Pritchett Qualifies No. 1 with National Record in Mopar Top Fuel Dragster at NHRA Brainerd

Leah Pritchett qualifies No. 1 with national record in Mopar-powered Top Fuel dragster during 36th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway
Pritchett’s lap of 3.640 seconds at 330.63 mph resets own elapsed-time record
Top Fuel dragsters featuring Mopar HEMI® power from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) have qualified No. 1 nine times in 2017
Mopar Nitro teams from DSR have set low E.T. 13 times overall this year
Pritchett’s No. 1 qualifying effort is sixth of season, seventh of career
Matt Hagan qualifies No. 2 to lead Mopar-powered Funny Cars
Six Mopar Dodge Funny Cars qualify for 16-car field

August 19, 2017, Brainerd, Minn. – Leah Pritchett made history during qualifying for the 36th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, turning in the sport’s quickest elapsed time ever in her Mopar HEMI®-powered Top Fuel dragster. Pritchett’s best time of 3.640 seconds at 330.63 mph lowered her own national E.T. record of 3.658 from earlier this season and made her the No. 1 qualifier for the sixth time this year.

Pritchett’s record-shattering run in her Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel machine from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) came during the second qualifying session on Friday evening, after a rain shower produced ideal conditions at the end of a day that had already seen favorable temperatures at the track in northern Minnesota.

With Pritchett’s No. 1 effort, Mopar Top Fuel dragsters have now set quick time in qualifying in nine events on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar, while Mopar power has qualified No. 1 13 times across both Nitro categories overall. Pritchett also became quick qualifier in Top Fuel for the seventh time in her career.

The other Mopar-powered Top Fuel dragster from DSR, driven by eight-time champion Tony Schumacher, will start from the fourth spot on Sunday’s elimination ladder.

The Mopar Funny Cars from DSR also turned in strong qualifying efforts, led by Matt Hagan in the Mopar Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T. Hagan qualified in the second spot with a best time of 3.807 at 336.57 during Q2 on Friday evening. He’ll look to improve on his runner-up finish in last year’s Brainerd event on Sunday.

Hagan’s DSR teammates, Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and Ron Capps, qualified their Dodge Chargers in the fifth, sixth and eighth positions, respectively.

A total of six Mopar Dodge Funny Cars qualified for the 16-car field.

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

Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 1, will face No. 16 Rob Passey
Friday: (3.677 seconds at 331.53 mph – Q1); (3.640/330.63 – Q2)
Saturday: (4.670/155.65 – Q3); (3.783/322.19 – Q4)

(After setting the national record)
“It was absolutely incredible. For one, we’ve looked forward to this night session for a long time. I think everybody has all year long, knowing that Brainerd – this track, the surface, the conditions, what NHRA is able to do to it, lays down the groundwork for us to pull out the most power possible and that’s what this Papa John’s team did. They have been working tirelessly at finding small amounts of power here, there and everywhere and to be able to put it on the track was incredible.”

(On preparing for eliminations during Saturday qualifying)
“We came out of the gate super-hot at the beginning of the season, and we’re hot on cold tracks. Brainerd is the epitome of throw-down central so that’s what we did last night. But today was really about getting ready for Sunday. We threw down last night and today was just about race day. Tomorrow is going to be as close to this (weather) as possible. So there are no points, there are no trophies; there’s no anything for the national record except for preparing for the cool tracks in the Countdown (to the Championship).

Matt Hagan, Mopar Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 2, will face No. 15 Dale Creasy
Friday: (3.831 seconds at 333.33 mph – Q1); (3.807/336.57 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.932/327.03 – Q3); (3.928/330.23 – Q4)

“We’ve got a good race car; it’s going down the racetrack. We’ve had four good runs so far and almost set a national record. But at the end of the day people remember championships and race wins and that’s what we need to focus on to get this car dialed in for the next couple of races coming up. Obviously we won Indy last year and would like to win it again this year; it’s a special race. But right now we need to focus on tomorrow in the heat and what we need to do at this racetrack to manipulate that, but I fell really confident in (crew chief) Dickie Venables.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 5, will face No. 12 Jonnie Lindberg
Friday: (3.907 seconds at 328.22 mph – Q1); (3.880/329.58 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.897/330.96 – Q3); (3.907/326.95 – Q4)

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 6, will face No. 11 Brian Stewart
Friday: (6.535 seconds at 129.18 mph – Q1); (3.886/333.25 – Q2)
Saturday: (3.931/326.87 – Q3); (3.914/329.83 – Q4)

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Qualified No. 8, will face No. 9 J.R. Todd
Friday: (3.928 seconds at 325.14 mph – Q1); (4.237/217.00 – Q2)
Saturday: (10.974/75.82 – Q3); (3.930/325.61 – Q4)

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 4, will face No. 13 Troy Coughlin Jr.
Friday: (3.754 seconds at 325.53 mph – Q1); (3.695/329.42- Q2)
Saturday: (5.247/132.87 – Q3); (3.779/325.22 – Q4)