Don Schumacher Racing 2011 Funny Car Season Review

Overall, Don Schumacher Racing had a great season in Funny Car. Their teams won 8 of 22 races and in 4 of those races there was an all DSR final. DSR also won 4 of the 6 races in the Countdown. Here are some highlights for each of the drivers:

Matt Hagan
Round Record: 33 - 20
Wins: 2
Runner up: 2

To say Matt Hagan had a successful season would be an understatement. Matt won the Funny Car championship and was the first and only driver to dip into the 3 second zone in the 1,000 Foot era by running a 3.995 in Charlotte 2. Tommy Delago’s master plan worked perfectly. Matt hovered around 5th place during the regular season with no wins, but when the Countdown started the Diehard Funny Car stepped up performance in a big way. Matt dominated the Charlotte 2 race by earning the win and 20 bonus points for setting the record. The team came into the final race of the season in 1st place with a one point lead. Matt clinched his 1st ever championship by winning his semifinal match over Cruz Pedregon. He then went on to win his 2nd race of the season in dominating fashion with a great 4.009 ET in the finals over Robert Hight. 

Ron Capps

Round Record: 30 - 19

Wins: 2

Runner up: 3

Ron Capps had a pretty successful season considering everything that happened along the way. The Napa Funny Car team got off to a slow start and Don Schumacher decided to make a change with Ron’s crew chief. John Medlen was released from his duties following the 4-Wide race and DSR announced that they hired the veteran crew chief tandem of Tim & Kim Richards. Tim & Kim took over the tuning responsibilities at the Atlanta race and it took them a few races to get back into the swing of tuning a nitro car. Starting with the Norwalk race, the Napa funny car began running consistently well and by Sonoma, the team appeared in their first winner’s circle. Ron would go on to win the Las Vegas 2 race and would finish the season in 6th place.

Jack Beckman 

Round Record: 34 - 19

Wins: 3

Runner up: 2

Before the 2011 season began, there were many questions surrounding Jack’s racing status due to a lack of sponsorship. That all changed when Aaron’s signed a last minute deal with DSR to be one of Jack’s sponsors. Little did Jack know that this would be his best season ever. The team started off strong and was a top 3 car throughout the regular season. The Aaron’s / Valvoline NextGen team tuned Jack to two wins during the regular season - the 4-Wide and Atlanta. During the Countdown, Jack won the Phoenix race and in doing so took over the points lead with two races to go. He came into the final race of the season just one point out of 1st place. He would fall to eventual champion Matt Hagan in the 2nd round and would finish in 2nd place.

Johnny Gray

Round Record: 26 - 18

Wins: 1

Runner up: 4

After several years of driving in NHRA Pro Stock, Johnny Gray made his return to driving a nitro Funny Car in 2011. He could not have chosen a better organization to come back with. Johnny got off to a slow start in the Service Central car and it was decided to make a crew chief change after the Norwalk race. Don Schumacher moved assistant crew chief Rob Wendland into the crew chief position, relieving Lee Beard of his duties. After just five races as crew chief, Rob tuned Johnny to his first ever funny car win at the Brainerd race. Unfortunately, because of the slow start the team was not able to overcome the points deficit to make it into the Countdown. It is a shame because Johnny had THE best car in the Countdown. He played a major spoiler role, winning 14 of a possible 24 Countdown rounds and beating the top contenders along the way. If Johnny would have made the Countdown in 10th position, he would have finished in 2nd place. Instead, Johnny settled for 11th place and the satisfaction that he helped his teammate win the championship.