Pritchett Sets Top Fuel Record, Johnson Takes Funny Car Top Spot to Lead Mopar and Dodge in NHRA Arizona Nationals Qualifying

Leah Pritchett sets national record in Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Tommy Johnson Jr. qualifies Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in No. 1 position
Mopar has swept all Nitro qualifying top spots to date in 2017
February 25, 2017 (Chandler, Arizona) – Mopar is now two-for-two in Nitro qualifying on the young season, as Mopar-powered Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) drivers Leah Pritchett and Tommy Johnson Jr. took the top spots in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, during qualifying for the 33rd Annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. The No. 1 positions come on the heels of a Mopar and Dodge No. 1 sweep in Nitro during the Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona two weeks ago.

The blistering times started on Friday afternoon, when Pritchett officially became the quickest Top Fuel driver in the land. She claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot for Sunday’s Arizona Nationals with a historic elapsed time of 3.658 seconds, at 329.34 mph during the second round of qualifying. Pritchett’s record-breaking comes on the heels of her unofficial record of 3.654/331.85, set at the Phoenix-area track during Nitro Spring Training in early February.

The top qualifying spot is Pritchett’s second in a row and third overall in Top Fuel as she looks to maintain momentum from her win in the season-opening Winternationals. That victory was the second of the Redlands, California, native’s career, who claimed her first in the Arizona Nationals last year.

Meanwhile, Tommy Johnson Jr. waited until the fourth round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon to set fast time in his Mopar-powered Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car. Johnson, who originally hails from Ottumwa, Iowa, laid down a lightning-fast pass of 3.837 seconds at 329.10 mph to claim the top spot.

Johnsons’s Nitro Spring Training could not have been more different from his DSR teammate Pritchett’s, as a major wheelstand led to a bent chassis during that event. This weekend’s race is the first in which he and his team have been able to utilize their primary chassis this season. Johnson is in the top qualifying spot in Funny Car for the 15th time in his career. At Pomona his Mopar and DSR teammate Matt Hagan was the No. 1 qualifier.

All four of the Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars from DSR are in the top six on the elimination ladder, while a total of 6 Dodges make up the 16-car bracket.

Mopar Dodge Notes & Quotes
(best elapsed time in bold)

Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 1, first round bye
Friday: (3.705 seconds at 329.91 mph – Q1); (3.658/329.34 – Q2);
Saturday: (3.816/249.12- Q3); (4.103/208.59 – Q4)

“From half track on it was like the car got lighter. When we ran that .65 in testing and to go that quick again is a whole new realm. Man, it’s fun. This has been everything a dream could be made of. It’s almost too good to be true. But it’s because of the attention to detail I see with [crew chief]Todd [Okuhara], [assistant] Joe [Barlam] and everyone on our Papa John’s team. I won’t lie, it’s nice to say your team is the quickest in the world, but there are other drivers like my teammates who are not very far behind us.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 1, will face No. 16 Phil Burkart Jr.
Friday: (3.899 seconds at 323.50 mph – Q1); (3.877/327.43 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.890/325.85- Q3); (3.837/329.10 – Q4)

“We knew the conditions were there and we did some things on that run that we normally wouldn’t do, it’s not how we would tune the car but what we were doing wasn’t working so we thought we’d go a different direction and it definitely worked. We knew the conditions were good and if you wanted to try that type of setup this is the time. So we did. I could tell during the run that the car was a bunch better. You could feel it in there that it pulled really well early in the run so I knew it was on a good one. You just go up with no expectations. I felt pretty confident about it.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 3, will face No. 14 Jeff Arend
Friday: (4.226 seconds at 215.82 mph – Q1); (7.900/84.09 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.847/325.06 – Q3); (3.839/333.58 – Q4)

Matt Hagan, Mopar/Sandvik Coromant Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 4, will face No. 13 Cruz Pedregon
Friday: (3.839 seconds at 329.67 mph – Q1); (3.841/330.31 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.870/333.33- Q3); (6.035/113.44 – Q4)

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 6, will face No. 11 Gary Densham
Friday: (3.873 seconds at 329.18 mph – Q1); (5.187/140.52 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.869/328.46 – Q3); (3.881/322.11 – Q4

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 3, will face No. 14 Terry Haddock
Friday: (3.703 seconds at 322.96 mph – Q1); (3.667/323.89 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.819/251.63 – Q3); (3.685/328.30 – Q4)