Contact: Capps Wins Third Straight in Mopar Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car at Atlanta Ron Capps wins 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway for his 52nd Funny Car win and third in a row Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars have won six of seven races in 2017 Tony Schumacher goes to final round in Mopar-powered Top Fuel dragster HEMI® power has advanced to final in every Top Fuel event this year Leah Pritchett sets Top Fuel track record in round one of eliminations with a 3.699-second pass Mopar and Dodge maintain top two positions in Funny Car and Top Fuel point standings Kevin Helms drives 2010 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to Super Stock semifinals Helms wins Dodge Top Finisher award in Super Stock, Douglas Duell gets Stock Eliminator prize May 7, 2017, Commerce, Ga. - Ron Capps’ hot streak continued at Atlanta Dragway this weekend, as the Mopar driver put his HEMI®-powered Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car in the winner’s circle for the third consecutive Sunday. With the Southern Nationals victory, Mopar has now won at least one of the Nitro categories in all seven of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events in 2017. Mopar Funny Cars from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) have won six of seven events to begin the year, and at least one Mopar-powered Top Fuel dragster has appeared in every final round to date in that category, as Capps’ DSR teammate Tony Schumacher drove to the Atlanta final. Mopar has also won at least one Nitro category Wally trophy in eight straight events dating back to the end of 2016 at Pomona. Capps, the reigning Funny Car champion, won his 52nd Funny Car event and second at the Atlanta track by defeating Tim Wilkerson on a holeshot with a pass of 3.991 seconds at 317.79 mph from the left lane after a .040- second reaction time. Wilkerson turned in a lap of 3.978 at 316.60, but missed the tree with a reaction time of .110. The win extends Capps’ point lead as the season approaches its one-third mark. On Sunday, Capps first drove his HEMI-powered Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the win over J.R. Todd when the first-year Funny Car driver smoked his tires shortly past the Christmas Tree. Capps then knocked out John Force in a close finish after Capps came from behind to turn on the win light. He next defeated another John Force Racing driver in the form of Robert Hight to reach the final against Wilkerson. Defending Funny Car event champion Matt Hagan also turned in a solid day, driving his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T to a first-round win over Cruz Pedregon who had a cylinder out off the line. Hagan next powered past Dave Richards as Richards went up in smoke, setting up a matchup with Wilkerson in the semis. Wilkerson had trouble on his pass, but Hagan drove into smoke just past the starting line and had to pedal the car, ending his bid to win back-to-back at Atlanta. Also in Funny Car, Jack Beckman drove his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T past Mopar DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr.’s Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T in round one as Johnson smoked his tires. Beckman’s day was then ended in the next round by Wilkerson after Beckman struggled to get down track. Johnson meanwhile suffered his third first-round exit in the last three events after winning in Las Vegas to kick off the month of April. In the first round of Top Fuel, No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher bested Brittany Force in his Mopar-powered U.S. Army car despite suffering an explosion near the finish line as Force smoked her tires at the start. Schumacher and team returned to knock out Bob Vandergriff in round two and then take down Doug Kalitta in the semis to reach the final round against Steve Torrence. Schumacher’s car began to quiver early in the run and he was forced to shut it down. Atlanta remains the only track at which Schumacher, an eight-time champion, has not won. Schumacher’s Mopar and DSR teammate in Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett, began her day by setting a track elapsed-time record in round one in her Papa John’s/Mopar Pennzoil Dragster, turning in a pass of 3.699 seconds en route to defeating Terry McMillen. She then bested Antron Brown in round two before meeting up with Steve