Three 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car Drivers Qualify in Top Half of Field at Gatornationals
· Infinite Hero Mopar Dodge Funny Car driver Jack Beckman holds the fifth spot and will bid for his first career NHRA Gatornationals win on Sunday
· Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Matt Hagan jumps to No. 6 in his final qualifying attempt
· Tommy Johnson Jr. improves to seventh in his Make-A-Wish Dodge, giving DSR Mopar Dodge Funny Cars the 5-7 spots
· Perfect thus far in 2015, Hagan aims to keep his unbeaten streak alive
· A half dozen HEMI-powered Dodge machines qualify for the Funny Car field
· No. 6 Pro Stock qualifier Johnson has his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge pointed toward a Gainesville three-peat
· Three Mopar-powered Pro Stockers will vie for the Gatornationals Wally trophy
· Revamped Mopar display debuts on Manufacturer’s Midway at Gainesville Raceway
Gainesville, Florida (March 14, 2015) – A trio of 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car drivers — Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan and Tommy Johnson — will begin elimination rounds for the 46th Annual NHRA Gatornationals fighting from the top half of the field, while in Pro Stock “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driver Allen Johnson will start sixth as he chases a third straight victory at Gainesville Raceway.
Ranked fifth after two Friday sessions with a 4.081-second elapsed time (E.T.) at 309.56 mph, Beckman still held the No. 5 spot following his first run (4.728/174.03) on Saturday as well as after his final attempt, a 4.125/306.46. The Don Schumacher Racing Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T pilot will meet Chad Head for round one in search of his first NHRA Gatornationals win.
“After Friday qualifying I was happy about coming off the trailer and having a good run, but then the second and third run we didn’t make it down the track,” said Beckman, the 2012 NHRA Funny Car champ. “While we knew we were solidly qualified no matter what on the strength of that first run, you still don’t want to go into race day three runs in a row not going down the race track.
“Our last pass wasn’t a perfect run but it was a run that we learned from and it was a decent E.T. slip and a confidence builder. A lot of times just that time slip will help change your perspective. This is a sport where you have to be aggressive and that last run will give (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) the confidence to stay on the offense when we go out there tomorrow.”
Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T DSR Funny Car driver Matt Hagan capped off qualifying with his quickest run of the weekend, earning two bonus points, the sixth starting position and a battle with Alexis DeJoria thanks to a 4.083/314.17. With wins at the first two 2015 NHRA events at Pomona and Phoenix, the defending champ will attempt to preserve his undefeated record thus far in 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competition.
“We just want to turn four more win lights on and keep this thing rolling, but we need to step up because Alexis (DeJoria) is going to run hard so we just have to be right there with her,” said Hagan, who is riding a three-race win streak counting his victory at the season-ending 2014 NHRA Finals last November. “We’re going to have to work really hard on race day. Obviously it’s not working out as we’ve hoped so far in qualifying, but that’s racing. It just makes us work harder. We won from the 12 spot at Pomona and we’ve won from the No. 14 spot before. You’ve just got to be in it to win it.”
Hagan also welcomed the presence of team owner Don Schumacher, who was back at the track after addressing recent health issues. “It’s awesome to see Don out here,” said Hagan. “We need him out here to motivate us and we want to put him in the winner’s circle tomorrow.”
Tommy Johnson Jr. grabbed one qualifying point with a 4.088/311.63 in Q4, moving from 11th up to seventh in his Make-A-Wish Dodge. He’ll face Robert Hight in his opening match. Like his DSR teammates Hagan and Johnson, Ron Capps also delivered his best performance in his last qualifying shot, jumping three spots to ninth in his Mopar Dodge on the strength of a 4.108/313.29. Capps will begin Gatornationals eliminations against Courtney Force.
Rounding out the six-car Mopar-powered Dodge contingent on Sunday is John Hale (4.304/234.04, No. 14) who will pit his Jim Dunn Racing Charger against 16-time Funny Car champ John Force, and Blake Alexander (4.349/223.69, No. 15) who will battle Del Worsham.
Allen Johnson began the day on a positive note with the announcement that Richie Stevens Jr. will take the wheel of a Dodge Dart Pro Stock car and join Johnson’s J&J Racing team for at least ten events this season. Johnson kept the momentum rolling in his first qualifying attempt on Saturday, posting a 6.530/212.79 to go along with his pair of 6.53 runs on Friday and earning one bonus point for being third-quickest of the session.
After shutting down on his fourth and final qualifying attempt after a misfire, Johnson will start sixth and lineup against Drew Skillman as he seeks his third-consecutive NHRA Gatornationals win. The Greeneville, Tennessee, native and J&J Racing team owner and driver’s match with Skillman will mark his 699th round of NHRA competition in his 20-year racing career.
“We’ve put together a good race car and that (his final qualifying attempt) would likely have been our best run of the weekend as we were expecting to run in the mid .52s to move up a few spots, but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Johnson. “We had a spark plug fail on that last run. It’s something that we’ve actually had happen a few times since changing to this new fuel. We thought we had that figured out until it reared its ugly head again on that run.
“It’s a bit unnerving to have that happen on your last run before race day but we’ll get it worked out. The car is working well and we’ve started out in sixth plenty of times so we can go into Sunday with plenty of confidence.”
Two drivers will join Johnson to form a trio of Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stockers in the NHRA Gatornationals elimination rounds. V. Gaines (6.603/211.36) saved his best run for Q4 in his Dodge Dart and will hope to use that performance as a springboard from the 13th starting position and a first-round date with Shane Gray. Alan Prusiensky (6.662/208.94) wheeled his Dodge Avenger to the 15th spot and has Jason Line as his opening-round foe.