KENT, WA – Prior to the Western Swing, Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team had a successful test session in Indianapolis and were eager to take what they learned and apply it in competition. With the NHRA Mile-High Nationals near Denver, the first of three Western Swing events, widely regarded as a ‘one off’ due to the high elevation, Schumacher and his Mike Neff-led team were looking forward to putting their newly-acquired data to the test in the sea-level conditions found at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.

Schumacher returned to the NHRA Northwest Nationals as the defending Top Fuel event champion. His 2022 Seattle triumph went down in the books as win No. 1 for the JCM Racing team, which made its debut that same weekend, and he was looking forward to going two-for-two at a facility where he is a five-time event winner.

During qualifying, Schumacher and the SCAG team made two solid passes out of three, with their best-of 3.826-second pass placing them in the No. 12 position on the Top Fuel ladder.

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KENT, WA – Joe and Cathi Maynard, along with their partners Eric and Kim Lehman, made their debut as NHRA team owners at the 2022 NHRA Northwest Nationals, and with Schumacher’s Seattle win, they were successful in capturing Wally trophy No. 1 for JCM Racing at their first event.

Schumacher, driver of the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel Dragster,  leads the Top Fuel class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (four) at Pacific Raceways.

Tony talks about Seattle, “Look forward to getting back to Seattle. We’re the defending champions. Didn’t have the perfect car in Denver last weekend, but the engineering and the testing we did in Indy right before our Denver race was designed specifically for sea-level racing, so I’m eager to see what we can do when we get to Seattle. The conditions look beautiful, I look forward to getting there and trying to back up our 2022 win.”

NHRA Northwest Nationals Event Highlights: Five-time event champion (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2022), Three-time runner-up (2005, 2009, 2011), Four-time No. 1 qualifier (2004, 2008, 2014, 2016)

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Morrison, CO – Despite making steady progress all weekend, Tony Schumacher’s race day at the final NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway ended early in the opening round of eliminations. Schumacher’s SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster made its best run of the event, but it wasn’t quick enough to get the first-round win.

Racing at the first of three events on the Western Swing, Schumacher was one of several drivers that struggled to get down the track in Friday’s first qualifying session. Crew chief Mike Neff and the SCAG team improved in each session after that, stepping up from a 3.966-second pass in the second session to a 3.897 E.T. in the final session on Saturday.

With a sold-out crowd on hand for the third consecutive day, eliminations kicked off Sunday morning. After qualifying No. 12, Schumacher lined up against Clay Millican for a battle between two of the most experienced drivers in the class. Schumacher laid down his best performance of the weekend, a 3.889 E.T. at 309.13 MPH, but Millican was quicker with a winning 3.840 E.T.

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Morrison, CO – The Mile-High Nationals serves as the kick-off to the three-race Western Swing Schumacher is a nine-time winner on “the swing” with three Denver triumphs, four wins in Seattle, and two in Sonoma.

Schumacher is part of an elite group of seven Camping World Series competitors who can claim to have “swept the swing” when he won the trio of Denver/Sonoma/Seattle events in 2008

“Denver is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. I love the facility, the surroundings, the Bandimere family. The Bandimeres are one of those families that have committed their lives to drag racing and have helped this sport so much, particularly with the Jr. racers. Anyone who is in my world, making it a better place, I appreciate so much, and that’s what they did.

“Obviously, Denver has its challenges with the altitude and conditions, but that’s one of the things I love about racing there. I love the difficulty of it. I’m one of the few people to have swept the swing, and that was a huge accomplishment that I’ll always be really proud of. Can’t wait to get back there for one last go-round. I’m going to go in early and fish, stay behind on the back end and fish, and hopefully I’ll be going onto our next race carrying a Wally.” explained Schumacher.

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Norwalk, OH – Racing with heavy hearts following the passing of JCM Racing co-owner Cathi Maynard, Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team had extra motivation to turn on win lights Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Schumacher’s tiger-striped dragster overpowered the Summit Motorsports Park track surface in the opening round, though, leaving Schumacher to reflect on Maynard’s impact on his career.

Schumacher, who raced to a runner-up finish at the recent completion of the NHRA New England Nationals, came out of the gate swinging during Friday qualifying. He laid down a 3.759-second pass to qualify for a spot in the 16-car field, but after suffering from traction issues in the second and third qualifying sessions, he eventually settled into the No. 12 position on the eliminations ladder going into Sunday.

Schumacher’s traction troubles continued in the first round of eliminations against Austin Prock. The two drivers left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times, but the SCAG machine went up in smoke almost immediately.

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Norwalk, OH – Schumacher raced to a runner-up finish at the conclusion of the NHRA New England Nationals, contested in Bristol, TN during the Thunder Valley event.

