For the first time since 1970 the Dodge brand has prevailed to win NHRA’s prestigious annual Manufacturers Cup….
Through dedication, perseverance, and with a generous supply of HEMI® horsepower, the Mopar and Dodge brands have achieved a remarkable goal in earning NHRA’s 2016 Manufacturers Cup.
The cup was presented to Mopar representatives during the season-closing NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series awards ceremony in Hollywood on Monday night, just following the NHRA Finals where Ron Capps was awarded the Funny Car championship for a brilliant season-long performance in his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Charger R/T.
The Manufacturers Cup is awarded to the automobile manufacturer whose current-year model earns the most points for qualifying and category victories in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series national and divisional events. Entries in Funny Car, Pro Stock, Super Stock, and Stock are awarded 60 points for an event win, 40 points for a runner-up, and 20 points for qualifying. The most recent Manufacturers Cup victory for Mopar was in 1970.
Ron Capps’ World Championship winning season paved the way for a successful Manufacturers Cup title for Dodge/Mopar.
“It is a great honor for the Mopar and Dodge brands to receive NHRA’s coveted Manufacturers Cup,” said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA – Global. “This award is very meaningful for us, particularly since it has been a number of years since we’ve reached this goal. On behalf of Mopar and Dodge, I extend our gratitude to the drivers and teams that contributed to this monumental victory. Their dedication to Mopar power and the tremendous effort that they put forth, both in the race shop and on the racetrack, have made this possible. We also thank the loyal fans that support and cheer for these drivers and the NHRA for providing the arena for us to showcase the power and speed of the Mopar and Dodge brands at the drag strip.”
DSR Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car drivers Capps, Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Jack Beckman, as well as Dodge Dart Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, led the winning efforts for Mopar and Dodge in the professional categories.
Don Schumacher Racing’s fleet of Dodge Funny Cars won 14 of 24 NHRA national event races in 2016 – Matt Hagan (above) won four times.
In all, Mopar-powered Dodge drivers earned a total of 15 national event victories, including 14 of 24 Funny Car competitions and nine all-Mopar final rounds. The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) collective included Mopar Dodge Charger R/T victories for 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car world champion Capps (5), Hagan (4), Johnson Jr. (3), and Beckman (2). Allen Johnson won the prestigious Pro Stock title in Denver at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Allen Johnson won X2 on the NHRA Pro Stock trail this past season.
About Mopar Motorsports:
The Mopar brand’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2016, Mopar will look to once again vie for a NHRA World Championship title in both Pro Stock and Funny Car categories. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honor its roots by being a proud supporter of Sportsman racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar’s Tom Hoover Sportsman Challenge.
About Mopar Brand:
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product, but it truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support.
Today, Mopar is the service, parts and customer-care brand of FCA US and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in over 150 markets around the world. With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25 customer contact centers globally, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands.
Mopar parts are engineered together with the same teams that create factory-authorized specifications for FCA vehicles. This offers a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide.
A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com and in Canada at www.mopar.ca
Posted by Darren Jacobs
Photos by Bruce Biegler
