Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
Indianapolis, Indiana
September 2 - 5, 2022
Notes of Interest:
The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals Sept. 2-5 at Indianapolis Raceway Park is the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season finale. The Big Go marks the 16th race on the 22-race calendar before the Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 15-18 with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) brings its two fulltime entries to Indianapolis this Labor Day Weekend – one in Top Fuel for 10-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for three-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan.
● At the conclusion of the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals, the top-10 drivers in the standings in each of the four professional categories of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – qualify for the Countdown to the Championship. The top-10 drivers in each class then compete in the final, six-race playoffs to vie for the title. Coming into Indianapolis, Pruett is tied with Shawn Langdon for sixth in the Top Fuel championship standings, 445 points behind leader Brittany Force with a 122-point margin over 11th-place Clay Millican.
● The Big Go is always a big deal, and the points that can be earned in the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals reflect the magnitude of the event. Round wins are worth 1.5 times more at Indianapolis (30 points per round). Pruett will also participate in five qualifying rounds, versus the standard three or four rounds at all other events. At the conclusion of the weekend, points will be adjusted for the start of the Countdown to the Championship. First and second place will be separated by 20 points, while the remaining top-10 driver are separated in 10-point increments.
● The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals is a marquee weekend for TSR and team partner Dodge. Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection adorn Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster and Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car this weekend at Indianapolis. Dodge Power Brokers serves as the exclusive source for Direct Connection, Dodge’s factory-backed performance parts program, which is equipped with staff trained to deliver a performance-focused customer service experience.
● The Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals will serve as Pruett’s 187th career Top Fuel start and her eighth in the event. It will mark her 11th overall start at Indianapolis, which includes three special-event starts in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
● Pruett is seeking her first victory in the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals. However, she has been in the winners’ circle at Indianapolis when she defeated Mark Pawuk in an all-Dodge Factory Stock Showdown event in 2018. Pruett was also the No. 1 qualifier at that event at 8.022 seconds. In Top Fuel, her best result came in 2020 when she beat Tony Schumacher and Steve Torrence in the second and third rounds, respectively, before losing to Shawn Langdon. Pruett is seeking her first No. 1 qualifier at the event.
Leah Pruett, driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster:
What are your expectations going into this year’s Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals?
The last time we hit the track in our Dodge Power Brokers dragster, we turned on all four win lights on raceday and had exceptional qualifying. We expect to do the same thing. We tested at Indy earlier in the year and we do have what we think is a pretty good handle on a warm track tune-up very similar to what we had on the Western Swing. We intend to use that at the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals and really just get back onto our high-performing Dodge train.
What is your favorite moment from the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals?
My favorite U.S. Nationals moment is winning the event in 2018 aboard my Direct Connection Mopar Factory Stock Showdown car. I've yet to have a U.S. Nationals win. I’ve finished runner-up before (2020) and with it being the Dodge Power Brokers race, there couldn’t be a better time to get my first Top Fuel win there. We know how to win at our high-profile events like we did at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals in Denver, and we can do it again. It’s going to be awesome. There’s a new spirit, a new regime, and new backing, but hoisting a Wally at Indianapolis is always going to be at the top of our to-do list.
What do you look forward to the most about the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals?
I really look forward to the entire week, but starting it off with our Dodge Drive event is really great. That’s where consumers and customers interested in our Dodge//SRT vehicles get the opportunity to get behind the wheel of these cars and feel their capabilities and I get to teach some of them how to drag race. The weekend already starts off with a huge win. As we go into Friday night qualifying, that’s an entire element of pressure in and of itself. I look forward to really sustaining a high level of success from Monday to Monday. This is not just the U.S. Nationals weekend, this is our Dodge Power Brokers week, and we’re going to broker that power all the way to the winner’s circle.
Contact: Ashley Wilson, (303) 594-8147, Ashley.Wilson@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
