Pit Stop Radio News

Driver Information:

Top Fuel:

LEAH PRITCHETT

The Competition: No. 8 Mike Salinas

The Results:
Q1: 4.184 E.T. at 224.25 MPH
Q2: 4.129 E.T. at 221.52 MPH
Q3: 4.370 E.T. at 193.99 MPH
Q4: 4.001 E.T. at 296.31 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Two

Quotable:
“Absolutely much-needed move forward for us in Q4. To be honest, I don’t think ever in our history have we been so excited about a 4.001 pass. It just shows how challenging the conditions are, not just the racetrack and air temperature, but making power and getting all eight (cylinders) to keep lit. We even spun on the top end that last run but we spun farther down the track than the other three runs this weekend. It just goes to show that a 4.001 being No. 9, one spot from being in the top half, it’s just a testament to our team continuing to find what our issues were and just chipping away at the tune-up. So far this weekend we haven’t had mechanical situations, so I feel good about tomorrow. Running like that today is most important because it’s the best tee-up we can have for race day. We’re pumped for it and I know the fans are. We’ve had our own kind of adversity here this weekend and it was really cool to see all the Schumacher teams come together and rally in times of need.

“This Papa John’s Pizza/FireAde race car has got momentum, the team’s got momentum, and we’re going to make it stick tomorrow. All eyes are going to be on that weather station tomorrow, for sure. It will definitely not just be a tuner’s race. I think we’ll see a tuner-and-driver team package, altogether, that will succeed. Whoever wins at the end of the day Sunday will be the most comprehensive team and I feel we’ve got what it takes.”

TONY SCHUMACHER

The Competition: No. 15 Terry McMillen

The Results:
Q1: 6.469 E.T. at 92.01 MPH
Q2: 3.830 E.T. at 323.66 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)
Q3: 4.294 E.T. at 202.12 MPH
Q4: 4.081 E.T. at 290.94 MPH

Bonus Points: Two

Quotable:
“We were on a great Q4 run and just had a little glitch in our clutch management, but that’s probably an OK thing to happen today and not tomorrow. It dropped a cylinder right away and that was all she wrote. We were trying to run a 3.92 – that’s what it was set up to run – and felt we could’ve done that. Otherwise, we’ve got a great U.S. Army car. I have every reason to believe we’re going to go out and win this thing. Everybody’s expecting a very extreme weather day with heat and humidity. We’ll just have to sweat it off, keep our focus, and go out and do our job.”

Funny Car:

The Competition: No. 10 Shawn Langdon

The Results:
Q1: 4.311 E.T. at 284.51 MPH
Q2: 4.130 E.T. at 307.86 MPH
Q3: 6.246 E.T. at 115.00 MPH
Q4: 4.276 E.T. at 260.51 MPH

Quotable:
“Battle of the Super Comp guys in the first round! We’re still dialing it in from our new chassis, our new clutch program, and new track prep deal. We did make a couple of representative runs, and even the ones where we stumbled, I think we got some data on those. It’s brutally hot; we have not had track conditions like this all year long. This is where you have to tiptoe and then go even slower than that. You’re trying to run fast with 11,000-horsepower and beat somebody in the other lane without beating yourself. It’s going to be a bit of a chess match tomorrow. Yes, as drivers we’re going to have to stay on our toes and be prepared to pedal the cars, but the crew chiefs are going to be pulling their hair out. It’s going to be a 140-degree race track. There’s not going to be any traction relative to running any hero runs here, and we’re somehow going to try and negotiate it four times, and I actually can’t wait for tomorrow.”

RON CAPPS

The Competition: No. 6 John Force

The Results: 
Q1: 4.362 E.T. at 215.93 MPH
Q2: 4.393 E.T. at 214.01 MPH
Q3: 4.193 E.T. at 301.07 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Q4: 4.211 E.T. at 299.13 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Five

Quotable:
“That’s a matchup you pay money for, and we’re not going to have lane choice, but there’s such a big change in the confidence in (crew chief) Rahn Tobler after Q4 than we had coming in this morning. He looked like a beat down dog after yesterday. I’ve even heard rumblings lately of crew chiefs wanting to go into early retirement because it’s been so difficult for them to go down these tracks in the heat with the conditions we’re seeing. I really want people at home and our fans to know how difficult this is right now. Just to go down under full power today, both runs – we were quickest of the first session, second quickest of second session – is a major accomplishment and you can’t believe the difference in the attitude of our NAPA AutoCare crew and Tobler. I told him this morning ‘you are the man in these types of conditions; you’re the one that set the bar, let’s go out and prove that,’ and he did. He proved why I brag about him and talk about his NAPA Know How.

“We’re going to see the heat again tomorrow, but I’m pumped about Father’s Day. We left here with the Wally last year and I took it to my dad, and I’d love nothing better than to hand it to Don Schumacher, our ‘dad’ here at DSR. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but you can’t look past John Force. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”

The Competition: No. 8 Tommy Johnson Jr.

The Results: 
Q1: 4.192 E.T. at 296.24 MPH (One bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q2: No Time (broke)
Q3: 4.302 E.T. at 256.02 MPH
Q4: 4.188 E.T. at 292.14 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session)

Bonus Points: Four

Quotable:
“We just laid down a really nice run in Q4, so we’ve got a lot to work off of. It’s anyone’s ball game. He’s going to have lane choice, but this Shell ROTELLA Dodge has made it down both lanes, so we feel pretty confident with that. Hopefully we go out there, make some good solid runs, and turn on some win lights tomorrow. We’re running the Shell ROTELLA scheme this weekend for the first time, and it would be really nice to put some new love, and new blood in the winner’s circle.”

The Results: 
Q1: 9.858 E.T. at 137.76 MPH
Q2: 10.986 E.T. at 74.73 MPH
Q3: 8.756 E.T. at 160.21 MPH

Quotable:
“160-mph on seven cylinders, so I’ve got to believe with eight, we can at least run 160.5 (laughs). It was a disappointing first weekend out. We really wanted to qualify, but it’s very tough bringing a new car out with a new driver and having never been down the track before in this car. The crew worked really hard. Every run, we found some minor problems that we continue to work on. We’ll work through them and we look forward to going to Norwalk and qualifying and hopefully going some rounds at my home track.”

LEAH PRITCHETT

The Results:
Qualifying:
Q1: 9.288 E.T. at 162.49 MPH
Q2: 8.384 E.T. at 164.59 MPH
Q3: 15.924 E.T. at 82.53 MPH

Eliminations:
E1: 8.406 E.T. at 165.33 MPH defeated Leonard Libersher, Foul (Red light)
E2: To be contested Sunday

Quotable:
“We really took our Q2 solid qualifying effort and applied that to today’s conditions, even though today, the conditions were a little worse. Our mentality is to go out there to win. We’re not going to race to lose. We’re here to win and race smart, and I feel like that’s what we did. Yes, we won (E1) maybe by default, but a team still has to have a killer package to beat our 8.40.

“It’s always something to have a full 18 hours to accumulate information. These cars take a lot and we have a lot to go over, but our Mopar power is showing through. A win from the 13^th spot over a No. 5, shows you can win from anyplace and I’m really proud of the Mopar team for bringing it together and continuing to make this program stronger.”