NHRA Dallas Qualifying Report

Texas NHRA FallNationals
Event 17 of 20
Countdown Event 4 of 7
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Oct. 7 – 10, 2021

DSR Qualifying Highlights:

• No. 2 ranked Funny Car championship-contender Ron Capps led DSR in qualifying by clocking the second-quickest run of both Q2 and Q4 to earn four bonus points and the No. 2 qualifying position to start race day
• Three-time and defending Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan qualified fourth for the Texas NHRA FallNationals. Hagan will be looking to maintain his points lead as he battles for a second consecutive victory following his triumph at the most recent event (St. Louis)
• Antron Brown will start race day at the Texas Motorplex from the quick half of the Top Fuel field and with lane choice over his E1 opponent
• Leah Pruett recorded the third-quickest run of Q3 to earn one bonus point

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

ANTRON BROWN
Driver of the Matco Tools ‘Tools for a Cause’ Toyota Top Fuel Dragster

Qualified: No. 7 (lane choice)

The Competition: No. 10 Doug Kalitta

The Results:
Q1: 3.843 E.T. at 321.88 MPH
Q2: 3.743 E.T. at 326.79 MPH
Q3: 3.806 E.T. at 324.36 MPH
Q4: 3.793 E.T. at 325.61 MPH

Quotable:
“Our Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ car went down the track every run and it’s great to have a consistent race car. We have a tough first-round match-up with Doug Kalitta and the ‘tool wars’ here in Texas. It’s always a fierce battle, but we look forward to those every week. We’re getting better with every run, and I like our chances in the heat tomorrow.”

LEAH PRUETT
Driver of the DSR Performance Top Fuel Dragster

Qualified: No. 11

The Competition: No. 6 Josh Hart

The Results:
Q1: 3.897 E.T. at 268.81 MPH
Q2: 10.658 E.T. at 42.11 MPH
Q3: 3.773 E.T. at 323.12 MPH (One bonus point for third-quickest run of the session)
Q4: 3.786 E.T. at 319.45 MPH

Bonus Points: One

Quotable:
“On Friday, we were a little behind starting off after having a fuel line loose and a cylinder out in Q1, and then we were really swinging for the fences trying to go for the fifteen grand during Q2. They say ‘go big in Texas,’ and we did, and we smoked ‘em hard. So, we consider Friday ‘lost’ and Saturday ‘found,’ and we were able to right our ship. We made two presentable passes today, and we are progressing in the right direction. We look forward to going rounds tomorrow. We’ve lined up in qualifying against Josh Hart a number of times, especially this weekend and we’ve had a chance to socialize with him during the long qualifying social hours in the lanes, but I’m really looking forward to the power hour that this Mopar machine is going to bring tomorrow.”

Funny Car:

RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Qualified: No. 2 (lane choice)

The Competition: No. 15 Jack Wyatt

The Results:
Q1: 4.604 E.T. at 179.52 MPH
Q2: 3.882 E.T. at 329.34 MPH (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session)
Q3: 3.977 E.T. at 324.83 MPH
Q4: 3.890 E.T. at 328.54 MPH (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Four

Quotable:
“We continue to have a great team. At St. Louis it was a driver error and I couldn’t wait to get back in the car over the past two weeks. We had the best car on the grounds at World Wide Technology Raceway and it’s great to get back in the saddle here at Dallas. What we’ve shown so far is that we can run in all conditions. We had a great run last night with that 3.88 and nearly got the fifteen grand from Billy (Meyer) and the Texas Motorplex with the Stampede of Speed. Then to come back and make two runs in the heat in each lane, hats off to this NAPA team for showing the NAPA Know How that I always talk about. It’s drag racing and you can’t ever count anyone out and you won’t find a more well-prepared team. It’s been a long time since I’ve won here and I’m ready to add a black cowboy hat to the collection.”

MATT HAGAN
Driver of the Western Technical College Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye

Qualified: No. 4 (lane choice)

The Competition: No. 13 Dale Creasy Jr.

The Results:
Q1: 4.108 E.T. at 286.62 MPH
Q2: 3.897 E.T. at 332.34 MPH
Q3: 6.036 E.T. at 114.10 MPH
Q4: 3.989 E.T. at 327.98 MPH

Quotable:
“We’ve got a great race car and we came into Dallas with a lot of momentum after winning at St. Louis a few weeks back. We’re running the Western Tech Dodge again and we had some great success with these colors two years ago when we won here. We made some pretty decent runs in the heat of the day yesterday and today, and it’s just going to be a hot, Texas race track, but it’s a really great track no matter what the temperature. We have to do what we do best, and try to turn on four win lights. I feel confident in this team led by Dickie Venables. It’s great to have so many folks from Western Tech in from El Paso here supporting us with the midway and in hospitality. We’ll give it our all tomorrow. We’re in the Countdown, and every round counts with just four races left. The pressure is on, but this team knows how to win championships and I like our chances.”

ABOUT DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Established in 1998 as a single-car Top Fuel team, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has grown to become the winningest organization in NHRA Drag Racing history, and further cemented its position as one of motorsports’ elite teams when it surpassed the ‘350 wins’ milestone during the 2020 season. DSR owns 18 world championships in three different NHRA categories, and including hall-of-fame team owner Don Schumacher’s five NHRA Funny Car triumphs from the 1970s, DSR has been successful in capturing 365 national event victories overall.

Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR fields four professional teams competing in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Three-time world champion Antron Brown, and double-duty driver Leah Pruett headline DSR’s Top Fuel dragster team. DSR’s two Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Cars are driven by 2016 Funny Car world champion Ron Capps, and Matt Hagan, who earned his third NHRA series title in 2020.

DSR also campaigns three entries in the NHRA Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series. The trio of DSR Dodge Drag Paks is piloted by Pruett, the 2018 series champion, former Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk, and David Davies who made his FSS debut in 2021.

Follow Don Schumacher Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter and Instagram at@shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery via Don Schumacher Racing, Driver photos: NHRA