Torrence for the third week in a row where her day came to an end in the semifinals. Atlanta Dragway, located in northeast Georgia, is known as an old-school track. It showed during the 37th annual Southern Nationals with many drivers talking about bumps on the surface. The event battled persistent rains on Friday and Saturday evening, forcing the delay or cancellation of many activities and jumbling the schedule. However, during Sunday’s elimination rounds the weather was cool and sunny, allowing for a number of blistering passes and several track records. Mopar/Dodge Notes & Quotes Pietro Gorlier,Head of Parts and Service (Mopar) FCA – Global “Congratulations to Mopar Dodge Charger R/T driver Ron Capps on winning the NHRA Southern Nationals. We couldn’t be more proud of Ron and everyone involved with our motorsports program. The success the Mopar and Dodge brands have had on the track this year is a direct result not only of our great drivers, but also hard work behind the scenes.” Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car (No. 4 Qualifier – 3.955 seconds at 323.97 mph) Rd 1: (085.-second reaction time, 3.901 seconds at 326.79 mph) defeated No. 13 J.R. Todd (.067/9.859/73.50) Rd 2: (.059/3.952/320.89) defeated No. 5 John Force (.058/3.960/316.01) Semis: (.060/3.968/318.77) defeated No. 9 Robert Hight (.058/4.899/161.07) Final: (.040/3.991/317.79 – holeshot win) defeated No. 6 Tim Wilkerson (.110/3.978/316.60) “It’s a pinch-me moment. I mean I’ve got such a great team right now. It’s cliché to hear that, cliché to say it—a lot of people say it—but I think our fans understand. The car speaks for itself here lately. (Crew chief) Rahn Tobler and Eric (Lane), our assistant crew chief, those two together are the dynamic duo. “This was probably one of the more difficult racetracks to navigate. There are some bumps that are still at this racetrack now. I’m not ripping on the track, it gives it character, but it was very, very hard to navigate this track and you really had to be ready for two or three different sets of bumps. As a driver, with the front ends the way they are and the laid-back headers, it’s lifting the front end and carrying it half a football field at a time and bouncing it. It makes for an exciting run, but at the same time you’re just hoping the car stays in the middle of the groove, which ours did.” Matt Hagan, Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car (No. 2 Qualifier – 3.930 seconds at 325.45 mph) Rd. 1: (.111-second reaction time, 3.887 seconds at 323.81 mph), defeated No. 15 Cruz Pedregon (.058/9.262/79.59) Rd. 2: (.073/3.962/313.29) defeated No. 10 Dave Richards (.107/7.285/88.82) Semis: (.094/7.197/110.13) lost to No. 6 Tim Wilkerson (.124/4.426/244.56) “It was a very unfortunate semifinal round loss against Wilkerson. We had a piece on the canon that was not tight so it was bleeding fluid back and it had some oil in the belly pan when we rolled up there and unfortunately, we didn’t know about it. You know, just one of those things. We should have caught it but didn’t so we’ll learn from it. “We’ll go to Topeka knowing what happened. Unfortunately, we should have been in the finals against Capps. Shoulda, woulda, coulda but we just didn’t. We had a good race car today. It was running great first and second round and it ran great yesterday. But, things happen and you move forward. I think we’ll be just fine in Topeka. It was just a little painful because the car would have gone down the racetrack. That’s racing and that’s life. “ Leah Pritchett, Papa John’s Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster (No. 11 Qualifier – 3.862 seconds at 304.05 mph) Rd. 1: (.087-second reaction time, 3.699 seconds at 326.16 mph) defeated No. 6 Terry McMillen (.092/3.772/325.53) Rd. 2: (.073/3.723/327.11) defeated No. 3 Antron Brown (.057/3.754/329.91) Semis: (.023/4.152/267.11) lost to No. 2 Steve Torrence (.054/3.769/324.83) “We showed we can get to the semifinals whether it’s from the No. 1 qualifying spot or the 11th like this weekend. That was our worst qualifying effort all year. We didn’t get to run Friday and had troubles on Saturday, but my great team got the gremlins out after that and we started today by winning and setting a new track elapsed-time record. In the (semifinal) round against (Steve) Torrence, I nailed him on the starting line but that lane had a bump that we were able to get around in the first round without upsetting the (car).