NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Jan
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‘Fast Jack’ in winner’s circle with Prock, Infinite Hero; Antron defends Four-wide title, takes points lead for Matco The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals was sensory overload for Jack Beckman and Don Schumacher Racing, and it wasn’t just because 40,000 horsepower fired up at the start of each race Sunday near Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jack and his Infinite Hero 2015 Dodge Charger R/T led by crew chief Jimmy Prock dominated the competition during championship eliminations that was capped by the best elapsed time of Jack’s career (3.983 seconds) to win his Crew chief Jimmy Prock and Don first NHRA Mello Yello Schumacher enjoy their first win Drag Racing Series together. title since September 2012. That’s a total of 54 races and 29 months that the 2012 Funny Car world champion was unable to break into a winner’s circle. For the first time ever, DSR won its fifth consecutive NHRA national event title including all four this year and the last one of the 2014 Mello Yello season. While those feats alone would be reason enough for DSR to celebrate, it also marked the 100th Funny Car title for DSR. And, Antron Brown with the Matco Tools/U.S. Army team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald won its first event trophy of the year and took over the championship points lead which it has not held for almost a year. Adding to those lofty achievements: DSR swept the nitro titles for the third straight race marking the 47th time DSR left with both trophies; DSR pushed its trophy total to 247; And the weekend began with the announcement that Pennzoil is “The Official Oil Technology of DSR” in a multiyear agreement. In addition to winning seven of a possible eight nitro titles this year, Antron was runner-up at the opener in Pomona, Calif. And six of DSR’s seven drivers already are qualified for the $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout events to be held during the U.S. Nationals held over Labor Day Weekend in Brownsburg, Ind. "Don has put all the right people in all the right places,” Antron said. “We are able to lean on each other. We have grown as a tight-knit unit. We work hard together. We learn together." With 20 of 24 Mello Yello events remaining, including next weekend’s jaunt west to Las Vegas for the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals where DSR’s Tony Schumacher is the reigning champion, it’s a long row yet to hoe. But certain to make this season’s highlight reel will be Jack’s return to the winner’s circle and with Jimmy for the first time. “You never know when your last win is your last win,” said Jack, who has won 16 times in his career along with being Antron Brown and the Matco Tools dragster takes the early the 2003 NHRA Super Comp world lead and holds it in the championship heat of Sunday's Four- champ. “You keep thinking this (winning) Wide Nationals. will snowball and is going to roll on forever, and then you go two and a half years without one and you start to wonder. "I can't guarantee we'll win another race this season," he said Sunday in the media center. "I think we will, but I can't say for 100 percent. But, I know for sure we'll be better than we were today. Jimmy and the team will be even better the rest of the year because they're getting better every race. All the little things are coming together.” It could be a harbinger of what’s to come: The last time Jack won was when he doubled-up with Antron near St. Louis in 2012 and both went on to win NHRA world championships. It marked the second consecutive year Antron won the Four-Wide to go with one title in the track’s fall race. "It has been an incredible run for us at this race,” said Antron, who won for the 48th time. “The reason we love coming here is because the fans get really, really excited about it and plus this is the only time we come out and have a battle royal with nitro cars. It's pretty incredible, pretty insane, a lot going on.” There will be a lot going at Las Vegas beginning Thursday with the annual NHRA Fan Fest 5-7 p.m. on “The Bridge” in front of New York-New York – DSR’s official hotel – on the Las Vegas Strip with a free autograph session from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Make-A-Wish 2015 Dodge Charger R/T advanced to the championship heat of the Four-Wide Nationals and finished as a semifinalist. Photo illustration by Aaron Holland/DSR #100 … from Don to Jack DSR WINS 100th FUNNY CAR TITLE WITH DSR DRIVER DSR CAREER TENURE Ron Capps 30 44 2005-present Jack Beckman 16 16 2006-present Matt Hagan 16 16 2009-present Whit Bazemore 13 20 2001-06 Gary Scelzi 12 37 2003-08 Johnny Gray 7 7 