{"id":18400,"date":"2015-09-18T10:01:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T17:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=18400"},"modified":"2015-09-18T11:34:52","modified_gmt":"2015-09-18T18:34:52","slug":"movers-and-shakers-rocking-the-nhra-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/movers-and-shakers-rocking-the-nhra-countdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Movers and Shakers Rocking the NHRA Countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jack<\/a>
Jack Beckman knows that all the NHRA Countdown points lead to Pomona as he heads the Funny Car pack going into Charlotte with a 30 point lead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that the NHRA Mello Yello series\u2019 fields are set, it comes down to the six races that will determine a champion; and it starts this weekend at the zMAX Dragway in Charlotte. \u00a0We’ve hit the Countdown, with\u00a0the Top 10 spread out over a 110 point gap with the leader having a 30-point separation over the field.<\/p>\n

Even before the first flash of green in the race, there\u2019ve been plenty of rumblings in the background. The biggest of which\u00a0is the roller-coaster ride Shawn Langdon has been on\u00a0in the past week.<\/p>\n

First, he pulled off a major upset, beating U.S. Nationals No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher at Indy after qualifying 16th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Then, Langdon advanced to the semi-finals before bowing to Dave Connolly, putting his Alan Johnson Racing team solidly in the No. 6 position in the Countdown.<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday of this week, AJR announced its\u00a0withdrawal from the Countdown, due to\u00a0sponsorship challenges.\u00a0 Then on Wednesday, Don Schumacher Racing revealed that Langdon was on board as an “on-loan\u201d driver and would be competing for yet another championship after winning his first in 2013.\u00a0 He will now take over the helm of the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher\/Sandvik Coromant Top Fuel dragster and he couldn\u2019t be any happier.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything happened, there was an opportunity to race with Don Schumacher Racing to finish the season,\u201d Langdon said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a unique opportunity, but I think it\u2019s a good fit for everyone at DSR as well as for Alan and me.\u00a0 I am still under contract with Alan Johnson Racing, and we are still working towards getting our team back together in 2016.\u00a0 But for the next six races, I\u2019ll be driving for Don Schumacher Racing and competing for a championship.\u00a0 It\u2019s great for the fans to be able to have 10 cars competing for the Mello Yello championship, it\u2019s good for NHRA, and at this point, I think it\u2019s good for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Top Fuel candidate, J.R. Todd, who finished in the runner up spot last year, is turning up the volume, aligning his Kalitta Racing team with the Jimi Hendrix Foundation for the next three NHRA events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an awesome way to start our chase at the title,\u201d said Todd. \u00a0\u201cHendrix was an amazing musician and I am excited to be able to represent this foundation and educate people on the Music for Life program.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Jimi Hendrix Foundation is partnering with Kalitta Motorsports for the next three races with J.R. Todd behind the wheel commemorating the 45th year of his untimely death.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCharlotte has been a good track for us in the past and I\u2019m looking forward to getting there and kicking off the countdown.\u00a0 It would be great to come out of there with a win to start our march toward the championship.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a big weekend for us as we unveil the Jimi Hendrix Foundation car and there\u2019s no better way to raise awareness for them than going out and winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jimi Hendrix Foundation is dedicated to the betterment of the world community through music. \u00a0In honor of the love and giving spirit of Jimi Hendrix, the Foundation works to improve the quality of life for children and the world and to inspire creativity in music, arts and sciences. \u00a0The partnership with Kalitta Motorsports and J.R. Todd will allow the Jimi Hendrix Foundation to showcase their Music for Life program providing children and young adults with musical instruments and instruction without the worry of cost.<\/p>\n

Another long standing favorite and teammate to Todd, Doug Kalitta, will be competing in\u00a0his 18th <\/sup>NHRA title bout after being the runner up three times (2003-04, 2006).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy crew chief Jim O [Oberhofer] has won a couple of Top Fuel championships and we are all really hungry,\u201d said Kalitta, who has advanced to the Countdown to the Championship for the eighth straight year.\u00a0 \u201cHopefully this will be the year it all comes together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, eight-time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher will back in the hunt, defending his championship with the vigor of the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one will be the hardest because we won last year and doing it back to back is incredibly tough”, said Schumacher, Top Fuel\u2019s most prolific driver with 76 wins.\u00a0 \u201cIt takes a lot of right-time, right-place moments and, when you have the bull\u2019s-eye on your back, people take their best shots.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be fun.\u00a0 I love the moment.\u00a0 I love the fight and I love going into the fight being surrounded by great people.\u00a0 Whether we win it or come up short at the end of the season, being part of it all is the gift itself.\u00a0 We\u2019re excited to give it everything we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
16-time Funny Car champion, John Force knows all regular season rehearsals are over and now it’s time to get back to his style of hard-charging drag racing for the Mello Yello championship and it starts this weekend at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Funny Car fan favorite and 16-time NHRA World Champion John Force saw all the hoopla surrounding Jeff Gordon\u2019s last year on the Sprint Cup tour and decided in the heart of NASCAR country to join in honoring his long standing friend with a tribute car decorated with his famous No. 24 livery along with the patented Force flames in his honor.\u00a0 It\u2019s the best\u00a0way he knows how to say thanks to his fellow Chevrolet driver.\"John<\/p>\n

