News

Driver of the Matco Tools Diagnostics Top Fuel Dragster
 

Qualified: No. 9 (3.729 E.T. at 330.07 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 6.601 E.T. at 114.89 MPH defeated by Brittany Force 4.075 E.T. at 218.41 MPH

Race Recap:
Antron Brown qualified the Matco Tools Diagnostics Toyota Top Fuel Dragster ninth to set up a first-round meeting with Brittany Force. Brown, a three-time event winner, was first out of the gate, but his machine went into immediate tire smoke as soon as he stood on the gas, and Force was able to drive away with the win.
 
The three-time Top Fuel world champ and 66-time race winner closed out the season ranked ninth. Brown has finished in the ‘top 10’ every year since making his debut aboard a Pro Stock Motorcycle in 1998.

Quotable:
“Pomona has always been a challenging track, and today was as challenging as ever. When you come here, you’re used to running phenomenal numbers because that’s what it will hold. We were trying to throw down today, but it was tricky. We’re going to suck it up, we have a long off-season coming up, we’re going to prepare, and we’ll come out swinging next year.”

Driver of the MOPAR Dodge Top Fuel Dragster
 

Qualified: No. 2 (3.694 E.T. at 322.88 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 3.753 E.T. at 319.90 MPH defeated Scott Palmer 3.813 E.T. at 312.50 MPH
E2: 3.748 E.T. at 323.12 MPH defeated Jordan Vandergriff 18.760 E.T. at 59.83 MPH
E3: 3.908 E.T. at 302.08 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.730 E.T. at 331.85 MPH

Race Recap:
Top Fuel standout Leah Pritchett got her start competing in NHRA’s Jr. Drag Racing series at age eight, and on Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, she wrapped up her 23rd consecutive NHRA season with a fourth-place finish in the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel championship rankings.

Pritchett started race day qualified second, and while mathematically she was no longer in the 2019 title hunt, the Redlands, Calif. native had her sights set on finishing out the year with a victory at her hometown track. She opened eliminations with a round win against Scott Palmer and then powered the MOPAR Dodge Top Fuel Dragster to the quickest run of round two to dispatch Jordan Vandergriff and earn a bid to the semifinals. Against Doug Kalitta, Pritchett had a hole out as soon as she stood on the throttle, and the eventual race winner was able to drive away with a clean pass for the win.

Pritchett’s semifinal finish enabled her to advance from fifth up to fourth in the standings, tying her career-best finish (2018) in her fourth playoff run. 

Quotable:
“On a high note, we had our best Countdown performance yet. We didn’t have any first-round losses, but on the other hand, the semifinals were as far as we went. We definitely have room for improvement, but most impressively, our hot rod has been very responsive. We dropped a cylinder right at the hit in the semifinals against Doug (Kalitta), but we’ll get to the bottom of what caused that. In all, it was a satisfactory race day. We’re looking forward to making more MOPAR-power and putting it to the ground next year, and we can’t wait to get back here in February. This team is dedicated to improving and reigniting our championship chase next year. We’re focusing on the positives and working to improve on our weaknesses.”

 

Qualified: No. 8 (3.940 E.T. at 328.06 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 3.949 E.T. at 326.00 MPH defeated Cruz Pedregon 3.982 E.T. at 321.58 MPH
E2: 6.338 E.T. at 83.99 MPH defeated by Matt Hagan 4.005 E.T. at 323.04 MPH

Race Recap:
Ron Capps entered race day at the final event of the season knowing he was no longer in contention to pick up his second Funny Car world championship in 2019, but he and his NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car team were determined to finish the year strong.
 
Capps qualified eighth for the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and faced fellow Funny Car veteran Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations. Pedregon took the early lead, but the 2016 Funny Car world champion was able to chase him down for the win. By posting the third quickest E.T. of the 16 cars vying for a quarterfinal spot, Capps earned lane choice in the next round but faced a tough competitor in his teammate, No. 1 qualifier and championship hopeful Matt Hagan. The Capps/Hagan pairing was set to be a nail-biter of a round, but an engine explosion just passed the 330-foot mark caused Capps to slow, and his stablemate was able to drive away with the win.

The Carlsbad, Calif. resident capped off his 25th season ranked sixth, recording a ‘top 10’ finish for the 15th consecutive year. He picked up three wins in 2019, bringing his current total up to 64 victories, and with 63 Funny Car triumphs, Capps remains the second-winningest Funny Car pilot of all time.

