Team Press Releases

Racing the DieHard Dodge Charger Funny Car, Matt Hagan scored his second NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series win in the state of Texas today at the 25th annual NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, just south of Dallas. His first Texas win, and the first of his career, came in Houston in April. The 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va., now has collected three victories in as many final rounds this season (if you don't count the Charlotte four-wide race earlier this year, where he reached the final round and finished fourth). "I'm really loving Texas," he said. "Might be buying some land down here because it feels like home." He moved into second place in the Countdown to the Championship point...

Angie Smith knew she needed a good reaction time in the first round against Andrew Hines if she wanted to advance to the second round of the Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. And she went after it, but left the starting line too soon and fouled out. “I had to take that shot,” said Smith, who used her quick reactions last week to take the Karl and Kim Klement-owned Coffman Tank Trucks V-Twin into the semifinals at Charlotte. “He’s running strong, but it didn’t work for us this time.” Hines was the eventual race runner-up. “Our performance improved this weekend and now we’ll figure out what went wrong and get ready for the next race,” added Smith. That event will be at Reading, Pa., Oct. 8-10.

Mopar® Dodge Avenger NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson advanced to the quarterfinals today in the elimination rounds of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals, losing to Greg Anderson at Texas Motorplex near Dallas. Johnson moved up to fourth in the point standings with his first-round win over Jeg Coughlin. Johnson scored the No. 1 Qualifier Award (his fifth of the season) but nonetheless faced a tough opening-round match against No. 16 qualifier and four-time world champ Coughlin. The Team Mopar veteran was up to the challenge, dispatching his opponent in a thrilling drag race with a 6.578-second pass (quickest of the round) at 209.49 mph to Coughlin’s 6.603/208.20 mark and slightly better reaction...

Cory McClenathan advanced to his sixth semifinal round of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series today at the 25th annual NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. His goal was to reach the final round, once points leader Larry Dixon was dismissed in the second stanza by Shawn Langdon, but after defeating Morgan Lucas with a 3.817-second pass at 317.94 mph, and Doug Kalitta with a 3.802/311.13, he was ousted by his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in the semifinal. Racing the FRAM Top Fuel dragster, McClenathan posted a stellar 3.836-second pass at 310.70 mph as track and ambient temperatures rose throughout the day, but Schumacher crossed the finish line first with a slower 3.858/310.05 to win the round...

Ron Capps lost a close match-up, under overcast and cool conditions, in the opening round of Funny Car eliminations for the 25th annual NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex, bowing out to Del Worsham. Capps had the edge at the starting lights, but Worsham overtook him to claim the win by four feet (nine thousandths of a second) over the driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger Funny Car, using a 4.131-second elapsed time at 302.48 mph to beat Capps' solid but losing 4.145/301.07. Points-wise, Capps remained seventh in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs standings, and is 182 markers behind leader John Force, who was runner-up today to Capps’ Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan. "What can you say?" he...

Jack Beckman's Sunday at the 25th annual NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex, round three of six in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, ended in the quarterfinal round when the engine compartment in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger caught on fire as it was nearing the finish line. Facing off against Ashley Force Hood in the second round after defeating Jim Head in the opener (4.124-second ET at 302.08 mph), Beckman aced the daughter of 14-time Funny Car champ John Force at the starting lights. The two were dead even at the 60-foot mark (of the 1000-foot race track), when Beckman experienced the fire, slowing him to a 4.431/237.46 losing run to Force Hood's 4.085/308.92. The fire was doused quickly...

In a fitting finish to a wild Mopar® HEMI® Challenge Race Series event at the Jegs Northern SPORTSnationals, Jim Daniels of Bristol, Pa. was awarded the event win after Jim Pancake failed a post-race technical inspection late last night. Daniels was unable to stage for the final round at National Trail Raceway due to mechanical problems with his engine, giving Pancake a solo run in the final and—seemingly—the event win. However, when Pancake’s Super Stock/A HEMI (SS/AH) 1968 Dodge Dart failed post-race inspection hours after his Victory Lane celebration, Daniels was awarded the Mopar HEMI Challenge trophy and the $5,000 winner’s purse. “This was not how I wanted to win it,” said Daniels, who drove his Ray Barton Racing Engines...

Two of the top competitors in the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) showed exactly why they reign atop their respective classes at Saturday’s Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags IV. Extreme Pro Stock driver Cary Goforth and Pro Extreme Motorcycle rider Ashley Owens both won for the second time in two nights to stay No. 1 in their divisions, capping off a memorable double-race weekend at Summit Motorsports Park. “To get two wins is just really, really awesome,” said Goforth, who won Dragstock VII on Friday. “Awesome won’t even cover it. This is just wonderful. You always dream about something like this, but you don’t always get it.” Two other drivers got a chance to celebrate for the first time in the ADRL, as Mick Snyder (Pro...

Ohio native Jim Pancake earned the Mopar® HEMI® Challenge Race Series victory today at the Jegs Northern SPORTSnationals after defending event champ Jim Daniels of Bristol, Pa. was unable to stage for the final round at National Trail Raceway. Pancake scored his third career Mopar HEMI Challenge win despite an infection in his left leg that caused him serious discomfort throughout the event. Pancake, of Delaware, Ohio, came from deep in the field to claim the win after qualifying No. 10 in his Super Stock/A HEMI (SS/AH) 1968 Dodge Dart with a 8.649-second pass. He defeated 1968 Plymouth Barracuda driver Tyler Hard in the opening round with an 8.572/154.44 mph pass to Hard’s 9.029/155.49 run. Pancake showed off his driving skills...