LAS VEGAS, Nov. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
- Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Matt Hagan earns 2020
Funny Car World Championship aboard his "demon-possessed" Dodge
Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye and wraps up the 2020 National Hot Rod
Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Series season with a win at the
Dodge NHRA Finals
- Hagan won his third career Funny Car world championship and
took home his third Wally trophy of the season
- DSR drivers Hagan, Tommy Johnson
Jr., Jack Beckman and
Ron Capps dominated the Funny Car
class to finish 1-2-3-4 in the standings and combined for a
NHRA season sweep winning all 11 national events
- A DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car won every race of
the 2020 NHRA season and extended the team's undefeated streak to a
record 14 consecutive victories since October 2019
- Hagan earned his 35th career win against No. 1 qualifier
Ron Capps in the seventh
head-to-head Dodge final round battle of the year
Matt Hagan and his "demon-possessed" Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Redeye have earned the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)
Drag Racing Series Funny Car World Championship title and the
national event win at the season-ending Dodge NHRA Finals Presented
by Pennzoil in Las Vegas. It is
Hagan's third championship crown after title wins in 2011 and 2014
and the sixth Funny Car class victory for the Don Schumacher Racing
(DSR) team in 18 years.
From the No. 2 position on the eliminations ladder, Hagan earned
his third Wally trophy of the year in a season dominated by the DSR
stable of HEMI®-powered Funny Cars. The DSR foursome of Hagan,
Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and Ron
Capps finished 1-2-3-4 atop the Funny Car standings and
combined for a NHRA season "sweep" in which a Dodge Charger SRT
Hellcat won every national event to extend the team's undefeated
streak to a record 14 consecutive victories since October 2019.
"It's been just an unbelievable season," said Hagan. "My guys
have put an unbelievable car behind me with Pennzoil, Dodge SRT and
Mopar. Everybody who supports us. It's great to win for Camping
World and their first championship. My guys have worked so hard all
season long. I can't say enough about them and thank them. Three
wins, a championship, it's just special. I can't wait for next
season."
"To have Matt Hagan win the championship at the Dodge NHRA
Finals and cap off it off with an undefeated season and record 14th
straight victory is a testament to the team's hard work and the
pure performance of the Charger SRT Hellcat," said Tim Kuniskis,
Head of Global Head of Alfa Romeo and Head of Passenger Cars –
Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. "It is really satisfying to
watch our quickest, fastest and most powerful production vehicles
represented so well on the race track."
"On behalf of all of us at Mopar, congratulations to Matt Hagan
on a well-deserved third NHRA World Championship and a dominating
performance in Funny Car competition this season," said
Mark Bosanac, Head of Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care for FCA –
North America. "Reflecting on
Mopar's long-standing involvement in the NHRA, including 18
successful years in partnership with Don
Schumacher, we take great pride in this title
win."
With a two-round lead over his closest championship challengers,
teammates Johnson and Beckman, Hagan clinched the crown after wins
over Cruz Pedregon and Paul Lee in the first two rounds and just prior
to staging his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye for his semifinal
match-up against Alexis DeJoria. The
deal was sealed after Beckman was upset in the opening round
against Paul Lee and No. 1 qualifier
Capps defeated Johnson as the first semifinal pair to take the
track.
With the 2020 Funny Car championship secured, all that was left
to determine was who would take home the Dodge NHRA Finals Wally
trophy as Hagan and Capps lined up for the seventh head-to-head
Hellcat final round battle of the year.
While Capps had the early lead his efforts went up in smoke at
half-track as Hagan took his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for a solid
3.914-second final lap to earn his 36th career victory and defend
his 2019 win at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway and tie the NHRA
reco
"Dodge and the DSR fab shop, they've put a great race car
underneath us," said Hagan. "My crew chief Dickie Venables, I can't
say enough about the guy. He's won me two world championships
(2014, 2020) and we've runnered-up a few times. There's a handful
of guys on this team who haven't won a championship before. I'm
just so proud to give them that opportunity and I know how bad
everybody wanted it.
"For us to have won three world championships now in this sport,
it's incredible," added Hagan. "It all comes back down to my guys
and the car they put under me. It's not just me. I try not to mess
it up. This is one of the most humbling sports I've been involved
in and it always seems to come down to the last race and that
certainly doesn't make me look any younger. Thank you to everyone
who supports what we do and we hope we made you proud to be a part
of this."
The 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season will
celebrate its 70th anniversary with a 22-race scheduled to begin at
the 52nd annual Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway on
March 12-14.
DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA's action this season at DodgeGarage,
the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The
site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ,
news, events, galleries, available downloads, and merchandise. For
more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to
share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans
can see action from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and
NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers competing in classes such as
Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as
additional motorsports series.
Official Driving School of Dodge//SRT
Dodge is the official sponsor of the Bondurant School of High
Performance Driving in Chandler,
Arizona, where guests get behind the wheels of the fastest
street-legal cars in the world with professional instruction and
time on the track. Customers who buy a new SRT model receive one
full-day session as part of the Dodge//SRT Package and have the
opportunity to learn how to get the optimum performance from their
new vehicles in a controlled environment. For more
information,
visit dodgegarage.com/track-experience.
Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) is the
service, parts and customer-care brand for FCA vehicles around the
globe. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products,
the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent
both complete care and authentic performance for owners and
enthusiasts worldwide.
Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era, with
Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road
and racing use, and expanded to include technical service and
customer support. Today, the Mopar brand's global reach distributes
more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 150 markets.
With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25
customer-contact centers globally, Mopar integrates service, parts
and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and
dealer support worldwide.
Complete information on the Mopar brand is available
at www.mopar.com. Mopar is part of the portfolio of brands
offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more
information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please
visit www.fcagroup.com.
Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit
of brothers John and Horace Dodge.
Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with
muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of
the segments where they compete.
2021 marks the year that Dodge is
distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered,
700+ horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For
the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating
807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new
797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and
fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new
710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV
ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's
most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other
American brand across its entire
lineup.
In June 2020, Dodge was named the
"#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand
ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS).
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global
automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding
FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please
visit www.fcagroup.com.
Follow Dodge, SRT and FCA news and video
on:
Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com
Media website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
Dodge Garage: www.dodgegarage.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge or https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dodgeofficial or www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA
Twitter: www.twitter.com/dodge or www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge or www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica
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SOURCE FCA