Dodge Charger Funny Cars Won Every Race and the NHRA Title in 2020

Matt Hagan drove his Dodge Charger funny car to a class win and the championship in Las Vegas.

This past weekend, the Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny cars completed their perfect season. For the third time this year, Matt Hagan won the race, making the DSR drivers 11 for 11 on the season. Of course, in winning the funny car class at all 11 events in the shortened 2020 season, the quartet of Mopar drivers claimed the top four spots in the 2020 Camping World NHRA Championship, with Matt Hagan taking home the title.

2020 Year in Review

The DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car drivers got off to a strong start in 2020, with Jack Beckman beating the Chevrolet Camaro of rival John Force at the Winternationals in early February. At the second event of the season a few weeks later, Tommy Johnson Jr. won the funny car class by beating Beckman in the finals. After winning the final three races of the 2019 season, the DSR Charger race cars were on point and ready to battle with their arch rivals in the Camaros from John Force Racing.

Unfortunately, after the second event of the 2020 season – then sponsored by Mello Yello – the NHRA took a break as the country shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The organization would take more than four months off before returning to the track and when they did, things looked very different.

Most notably, the schedule had been shortened to just 11 races and the “playoff” portion at the end of the season had been canceled. At one point, a legal battle between Coca-Cola and the NHRA led to the series sponsor being changed from Mello Yello to Camping World. Fan attendance was limited at the races later in the season, but when the NHRA got back to racing in July, there was an even greater absence. The John Force Racing team had decided to sit out the rest of the 2020 season, meaning that top competitors from both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes would not be participating. This had the greatest impact on the funny car drivers, as the John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaros are the top competitors for the Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Chargers.

With both John Force and 2019 champion Robert Hight skipping the final nine races of the season, the DSR Mopar drivers had a clear shot to the championship. They did not waste that opportunity. Hagan won the third and fourth races of the season, Ron Capps won the fifth and seventh races, Beckman won the sixth and ninth races and Johnson won the eighth and tenth races. In short, DSR Dodge Charger funny cars won all 10 races on the 2020 schedule leading up to the season finale in Las Vegas.

Headed into the finale, Matt Hagan was in the top spot with both Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr. trailing close enough to grab the title in the final event. Ron Capps was fourth coming into the finale, but he was mathematically eliminated. Basically, Hagan had to finish stronger in Vegas than Beckman and Johnson to win the 2020 championship.

Dodge NHRA Finals

Matt Hagan got exactly the start that he wanted to the final event of the 2020 NHRA schedule, sitting in the top spot in the class after the first round. In the second-of-two qualifying rounds. Ron Capps put his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the top spot, with Hagan sitting second. Meanwhile, Johnson qualified fourth and Beckman qualified tenth. Qualifying higher than Johnson and Beckman allowed Hagan to put a few more points between them, but in the end, it wouldn’t matter.

In the first round, Capps beat Cruz Pedregon, Johnson beat Jim Campbell and Hagan beat Terry Haddock. Unfortunately, Beckman lost his first round race with Paul Lee, putting an end to his championship hopes for 2020.

In the second round, Capps, Hagan and Johnson all won, joining Alexis DeJoria in the semifinals. We believe that at that point, Hagan had mathematically locked up the title, but in the semifinals, Tommy Johnson Jr. lost to teammate Ron Capps while Hagan beat DeJoria, ending Johnson’s title run.

The results of the final race of the 2020 NHRA season had no impact on the championship, but Matt Hagan still went all-in in the finals. Capps held the starting line advantage, but when his engine popped around half-track, Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car cruised to victory #3 on the season. Of course, that third victory came with an NHRA championship, which is also the third of his career. You can watch the final round from the final event in the video below.

Charger Funny Car Clean Sweep

Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny cars held the top four spots in the championship race, with Hagan grabbing the title with 1,020 points. Tommy Johnson Jr. finished second with 915 points, Jack Beckman finished third with 848 points and Ron Capps finished fourth with 828 points. In addition to winning all 11 events, a DSR Charger finished second in seven of the 11 races.

The highest-placing non-Dodge was the Ford Mustang of Bob Tasca III, which finished in fifth place with 679 points, even though he didn’t make it to a final round in 2020.

Photos: Fiat-Chrysler 

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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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