Mopar will continue to fuel its winning partnership in the NHRA Funny Car class with Don Schumacher Racing during the 2016 campaign. Don Schumacher first raced a Mopar-powered Funny Car more than 40 years ago, seizing five wins between 1970 and 1973, and began fielding Mopar-powered Funny Car machines in his role as team owner starting in 2003. In 2016, Matt Hagan will once again helm the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T.
“We had our most successful season competing in Funny Cars in 2015, and much of the credit goes to Mopar and all of its engineers and technicians who developed the new 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car body that we used,” said Schumacher, whose DSR organization has claimed 14 NHRA World Championships. “The aerodynamics and new Charger body combined with the power of the Mopar HEMI engine to produce the sport’s quickest times and fastest speeds, and we couldn’t be prouder to be partners with them.”
Working in conjunction with DSR, Mopar debuted a new Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car body in 2015, and the results on the track were nothing less than spectacular. DSR teammates Hagan, Jack Beckman, Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr. combined to place the new body in the final round at all but one of 24 events during the season, amass a total of 15 wins, and place all four Mopar cars in the top five of the standings, with only the overall Funny Car crown eluding the team’s grasp. Beckman also doubled up with wins in the Traxxas Shootout bonus event and prestigious U.S. Nationals during Labor Day weekend.
Hagan raced his Mopar Express Lane Dodge to the winner’s circle four times in 2015, adding two runner-up finishes and seizing four No.1 qualifier spots. The two-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion has posted all of the top-five speeds ever run by a Funny Car, and in August recorded the quickest run in Funny Car history at the NHRA Brainerd event.
DSR Mopar Dodge Funny Car drivers have won three of the last five championships (Hagan, 2011 and 2014; Beckman, 2012) and teamed to rack up 42 wins over the last five years.
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