Mopar All Fired Up for Phoenix

Mopar gets ready for Arizona Nationals after scoring a Pro Stock win in the NHRA season opener at Pomona with Nobile
Three (3) Mopars battled in Pomona finals with Capps in Funny Car, Nobile and Coughlin faced-off in Pro Stock
Four (4) Mopars in top-5 in Pro Stock standings with Nobile (1), Coughlin (2), Gaines (3), and Johnson (5)
Ron Capps (2) and Johnny Gray (3) put Dodge Charger R/T in top-3 Funny Car standings heading into Phoenix
 
Phoenix, Ariz. (Thursday, Feb 21) – After a strong showing by Mopar entries at the opening event of the 2013 National Hot Rod Association Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season last Sunday, which included a title win after three Dodge entries battled their way to the final elimination rounds at the Winternationals, teams and drivers are anxious for a repeat performance at the Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix this weekend.

Vincent Nobile posted the first victory of the season after a final round face-off against fellow HEMI®-powered teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. in Pro Stock, to put the pair 1-2 in the Pro Stock standings.  The Dodge Avenger of V. Gaines is close behind in third spot on the basis of a strong qualifying performance that saw him equal his best start as no. 2 qualifier, and a second round win against Allen Johnson.  Johnson’s Pro1 isn’t too far behind sitting fifth in the standing, putting all four full-time Mopars in the top-5 in points heading into qualifying at Phoenix.

All four also have experience winning at Firebird International Raceway. Nobile beat Johnson in final eliminations to earn a title win in 2011, while Johnson’s last win at Phoenix was in 2005. Gaines’s victory in 2008 ended a seven-year winless streak for him, while Coughlin is hoping to take home a third title win from the event to build on his runner-up performance to start the 2013 season.

“The last six runs we made in Pomona, the two during Saturday qualifying and four we made on race day, gave us so much confidence and that feeling is leading us into Phoenix with a lot of positive attitudes,” Coughlin said. “The only thing we could have done better was win the race so we’ll try to take that final step this weekend. Phoenix would be a great place to put the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger in the winner’s circle.”

“I love coming to this race because I love the area, and while the facility is older, the track surface is good and we’ve had both success and some disappointments here,” said Johnson who finds running at Firebird has always been bittersweet. “We’ve celebrated a win here and it’s also where my dad (Roy) suffered a heart attack (in 2009) but was saved, so we have some history here and I hope to add one more good memory.”

While Don Schumacher Racing’s Ron Capps lost his final elimination Funny Car match-up to Courtney Force in the season opener, his confidence is high due to his past performance at the popular desert track, which includes two wins in five final round appearances and two No. 1 qualifying positions. Capps sits second in the standings with his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Johnny Gray right behind him in third spot.

Matt Hagan is happy with his solid qualifying effort and quarterfinal finish in the Mopar Dodge Charger R/T last week but is looking to build on his seventh place spot in the top-10 standings. Meanwhile, defending NHRA Funny Car Champ Jack Beckman, ninth on the scoring sheets, would love to become a four-time winner at Phoenix.

“I’ve had great luck at Phoenix, and I don’t know why,” said Beckman of the three wins he’s posted there in the last five years. “Three of my 15 Funny Car trophies came at Firebird. I don’t think I drive any better there, I don’t think our tune-ups are better there. But it is a cool feeling where you’re familiar with the winner’s circle.”

The Arizona Nationals will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD with 90 minutes of qualifying coverage airing on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1 a.m. (ET) and again at 8 a.m. (ET). Three hours and 30 minutes of final elimination coverage will be presented Sunday evening starting at 8 p.m. (ET).

Mopar Launches 2013 Season with Win at POMONA

 
Mopar starts 2013 NHRA season with crazy final elimination win by Nobile over teammate Coughlin
Capps appearance in Funny Car final brings total of three Mopar entries to make it to final elimination showdowns in season opener
 

Pomona, Calif. (Sunday, Feb. 17) – Three Mopar entries advanced to the final elimination rounds, with one of them earning the first title win of the year at the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season opening event. Vincent Nobile earned his sixth career victory in an all-Mopar Pro Stock final showdown against teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., while in Funny Car, Dodge Charger R/T driver Ron Capps finished runner-up to Courtney Force at Auto Club Raceway.

“Congratulations to Vincent (Nobile) for earning the Pro Stock title win at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona to start the season off right for Mopar ,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We look forward to seeing our HEMI®-powered Dodge Avengers contending for many more wins this season in defense of the Pro Stock Championship amid such tough competition this year.”

The Pro Stock class elimination rounds at the Winternationals started and even finished in peculiar fashion. First round action began with plenty of upsets as five of the eight winners of the first round were qualifiers from the bottom half of the field, including Mopar’s Allen Johnson who had qualified tenth after a rough start to the weekend. The remaining three winners to advance to the next round were the three Dodge Avengers of V.Gaines, Nobile and Coughlin.

While Johnson had a strong second round run as his faced-off against fellow HEMI-powered driver Gaines, he unable to continue his quest to defend his Pomona title as Gaines beat him to the finish.

Three Mopars moved on to semi-final match ups with Nobile winning his race against Greg Stanfield, and Coughlin emerging the victor in his head to head battle versus Gaines. That set up an all-Mopar final between Nobile and Coughlin that took a strange turn.

First, Nobile had trouble backing up from the burnout, which for the sake of sportsmanship had led Coughlin to turn off his ignition. That proved costly as several tense moments passed before the crew scrambled to get the JEGS.com entry re-fired as his teammate and competitor had gotten his own Mountain View Racing car restarted and back in place. With both cars finally in the beams, Coughlin red-lights by -.014-second making his 6.571-second and 211.03-mph pass obsolete, giving Nobile the victory with a 6.584 at 210.05 mph.

“Without a doubt this is pretty awesome to leave here with the points lead and now we just want to stay there and stay consistent and keep the wins coming,” said Nobile who has made three consecutive trips to the finals in his Dodge Avenger going back to last season. “This is my third year and sixth win with this team because I learned early on what a great group of crew, sponsors and car I have that creates the perfect platform for being successful.”

For Coughlin, it was the second year in a row starting with a runner-up finish.

“The difference this time is that last year we were hoping that result was going to become commonplace, whereas this year we already have a really good idea that we can run with anyone in the class,” said Coughlin. “Things couldn’t have started much better for us with this new team configuration with Allen Johnson and J&J Racing. We’re very excited about the season.”

In Funny Car competition, top qualified Mopar driver Jack Beckman didn’t make it out of first round while Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan fell in the second.  Fellow DSR Dodge Charger R/T drivers Johnny Gray and Ron Capps faced off in semi-finals, with Capps matching low E.T. of the weekend, 4.036, to make his way to the final. He unfortunately smoked his tires to finish runner-up to winner Courtney Force.

The second of 24 events on the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule will take place at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., this coming weekend. The Arizona Nationals will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD with 90 minutes of qualifying coverage airing on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1 a.m. (ET) and again at 8 a.m. (ET). Three hours and 30 minutes of final elimination coverage will be presented Sunday evening starting at 8 p.m. (ET).