\u201cThis special Chevy Funny Car is just a way for me, my family, my team, my sponsors, NHRA and the fans to say thank you for being a great champion and being such a great driver in NASCAR,\u201d said the 143-time race winner, Force. \u00a0\u201cI put as many flames as could fit on my hot rod in Jeff\u2019s honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
John Force pays homage to NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon this weekend at the Carolina Nationals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking ahead, Jack Beckman is the man to watch in Funny Car.\u00a0 It won\u2019t be easy to chase down the red-hot Beckman, who has a super-fast race car and six wins in 2015, but defending Funny Car champion Matt Hagan will take confidence into the Countdown knowing he started the playoffs in sixth to win his first world championship and seventh a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlotte has always been a pretty kind track to us and hopefully that will continue,\u201d said Hagan, who won last year\u2019s playoff opener and has two other career wins at zMAX Dragway.\u00a0 \u201cThe Countdown is chaotic. \u00a0You have six races to make it happen and you never know how it\u2019s going to turn out. \u00a0I know what it\u2019s like to dig myself up to that No. 1 spot. \u00a0You just have to depend on your guys and have trust in what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of Beckman, the Infinite Hero team gained more momentum over Labor Day Weekend when it swept the U.S. Nationals by winning the pole, event title and the $100,000 Traxxas Shootout for Funny Cars.<\/p>\n

“I think what happens is, when everything is going well, doing your job right is actually easier. \u00a0I think the results can oftentimes drive the attitude. \u00a0But I don’t think you’re ever going to start getting good results unless you have the right attitude to drive that. \u00a0So I think that even when things were horrible in 2014 – one final round, no wins – I still think I kept a good attitude. \u00a0The 11 of us on this Infinite Hero team are doing enough things correctly; we are blending with each other. \u00a0The chemistry on the team is fantastic. \u00a0There are 11 people that equally share in the tasks and should equally share in the results of this. \u00a0I think because of that, I don’t see any reason why this can’t continue for six more races.”<\/p>\n

Pro Stock is a real donnybrook between defending champ Erica Enders-Stevens and Greg Anderson as her closest opponent.\u00a0 But let\u2019s make it very clear, it\u2019s not only those two that have their eyes set on the target for the sports\u2019 top honor as champion.\u00a0 Oh, no, you can\u2019t discount Chris McGaha, Jason Line, Allen Johnson, Larry Morgan, the Gray brothers of Shane and Jonathan as real contenders.\u00a0 Dark horse runners would be rookie, Drew Skillman and Vincent Nobile. \u00a0Both are stout leavers and could play a bigger role by the time the series heads to Pomona.<\/p>\n

“We still have a ton of work cut out for us going into the Countdown,\u201d said Enders winning six times in 2015.\u00a0 \u201cWe weren’t the fastest car at Indy, but you bet your butt our guys are back in the shop working on that to see if we can find some more horsepower and get our act together for the Countdown.”<\/p>\n

Greg Anderson is the most improved driver in the class, winning four times after recovering from heart surgery the year before and missing the Countdown.<\/p>\n

“We’re happy. \u00a0We’ve made progress over the summer, and we’re starting to peak at the right time as far as performance goes,” said Anderson, who was the No. 1 qualifier at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis two weeks ago. \u00a0“That’s very important. \u00a0You have to have that great performance if you want to win, and we’re there. \u00a0We’re ready to go to battle, and we’re not easing into this thing. \u00a0We’ve used all of the available hours in the last week, and hopefully we’ll start out the Countdown with a big victory.<\/p>\n

Qualifying starts on Friday, Sept. 18 at 3:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT followed by two more sessions on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.\u00a0 On Sunday, September 20, the NHRA Carolina Nationals starts promptly at 12 noon EDT airing live on www.WatchESPN.com<\/a> and later on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weekend begins the Countdown to the end of the NHRA Mello Yello series.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,3399],"tags":[1749,553,1974,574,511,1972,640,887,512,1190,3415,75,1254,3213,1975,128,7,84,81,3414,1022],"class_list":["post-18400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-nhra","tag-alan-johnson-racing","tag-allen-johnson","tag-chris-mcgaha","tag-don-schumacher-racing","tag-doug-kalitta","tag-drew-skillman","tag-erica-enders-stevens","tag-greg-anderson","tag-jason-line","tag-jeff-gordon","tag-jimi-hendrix-foundation","tag-john-force","tag-jonathan-gray","tag-jr-todd","tag-larry-morgan","tag-matt-hagan","tag-nhra","tag-shane-gray","tag-shawn-langdon","tag-tony-shumacher","tag-vincent-nobile"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/15NHRACOUNTDOWNJackBeckmanPomonaPHOTO.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-4MM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18400"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18421,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400\/revisions\/18421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}