2011-2013 Don Schumacher 5 5 1970-1973 Tommy Johnson Jr. 1 10 2014-present Jerry Toliver 0 0 2008 Scotty Cannon 0 0 2002 DSR ‘Made the Switch’ Pennzoil becomes ‘Official Oil Technology of DSR’ Don Schumacher Racing officially “Made the Switch” by announcing last week that it has a marketing partnership that makes Pennzoil “The Official Oil Technology of DSR” in a multiyear agreement. The iconic Pennzoil logo debuted Friday during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near Charlotte Motor Speedway as a major associate on DSR’s 2015 Pennzoil will be a major associate sponsor for DSR and be featured on Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car the Funny Car of Matt Hagan this fall near Dallas. driven by two-time and reigning world champion Matt Hagan along with having a presence on DSR’s six other race cars. Pennzoil will also be a major associate for Hagan next weekend Las Vegas and during the July 24-26 Mopar Mile-High Nationals near Denver. Pennzoil will be the featured marketing partner on his Dodge for the Oct. 16-18 race at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas. “We are very excited to be associated with Pennzoil and bring them back out to NHRA Mello Yello drag racing,” said Don Schumacher, who founded DSR in 1998 and has since won 240 NHRA event titles and 13 NHRA world championships. As a pioneer Funny Car driver/owner in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Chicago native won five NHRA event titles. “Pennzoil has proven to be a product consumers have relied on for nearly a century and has such a long and successful history in motorsports, and we are proud to become part of that tradition.” The Pennzoil race oil to be used by Don Schumacher Racing will be formulated with PurePlus™ Technology, a unique process that converts pure natural gas into a first-of- Two-time and reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion its-kind, high quality full synthetic base oil. Matt Hagan joins, from left, Jeff Wilhoite (Shell key account This pure, clear PurePlus™ base oil has manager to Chrysler), DSR owner Don Schumacher and fewer of the impurities found in crude oil, Jesse Campos (director OEM marketing) for Friday’s allowing it to fully enhance the benefits of announcement near Charlotte. the additives also found in Pennzoil Platinum® and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum™ Full Synthetic motor oils. “We are very proud to announce this relationship with Don Schumacher Racing and Dodge MOPAR® in the NHRA,” said Jesse Campos, Pennzoil’s director OEM marketing. “The demanding competition in the NHRA is the ultimate proving ground for Pennzoil. Not only to showcase our current products, but to take the knowledge we gain on the track to aid in the production of innovative lubricants for consumer vehicles in the future.” Pennzoil is best known in drag racing for its association with 1993 NHRA Top Fuel world champion Eddie Hill, a popular Texas racer who retired in 1999 after winning 13 NHRA national event titles. Pennzoil’s drag racing history includes supporting rising star Don “Big Daddy” Garlits in 1958, who went on to become the most famous drag racer ever. Continuing a rich motorsports history, Pennzoil has proven again that its storied relationship with a variety of racing teams, cars and series translates learning from the track to real-world benefits on the road and beyond. Cutting edge PurePlus™ Technology is running under the hood of Pennzoil motorsports technical partners across NASCAR™, IndyCar™ and the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Series. Pennzoil motorsports sponsorships maximize performance and engine 'Shoe's News' reliability for the teams and will help them push the limits in 2015. Pennzoil Pure photos by Plus™ Technology is used off the shelf in all of the Chevrolet twin-turbocharged AutoImagery.com V-6 engines that compete in the IndyCar Series, including 2014 IndyCar champion Will Power. Pennzoil Pure Plus™ Technology was also under the hood of the 2015 Daytona 500-winning car of Joey Logano and Team Penske earlier this year. For more details on the Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic motor oils with PurePlus™ Technology line of motor oils and product availability, visit Pennzoil.com. To stay up-to-date on the latest activities, be sure to “Like” the official Pennzoil Facebook Page (facebook.com/Pennzoil) and follow Pennzoil on Twitter (twitter.com/Pennzoil) and Instagram (instagram.com/Pennzoil). Win with the Las Vegas Review-Journal Visit the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s website – ReviewJournal.com – for a chance to win a DSR VIP for a Day family four-pack for Saturday (April 11) of the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.