Leah Pruett, driver of the Rinnai Top Fuel Dragster:
Secured No. 8 qualifying position – Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
Round 1: 3.708 ET at 333.08 mph, defeated Justin Ashley (4.922 ET at 152.99 mph)
Round 2: 3.829 ET at 319.60 mph, defeated Antron Brown (5.050 ET at 152.78 mph)
Semifinals: 3.778 ET at 325.69 mph, lost to Doug Kalitta (3.745 ET at 328.70 mph)
Currently fourth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 76 points behind leader Doug Kalitta
Leah Pruett:
“This was a performance-enhanced weekend overall for the Rinnai team with a stellar completion rate on Sunday. We had some struggles in qualifying with parts we are expiring, which cost us dear points.
We went for low (elapsed time) on Saturday after the rain and it didn’t stick. What did stick was the rate of adjustments Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief) and Mike (Domagala – co-crew chief) made given last-minute lane swap situations. Appropriating our power to the racetrack in stages has been key.
Eliminating Justin Ashley first round was pivotal. Everyone is always focused on points. When I fixated on that in the Semifinal, it got me off my game, which is something I have learned from. There might be practice for the championship during the Countdown, but there is nothing like being, staying, and moving up when it counts.
My guys have been stellar throughout and I am excited to excel at St. Louis.”
Matt Hagan, driver of Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car:
Secured No. 2 qualifying position – Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
Round 1: 3.868 ET at 331.28 mph, defeated John Smith (4.275 ET at 281.38 mph)
Round 2: 3.996 ET at 313.88 mph, defeated Tim Wilkerson (4.543 ET at 186.82 mph)
Semifinals: 3.953 ET at 321.04 mph, lost to Bob Tasca III (3.935 ET at 327.35 mph)
Currently tied for third with Ron Capps in the Funny Car championship standings, 69 points behind leader Robert Hight
Matt Hagan:
“The Countdown is tough and everyone is bringing all that they have all the time. In the last two races, we haven’t even lost by a hundredth of a second, it’s been a thousandth of a second. That’s tight drag racing, but we have to be on the other side of it. We are running against a lot of good cars, so there are no give-me’s.
I’m so happy to have the Johnsons Horsepowered Garage guys as a part of TSR. Jason (Johnson) is an incredible person that loves drag racing and loves Dodge. He has a great footprint out here. I’m proud to run his colors. We threw down pretty hard for him this weekend and I think we put on a good show, but it’s a better show when you’re in the Final and win.
We’re still there and we’re better than what we’re showing. We have four races left to go out and fight and dig. We’ll be just fine.”
Race Notes:
Hagan’s 3.825 ET run in Q1 on Friday set a new track record at the time for elapsed time.
Hagan’s Round 1 win on Sunday marked 500 career round wins, giving him 501 total with his Round 2 win at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals.
Next Up:
The next event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Midwest Nationals Sept. 29-Oct. 1 near St. Louis, Missouri. It is the third event in the Countdown to the Championship and the fourth-to-last race of the season.
Tony Stewart Racing