Tony raced to victory at the inaugural NHRA Norwalk Nationals in 2007 but has struggled to find the Norwalk winner’s circle since.  SCAG executives Randy Gloede and Scott Schaefer experienced their first in-person NHRA race during the 2022 Norwalk event. Since that time, their involvement has expanded to become the primary partner on Schumacher and Tim Wilkerson’s machines, in addition to joining Erica Enders’ partner roster and being named NHRA’s official ‘outdoor power equipment provider’.

“One year ago this weekend, Randy Gloede and Scott Schaefer of SCAG went to their first NHRA drag race. That was the first time they watched nitro cars go down the race track, and since then, the commitment they’ve made to this sport has just been absolutely incredible. We haven’t seen anyone take this great of a  stake in a long, long time, and this has all been within one year’s time. Truly a blessing to have a sponsor that falls in love with the sport so hard, and we look forward to going out there this weekend and kicking some butt. Our SCAG Top Fuel dragster is starting to perform better, and hopefully we can make it a long race day this Sunday.” explained Tony.

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Bristol, TN – After reaching the final round of the rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals on Saturday, Top Fuel star Tony Schumacher was hoping to go one round further in Sunday’s eliminations at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Unfortunately, a flash of tire smoke marked the end of Schumacher’s day in the second round.

Driving his SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher qualified No. 10 with a 3.797-second pass that he recorded on his way to the Epping runner-up finish to Justin Ashley in an all-JCM Racing final on Saturday.

When Sunday rolled around, Bristol Dragway honored Schumacher during pre-race ceremonies by inducting him into the Legends of Thunder Valley, the track’s prestigious hall of fame. Schumacher is the winningest Top Fuel driver at the historic Tennessee track with six victories, and he’s now just the second member to be inducted as an active driver, joining John Force, who was welcomed into the elite club in 2016. He’s a second-generation inductee, as his father, Don Schumacher, was honored in 2014.

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Bristol, TN – A week after qualifying No. 13 at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, Tony Schumacher raced to a runner-up finish at the rain-delayed eliminations held during qualifying at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The driver of the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster clocked a solid 3.835 in the final round but came up just short to his new JCM Racing teammate, Justin Ashley, on Saturday.

While Schumacher struggled like many of the other teams in Epping’s extreme qualifying conditions, he started with a clean slate when eliminations began at Bristol. He used a 3.797-second pass to move past Shawn Langdon in the first round, giving him a bye in the quarterfinals on Saturday. With the sun heating up the racing surface, the bye run came at the perfect time, as Schumacher started to lose traction and lifted to a 4.487-second E.T.

In the semifinals, which also counted as the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Schumacher and opponent Mike Salinas left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times. Schumacher held on and the SCAG Power Equipment dragster charged ahead, crossing the finish line first with a 3.945-second pass at 310.20 MPH to advance to his 157th final round.

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BRISTOL, TN – Tony Schumacher, NHRA’s winningest Top Fuel driver in history, will be inducted into Bristol Dragway’s Legends of Thunder Valley, the historic track’s official hall of fame, during next weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, June 9-11.

Six of the “The Sarge’s” record 86 career Top Fuel victories came at Bristol Dragway during his distinguished career. The eight-time NHRA world champion, who will be competing in JCM Racing’s SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster next weekend, says he’s looking to add more wins to his stats at one of his favorite tracks on the circuit.

Schumacher, 53, is the 20th inductee in the prestigious Legends of Thunder Valley and joins his father, 2014 honoree Don Schumacher, in the exclusive club. Schumacher is also only the second member to be inducted while he is still an active racer, joining 2016 inductee John Force, who continues to compete in the NHRA Funny Car category.

Schumacher, a Chicago native who currently resides in Austin, Texas, dominated NHRA’s Top Fuel category in the 2000s. He won six consecutive world championship titles from 2004-2009. His incredible 2008 season, where he was named Driver of the Year for all of motorsports, was perhaps his best ever, where he won 15 races in 18 final rounds and posted 9 No. 1 qualifying awards and never lost a first-round pairing that season.

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Epping, NH – Following the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team spent time testing in Indianapolis, and feel confident that they have identified and resolved an issue that had been affecting the team’s performance.  Schumacher and team are ready for the Epping race and getting their program back on track!

“It’s no secret that we’ve had a rough start to the season, and I don’t mean to sound like a broken record but I truly believe that after last week’s test session, we will turn it around this weekend. We tested for one day after Chicago, and were able to identify a huge issue. Once we pinpointed what we thought the problem was, we wanted to make sure that it translated to the race track. We ran a 3.78, which was our baseline, and then we wanted to see if we made a specific change, what would happen. So, we made the change and then went out and ran a 3.72. We weren’t trying to run quicker than that 72, which we could have, but we wanted to see how making that change would effect a 78 run, and it worked; the car did what we wanted it to do.” explained Tony.

NHRA New England Nationals Event Highlights: Two-time event champion (2014, 2015), 2015 No. 1 qualifier

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