Capps Wins Fourth Straight In All-Mopar Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car Final At Topeka

May 22, 2017 by Mopar

•Ron Capps wins 29th annual NHRA Heartland Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka for 53rd career Funny Car victory and fourth in a row

•Capps and Matt Hagan compete in all-Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car final round

•Three Funny Cars featuring Mopar HEMI® power appear in semifinals

•Leah Pritchett puts Papa John's Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster in semis

•Mopar maintains top two positions in Funny Car points and No. 1 points position in Top Fuel

•T.J. Diekema and Jacob Pitt win Dodge Top Finisher award in Stock Eliminator and Super Stock

May 21, 2017 , Topeka, Kan. - The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series reached the one-third mark of the 2017 schedule with this weekend's Heartland Nationals, and neither Ron Capps nor his Mopar teammates in the Nitro categories are showing signs of slowing any time soon. Capps took home the Wally trophy in Funny Car for the 53rd time in his career and fourth race in a row, driving his Dodge Charger R/T to the victory over his Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Matt Hagan. Hagan meanwhile became the quickest and fastest driver in Funny Car history during event qualifying. Capps' win is the seventh for Mopar HEMI® power in the Funny Car category this season.

Capps defeated Hagan's Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T from the left lane with a pass of 3.924 seconds at 321.42 mph after a .054-second reaction time. Hagan turned in a pass of 3.985 at 318.92 with a .057 reaction time off the starting line. Capps and team had lane choice for the final, and made a last-second decision to move to the left lane just before the cars were fired. The race was a re-match of this year's Funny Car final round at the Arizona Nationals, which represents the only final round in which Capps has appeared but not won in 2017.

Capps' win, his fourth at the Topeka track, also extends a streak of at least one Mopar HEMI car winning a Nitro category to nine consecutive events, dating all the way back to the season-ending event at Pomona to end 2016.

The 2016 Funny Car champion, Capps moved his HEMI machine past Cruz Pedregon in the first round despite needing to shut off at half-track as Pedregon struggled at the starting line. Capps went on to knock out Courtney Force in a clean, side-by-side race in the second round, setting up a showdown with Robert Hight, who had been quick and fast throughout the weekend. Hight lost traction early in the run as Capps made another clean pass, putting him the Funny Car final for the fourth consecutive event. Capps' march to the victory was made even more impressive by the fact his team changed a fuel pump on Sunday morning before eliminations.

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Matt Hagan, the quickest and fastest driver in Funny Car history after Topeka qualifying with a lap of 3.802 seconds at 338.85 mph, began his march to the final with a defeat of Jack Wyatt in the first round. Wyatt had a cylinder out and drifted towards the center line during his run. Hagan next drove his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T past J.R. Tood as Todd was forced to pedal when the light turned green. Hagan next defeated his DSR Mopar teammate Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T. The race was a rematch of last year's Topeka final, won by Hagan, and also broke a head to-head tie between the two drivers with Hagan now leading 19-18. Hagan's victory set up the final round match-up with Capps.

Beckman began his day with a holeshot win over Chad Head, despite smoking his tires down track and just defeating Head's car at the line, which had a cylinder out. Beckman next turned on the win light against Del Worsham to set up an all-Mopar matchup against Hagan, where Beckman's day ended as he again smoked the tires just past half-track.

Tommy Johnson Jr.'s Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T represented the fourth Mopar-powered Funny Car from DSR. Johnson suffered an explosion near the 660-foot mark in the first round, however, and was bested by Worsham.

In the Top Fuel category, Leah Pritchett drove her Papa John's Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil dragster to a win over Rob Passey in the first round as Passey had trouble off the starting line. Pritchett next matched up against Doug Kalitta and turned in a come-from-behind win to just best her opponent at the finish. She was then narrowly defeated by eventual event winner Antron Brown in the semis. Pritchett's win-loss record is still stellar this season, currently standing at 21-5.

Also in Top Fuel, No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher and the Mopar HEMI-powered U.S. Army dragster snuck past Pat Dakin in the first round to avoid the upset as both cars smoked the tires at the hit. Schumacher was forced to step on the gas half a dozen times to get the car down the track. He was then defeated by Clay Millican in the second round as Schumacher again had mechanical issues while Millican slalomed his way to the win.

Both Pritchett's and Schumacher's defeats meant that at least one Mopar Top Fuel dragster didn't reach the final round for the first time in 2017, but Pritchett maintained her position atop the point standings.

The sprawling Heartland Park Topeka facility is praised by drivers and crews alike for its ideal track surface, while weather conditions in Topeka often provide opportunities for record-breaking passes, as were seen throughout the 29th annual NHRA Heartland Nationals. Rain showers on Friday allowed for only one delayed Nitro qualifying session in cool evening conditions, while cloud cover and temperatures in the high 50's on Saturday allowed for some blistering runs. The sun finally appeared on Sunday, but the weather still was extremely favorable.