7 a.m. Eastern, followed by three hours of elimination rounds coverage on FS1 beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n