Jack Beckman Earns No. 1 Qualifier in NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals Aboard Mopar-powered Dodge//SRT Charger Hellcat Funny Car

Jack Beckman Earns No. 1 Qualifier in NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals Aboard Mopar-powered Dodge//SRT Charger Hellcat Funny Car

· Jack Beckman tops Funny Car field to earn second No. 1 qualifier of 2019 and first at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.
· Matt Hagan qualifies his Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Funny Car third
· Three Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers earn top-five starting positions in NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals Funny Car field
· Leah Pritchett races Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster to No. 2 position in Top Fuel ladder
· NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals is third of six races in NHRA Countdown to the Championship
· DodgeGarage.com, a digital content hub for muscle car and race enthusiasts, features highlights from NHRA season
· New @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel features Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers in NHRA action

October 12, 2019, Concord, North Carolina – Dodge//SRT Mopar driver Jack Beckman drove the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) to the top spot in Sunday’s elimination ladder for the 12th annual NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals with his qualifying run Friday night at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.

Beckman earned his 26th career No. 1 qualifier position and first at zMAX Dragway with his run of 3.873 seconds at a track-record speed of 334.07 mph, marking the second time in the last four races the 2012 Funny Car champion has set the pace in qualifying. Beckman looks to become the first two-time 2019 Countdown winner after scoring the victory at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals to open the six-race championship playoffs last month. He begins his chase for career win number 30 facing off against No. 16 Dale Creasy.

In the third of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship races, five other Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car drivers qualified for Sunday’s 16-car field: Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson, Jr., Cruz Pedregon and Jim Campbell.

Hagan, pilot of the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Funny Car, put up his best pass of the weekend in the final qualifying session to snare the third position. Capps, the defending NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals winner, joined Beckman and Hagan in the top-five and will start from fourth. Johnson saved his best run for the final qualifying session and ranks eighth heading into Sunday’s eliminations.

In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett posted a monster run driving the Okuma Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster of DSR to close qualifying Saturday and grabbed the second position in the elimination ladder. She faces No. 15 “The Greek” Chris Karamesines in the opening round of eliminations.

Tune-in Info
Four hours of action from Charlotte will air on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) on Sunday, October 13, with coverage scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET. For complete information, visit www.nhra.com

Dodge Garage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals coverage at Dodge Garage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise.

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel will share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers in action in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Dodge//SRT Mopar Notes & Quotes
(qualifying times/speeds below)

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Qualified No. 1, will face No. 16 Dale Creasey
Friday: (6.004 seconds at 121.27 mph – Q1) (3.873/334.07 – Q2); Saturday: (4.759/166.46 – Q3) (3.888/324.59 – Q4)

“I’m damn proud of this green No. 1 qualifier hat because of the points that come with it. We got 13 points out of qualifying this weekend. We’ve got a great hot rod right now. In fact, the two runs we missed the tune-up, we were able to gather data. If you go out there and blow the tires off right at the hit, you get no data. If the car makes it to 800-feet you get tons of data, and usually somewhere in between is where you’re going to smoke the tires. We got good data off of both of those runs. We were pushing where the limits were and we found some more things on the car on the two runs we didn’t make it.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Funny Car
Qualified No. 3, will face No. 14 Dave Richards
Friday: (6.674 seconds at 121.27 mph – Q1) (3.906/328.22 – Q2); Saturday: ( 3.940/328.78 – Q3)(3.880/331.69– Q4)

“This Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Funny Car is going down the race track. We found some stuff earlier today with the clutch. I think (crew chief) Dickie (Venables) is getting more consistency with that. All in all, we have a good car and we have to have a really strong run this weekend or we will be out of the championship picture. We need to go some rounds tomorrow. We need to win this race and keep the hunt alive. We are five rounds back and we have a long way to go.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Nightvision LED Lamps Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Qualified No. 4, will face No. 13 Jim Campbell
Friday: (3.968 seconds at 326.00 mph – Q1) (3.882/330.55 – Q2 = set new track and personal records); Saturday: (7.221/93.26 – Q3); (3.894/332.18 – Q4)

“Obviously winning last year with the NAPA NightVision Lamps car was big in the Countdown. This is, I think, a race that’s going to be decisive in who wins the championship, and you need momentum coming out of here. We’ll see what we can do.”

Leah Pritchett, Okuma Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified No. 2, will face No. 15 Chris Karamesines
Friday: (6.346 seconds at 95.64 mph – Q1) (6.463/105.20 – Q2); Saturday: (3.766/323.50 – Q3); (3.714/331.20 – Q4)

“I knew it was going to be low. I’m about half-track and we slingshotted out there and I thought ‘Man, I going to hit my chutes. I was happy. This Okuma team keeps opening up possibilities. We’re looking forward to tomorrow, it’s a tough field behind us right now, but this is what the team is about. We’re not even worried about points or anything, just about this race – winning it.”

Tommy Johnson, Jr., Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

Qualified No. 8, will face No. 9 Cruz Pedregon
Friday: (4.233 seconds at 219.08 mph – Q1) (4.238/217.28 – Q2); Saturday: (4.585/327.74 – Q3) (3.950/321.65) – Q4)

“Qualifying was a bit of a struggle for us. We had a really good, quick car early in the run but couldn’t make it to the finish line. Fortunately we got it up in the top half of the field on that last shot. Hopefully tomorrow, with a bigger weather change, we’ll be able to adjust for that and get the car to show it’s whole potential, not just the first half-track. Even though we didn’t show it in qualifying, I think we have a really good racecar for race day.”