Dodge Charger Funny Cars Come Up One Win Short in Carolina

Don Schumacher Dodge Charger drivers held three of the four semifinals spots, but a Chevy took the win.

Last weekend, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car drivers from Don Schumacher Racing headed to zMAX Dragway for the NHRA Carolina Nationals for the 21^st event of the season and the third of six events in the Countdown to the Championship. All four of the DSR drivers are in the hunt for the title, hoping to move up in the standards with only a handful of races left this season.

The good news is that all four of the DSR Charger funny car drivers had strong showings, with three of them making it to the semifinal round, but the bad news is that none of them won the race of the event that mattered the most.

Charger Funny Cars Start Strong

The Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car drivers came out strong in qualifying, with Jack Beckman’s 3.873 at 334.07 miles per hour in the second round giving him the top spot on the ladder heading into eliminations. Meanwhile, Matt Hagan qualified third, Ron Capps started in the fourth spot and Tommy Johnson Jr. qualified eighth, so all four of the DSR drivers were in the top half of the 16-car ladder.

The success from qualifying carried over into the first round of eliminations, with all four Don Schumacher drivers winning their first matchup of the event. Beckman beat Dale Creasy, Johnson beat Cruz Pedregon, Capps beat Jim Campbell and Hagan beat Dave Richards. Unfortunately, Johnson and Beckman went head-to-head in round two, with Beckman putting his teammate in the trailer. Meanwhile, Capps beat John Force and Hagan beat Bob Tasca III, while the Camaro of Robert Hight beat Tim Wilkerson’s Mustang, setting up a semifinal round with three Dodge Chargers and a single Chevrolet Camaro.

The Final Four

In the semifinals, Beckman and Capps battled each other and when “Fast Jack” grabbed a starting line advantage, he was able to cruise to the win with a 3.957 to Capps’ 4.025. On the other side of the ladder, Hagan had the starting line advantage, but Hight drove around the Charger, running a 3.912 to a 3.947 by the Dodge and setting up another final round battle between a John Force Racing Camaro and a Don Schumacher Racing Charger Hellcat.

In the finals, Beckman ended the race at the starting line with a -.080 redlight disqualification. Hight ran a 3.917 at 329 on what was basically a free run, so even if Fast Jack hadn’t gone red on the start, he would have had a tough race on his hands.

Season Standings

With the win, Hight holds the top spot in the championship race with three events left on the season. Jack Beckman is 44 points back in second, John Force is 79 points back in third and Ron Capps is 90 points back in fourth. Those four drivers are all within reasonable striking distance of the title with three races left, so say that Hight should lose early at the next event and Beckman gets the win – or even another final round loss – he will likely jump into the top spot. Capps will need to string together a couple wins or final round losses while hoping for Hight and Force to exit early a few times in the final three events.

As for Hagan and Johnson, they are not mathematically eliminated, but for either one of them to have a real shot at the title, they will need to win multiple events while the current front runners need to lose in the first round at multiple events. It isn’t impossible, but it doesn’t look likely for Hagan and Johnson. On the other hand, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps are still in the hunt.

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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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