Dodge Charger Funny Cars Stack Up Wins, Viper Gets Win #1 for 2016

While Dodge racing fans might be running low on options when looking for drivers to support, the past few weeks have proven to be very good for the Dodge Charger funny car teams and the non-factory backed Dodge Viper endurance racing program with no sponsor Gas Monkey Garage.

The Dodge Charger funny car teams dominated the early portion of the 2015 NHRA season, winning 5 of the first 6 events and 7 of the first 9. However, the 2016 season has gone nowhere near as well, with only 1 win in the first 6 events, but in the past 3 events, the Don Schumacher Dodge Charger funny car teams have caught their stride – lining up back to back to back wins with back to back to back all-Mopar final rounds.

This current streak started back in mid-May when the Don Schumacher teams rolled into Atlanta with their 10,000hp Dodge Charger funny cars. Fast Jack Beckman came out charging in qualifying, taking the top spot while Matt Hagan grabbed the second spot. Beckman beat Jim Campbell, Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr to get to the finals while Matt Hagan beat Chad Head, Del Worsham and Courtney Force to join Beckman in the battle for the Wally.

Hagan took the easy win when Beckman smoke the tires right after the start and you can watch that battle below.

After winning in Atlanta, Hagan and his trio of teammates headed to off to the Kansas Nationals, where they would continue laying down blazing fast times. In Kansas, Hagan qualified first while Beckman started second. Hagan tore through Brian Stewart, Robert Hight and Courtney Force to get to the finals while Fast Jack knocked out Cruz Pedregon, Tommy Johnson Jr and Tim Wilkerson to meet Beckman for the second race in a row.

This time, both DSR Dodge Charger funny cars had issues, but once again, Hagan took the big win.

Next, after the strong success in Atlanta and Kansas, the teams headed to New England this past weekend for the New England Nationals. This was the best qualifying effort of the three recent events, with Ron Capps taking the top spot, Matt Hagan taking the second spot, Tommy Johnson Jr in the third spot and Jack Beckman in the sixth spot. All four DSR team cars won in the first round, with Capps beating Dave Richards, Hagan beating John Hale, Johnson beating Jeff Diehl and Beckman beating Cruz Pedregon. In the second round, Capps beat Courtney Force and Tommy Johnson Jr beat teammate Jack Beckman while Hagan lost to Del Worsham. In the third round, Johnson beat Worsham and Capps beat John Force – setting up the third straight all-Mopar and all-DSR final round.

In the finals, Johnson got out to an early lead but Capps drove around on the big end, taking his second win of the year.

Finally, while it has not been a great season for the Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GTD teams, the crew was able to score its first win this past weekend in Detroit.

Detroit, Belle Isle, June 2016. (Photo by Brian Cleary/ www.bcpix.com )

Coming into the Detroit Belle Isle event, the best finish for the Viper Exchange team came in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, when the #93 car finished 3^rd in the GTD class. That seemed like a bright start, but with a 12^th place finish and a 6^th place finish in the next two events, the Viper crew hasn’t challenged the competition like they had hoped. However, that all changed in Detroit, as Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen drove the #33 Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper GT3-R to their first victory of the 2016 season.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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