Quotable:
“A little disappointed with how we finished the year. It’s so disheartening to come to Pomona and not be in contention Sunday morning, but once again, you look back, and the NAPA car has been one that’s in the championship discussions every year going into Pomona, and that’s a big, big feather in the cap to all our AutoCare Center guys, (crew chief) Rahn Tobler, myself, and I’m very proud of that.
 
“With that being said, we really had our focus on coming here and trying to get our car’s performance back and finishing as high in the point standings as possible. We ran third-quickest in round one but then had a tough matchup with our teammate Hagan who was the No. 1 qualifier. We knew Hagan’s team was going to make a good run, and we were going for it. Something broke in our car, and it caused a pretty substantial backfire, and that was the end of our day. We’ll regroup, refresh, and come out strong in 2020

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MATT HAGAN
Driver of the MOPAR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody
 

Qualified: No. 1 (3.872 E.T. at 333.58 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 4.114 E.T. at 275.11 MPH defeated Jonnie Lindberg 4.998 E.T. at 162.98 MPH
E2: 4.005 E.T. at 323.04 MPH defeated Ron Capps 6.338 E.T. at 83.99 MPH
E3: 4.015 E.T. at 326.95 MPH defeated by Robert Hight 3.977 E.T. at 324.59 MPH

Race Recap:
Behind the wheel of the MOPAR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody, Matt Hagan charged his way into the final race of the 2019 season on the heels of back-to-back Countdown wins. The two-time Funny Car world champion was looking to make it three straight victories and close his campaign by clinching a third world title. His winning momentum continued in qualifying with Hagan grabbing the No. 1 position and 10 qualifying points to close to within 44 points of first, and on Sunday, the ladder put his championship destiny in his team’s hands. 

Hagan began eliminations with a rematch of the final from two weeks ago in the Dodge NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil at Las Vegas. The result was the same with Hagan coming out victorious versus Jonnie Lindberg. His teammate Ron Capps was the next opponent and Hagan cruised to his 10th consecutive round win behind the wheel of the Dickie Venables-tuned Hellcat. The victory setup the season-defining race with point leader Robert Hight. In his 600th career round of competition, Hagan posted a 4.015-second pass, but was outrun by Hight’s 3.977 E.T.

The surge during the later stages of the Countdown moved him from ninth after St. Louis to finishing third in the final Countdown standings. 

Quotable:
“I think we gave it a great shot. I know we might have been counted out after St. Louis. We finished really strong and gave ourselves a chance. I’m really proud of my guys – Dickie Venables, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conway – those guys fought all the way through and never gave up. I think we put on a great show for everyone including our sponsors MOPAR, Pennzoil, Sandvik Coromant. I’m proud to wheel the car for them. It’s one of those things where you never give up. We fought all the way to the end. We lost lane choice today and couldn’t push as hard which put us at a disadvantage. We came in here and earned the No. 1 position in qualifying and put on a good show. We gave the fans what they wanted. It was a great show all the way up to the end. Congratulations to Robert Hight. Those guys won more races than anyone out here this year. They beat us today in the semis and deserve to be champions.” 

TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
 

Qualified: No. 7 (3.918 E.T. at 323.97 MPH)

The Results:
E1: 4.101 E.T. at 258.02 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.974 E.T. at 323.19 MPH

Race Recap:
After posting his best regular-season results, Tommy Johnson, Jr. was confident in his team’s 2019 championship chances driving the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. Unfortunately for Johnson, the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs didn’t play out the way he had hoped. After qualifying No. 7, Johnson’s season ended with a first-round loss to J.R. Todd at the 55th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, snapping four consecutive final appearances in the season-ending event.
 
Johnson finished the year ranked eighth. 2019 marked his 30th season behind the wheel of a nitro-burning machine, and it was chocked full of highlights, including capturing two event wins in four final rounds. He reached his 50th final round while competing in Joliet, Ill., and the Las Vegas Four-Wide race marked his 450th professional event.

Quotable:
“Our race day wasn’t good, obviously. Just not the way we wanted to finish, especially having so much success here every year. I felt pretty confident coming in. The track today was just incredibly tricky. You try to make all the right calls. We were good until we hit the bump out there. We hit the bump, and it came loose. We have a tremendous team and had a great season. Unfortunately, we just had a horrible Countdown. It’s tough when your season is based on the last six races. The guys did a great job all year, and we just stumbled when it came time to run for a championship. Our two wins and four final rounds still show we have a really good team. We’ll regroup and have a nice off-season and come back strong for next year.”