Semifinal Appearance for Enders’ Mopar Performance Dodge Dart at Las Vegas NHRA Nationals

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• Enders drives #mopar Performance #dodge Dart to Pro Stock semifinal appearance at 17th annual #nhra Nationals in Las Vegas
• No. 1 seed Beckman and the Infinite Hero #dodge #chargerrt Funny Car see day cut short with quarterfinal loss
• Capps and the DSR #dodge #chargerrt sit third in the Funny Car points standings despite missing eliminations

April 3, 2016 , Las Vegas -A semifinal appearance by Elite Motorsports driver Erica Enders and her #mopar Performance #dodge Dart GT at the 17th annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals might not be nearly as good as a visit to the winner’s circle, but it does feels like a small victory for the two-time defending Pro Stock world champion after a rough start to the 2016 #nhra Mello Yello Drag #racing Series season.  After posting her best qualifying performance thus far this season to position herself fifth on the eliminations ladder, Enders finally brought an end to her unusual streak of first round losses to start the season by posting a stellar .009-second reaction time and running solid 6.767-second lap at 204.42 miles per hour against Aaron Strong to turn the win lights on for the first time this year. Enders had another lightning quick .006-second start in the quarterfinals to give her a holeshot win over Drew Skillman with a 6.845 sec/204.70 mph lap to her opponent’s quicker 6.807/204.01 pass, propelling her into the semifinals against Pro Stock points leader, Jason Line. While the two-time defending winner at #lasvegas was disappointed to see her day end with a loss to Line who went on to win the national title, Enders was bolstered by the seeing the continued efforts of her team finally reap some benefits. “It was really nice to just be able to go rounds,” Enders said. “Winning doesn’t define us. I think you find out what real champions are made of when you have to go through a little bit of adversity and it makes you dig deeper and want it more. We’ve certainly made strides in the right direction with our engine development program. We proved that on the race track during qualifying.  “I think we have things pointed in the right direction and we certainly have a lot of work left to do but a semifinal appearance here in #lasvegas was definitely awesome. It was a good points day for us and now we just have to get back to the shop and work on these awesome HEMIs and go to Charlotte renewed, refreshed and ready to win a race.” Enders’ Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. had a much more challenging weekend than he would have preferred, qualifying his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” /JEGS.com #dodge Dart 13th on the ladder with just two full passes, battling mechanical issues, and seeing his day cut short by a first round loss to Drew Skillman. Despite the setbacks, Coughlin remains optimistic about the development of their new electronic fuel injection era Pro Stock. "We know it's all here," Coughlin said. "I've got faith in the Elite Performance group. We've got a pile of parts we'll take back with us to the shop in Oklahoma, and they'll be like CSI investigators, taking a look at this stuff piece by piece and part by part. They're very intimate with it, and I know they'll come up with a solution. We hustled from the time we showed up here on Friday until right now. The team was behind the 8-ball, as we struggled with some engine issues. We just couldn't quite overcome them.” After qualifying tenth, Allen Johnson advanced his Marathon Petroleum #dodge Dart GT into the quarterfinals with straight run down the track for a win over Alex Laughlin to meet up with Greg Anderson.Johnson improved with a solid lap at 6.754/204.45 but it wasn’t quite enough to beat Anderson’s 6.725/205.66. “We’re getting better and better every race,” Johnson said. “We need a few more ponies (horsepower) and we’ve got some things working at the shop right now that’ll come into play the next few weeks.” No. 11 qualifier Deric Kramer earned a first round win with a 6.775/204.29 run in his #dodge Dart to beat Vincent Nobile’s 6.800/205.22, then was quicker on the start against Bo Butner in the second round but severe tire shake ended his hopes of advancing any further.  The HEMI-powered #dodge Dart of V. Gaines lost his first round battle against Bo Butner. In Funny Car action, after Don Schumacher #racing (DSR) driver #jackbeckman earned his third No. 1 Qualifier position of the year to extend the #dodge #chargerrt Funny Car’s consecutive streak of pole positions to four this season, he kicked things off with a 4.081 second pass at 299.53 on a hot track to beat Terry Haddock who hazed the tires right off the start. Beckman’s quarterfinal run against Chad Head didn’t go quite as well after the #mopar driver had to peddle it and didn’t recover quickly enough. "We have to keep picking away at it," said Beckman who sits fifth in points. "This car has been finicky on hot tracks. If we raced under cool conditions, I'm not sure anyone could beat us. We've been great at getting green hats this year. That's what you get for being the No. 1 qualifier. We want the yellow hat - that's the one you get for winning the final round." Qualified 10th with a pair of three-second runs, DSR’s Matt Hagan and his #mopar Express Lane #dodge #chargerrt had a good start to his first round match-up against John Force before being hampered by the loss of a cylinder. Force got past him but had a problem of his own, setting up a close finish that saw Hagan’s 4.061/308.07 get edged at the line by his opponent’s 4.059/300.40 mph run. “That was one of the closest rounds of the day,” Hagan said. “We just came out on the backside of it. A close race is great for our fans, but I just want to be the winner.” Fellow DSR driver Tommy Johnson Jr. and his Make-A-Wish #dodge #chargerrt was seeded 11th and despite a starting line advantage and respectable 4.073 second run (308.85 mph) in the opening round, it wasn’t enough to beat Alexis DeJoria’s 4.006/313.00, who then went on to work her way through the field to earn her fourth career national title. Sitting on the sidelines for eliminations was Ron Capps who arrived in #lasvegas second in the Funny Car standings after taking his DSR #dodge #chargerrt to a win in the season opener at Pomona, a No. 1 Qualifier position in Phoenix and a runner-up finish at Gainesville, but wasn’t able to put together a full lap in four attempts to qualify his #dodge #chargerrt. Despite missing race day, Capps still leads the #dodge contingent with his third place spot in the points. The next race #event will be the Lowes Foods 7th Annual #nhra Four-Wide Nationals, the fifth of 24 events on the 2016 #nhra Mello Yello Drag #racing Series season schedule, at zMax Dragway near Charlotte, N.C. on April 22-24. Television coverage of the #event will be available on FS1 with a two hour qualifying show on Saturday, April 23 at 10 p.m. (ET) and a three hour eliminations broadcast scheduled for Sunday, April 24 starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.
2016 #nhra Championship Points Standings
(Following the #lasvegas #nhra Nationals Race Final)
 
PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Jason Line – 463 (2)
2.         Greg Anderson – 415 (2)
3.         Bo Butner – 331
4.         Drew Skillman – 264
5.         Chris McGaha – 214
6.         Allen Johnson – #dodge Dart – 212
7.         Jeg Coughlin Jr. – #dodge Dart – 191
8.         Vincent Nobile – 175
9.         Erica Enders – #dodge Dart – 171
10.       Alex Laughlin – 152
 
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Robert Hight – 341 (1)
2.         John Force – 294
3.         Ron Capps – (Dodge Charger R/T) – 289 (1)
4.         Del Worsham – 283
5.         #jackbeckman – (Dodge Charger R/T) – 271
6.         Courtney Force – 265
7.         Chad Head – 162
8.         Alexis DeJoria – 119 (1)
9.         Tim Wilkerson – 183
10.       Matt Hagan – (Dodge Charger R/T) – 118
11.       Tommy Johnson Jr. – (2015 #dodge Charger R/T) – 117