JOLIET, IL – Tony Schumacher is leaving a meaningful weekend back at Route 66 Raceway knowing his SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster is making strong power. Unfortunately, though, the JCM Racing driver couldn’t harness the power and turn it into a first-round win Sunday morning at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Schumacher’s troubles started in qualifying, where he struggled to get down the track in the first two sessions. During the third and final round, Schumacher stepped up to a 3.793-second E.T. at 328.94 MPH to move from No. 18 into the field in the No. 15 spot.

Racing on a hot, challenging track surface on Sunday morning, Schumacher again ran into traction issues in his first-round matchup with Austin Prock. The seven-time Chicago low qualifier pedaled when he lost traction, but he couldn’t recover in time to catch Prock, who led from start to finish.

“The conditions were hotter today than we’ve seen all weekend, and we’ve got a lot of power right now,” said Schumacher, a class-best five-time Top Fuel winner at Route 66 Raceway. “We’re going to have to go to Indy and test because this is a new level of power that we’ve got to get worked into this tune-up. I know the (crew) guys, they’re all hurt, man. They work so darn hard on this stuff.”

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Joliet, IL – Tony is the winningest Top Fuel driver in Chicago history with five wins at Route 66 Raceway.  He’s tied with Antron Brown and Jeg Coughlin Jr. for winningest Camping World Series driver at the Joliet facility and leads the Top Fuel class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (seven) at Chicago.

Tony is a Chicago native turned Austin transplant, Schumacher considers Route 66 Raceway to be a home track.  The Joliet, Ill. event is a home race for primary partner, SCAG Power Equipment.

“Super excited to get back to Joliet. When Route 66 Raceway was built, it was one of the premier super tracks and when it went away, it was really sad. Being a Chicago native, I have a lot of friends and family that would go there. Not to mention, with all of the success I’ve had at that facility, it’s certainly not one I want to see removed from the schedule. So, we’re happy it’s coming back and we’re on the verge of having our SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster run really fast. That track is extremely quick when the conditions are right, and we’re looking at perfect conditions this weekend. So, it is time for our first win this year and we’re going after it hard.” explained Schumacher.

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CONCORD, NC – As the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, there isn’t much that Tony Schumacher hasn’t accomplished when it comes to straight-line racing. He has more national event victories (86) and championships (eight) than any other wheelman that has strapped into an NHRA Top Fuel dragster but there is still one thing that has eluded him – a victory from a four-wide event. Schumacher has come close to four-wide success, finishing as the runner-up four times, including twice at zMAX Dragway, and he was hoping this year’s Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals would culminate with him bringing home his first four-wide Wally trophy.

The SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team made three full pulls throughout qualifying to earn a spot on the elimination ladder but despite their best efforts, were unable to crack into the top half of the field by the time positions were set.

Starting from the No. 12 spot on Sunday, Schumacher faced tough competition with Steve Torrence, Dan Mercier, and Josh Hart as his first-round opponents. Schumacher was impressive on the starting line, clocking a 0.34-second reaction time to give him the holeshot advantage, but his machine started to slow as it approached the top end while Torrence and Hart made quicker passes to advance into the next round.

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Concord, NC – While Schumacher is the most successful driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, he has yet to hoist a four-wide Wally trophy.  He’s come close, finishing as the runner-up in 2012 and 2017 in Charlotte in addition to advancing to the final quad in Las Vegas in 2018 and 2022.  He’s hungry and ready for a win!

“We’ve now had two race weekends in a row where our SCAG Top Fuel dragster has performed well, but we’ve just come up short on race day. We’re getting down the track consistently now, which is important because it allows us to tweak our tune-up so that we’re at a place where we can pick it up a little and we’re not losing these super close rounds on race day. Our record may not look so great on paper at the moment, but I don’t think that is indicative of where this team is truly at, performance-wise. The tables will turn, and soon we’ll be on the good side of these close races; I have no doubt.”

NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Event Highlights: Two-time runner-up (2012, 2017)

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LAS VEGAS – Tony Schumacher was looking to take care of some unfinished business by capturing his first four-wide Wally trophy at this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. Ahead of the first of two back-to-back four-wide events, Schumacher remarked that the last time he and crew chief Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff raced the Spring Las Vegas event together as driver/crew chief in 2018, they advanced to the final quad and were leading their three opponents until a mechanical malfunction cost them the race. Neff and Schumacher reunited for the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series season, and after seeing an uptick in performance at the series’ most recent event in Pomona, Calif., the duo felt they had the car to get the job done on Sunday in Las Vegas.

With 86 national event wins, including his class-best eight triumphs from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a win from the unique four-wide format is one of the few things that has eluded Schumacher throughout his storied career. He’s come close to four-wide success, finishing as the runner-up in 2012 and 2017 in Charlotte, in addition to advancing to the final quad in Las Vegas in 2018 and again in 2022.

Schumacher’s quest for the Sunday hardware began with a solid qualifying performance in which he placed the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster eighth on the elimination ladder by recording a 3.763 E.T. in the opening session. He then went on to make two more good passes, and once the fields were set, Schumacher found himself facing a tough first-round contest with fellow world champs Brittany Force and Antron Brown. Force left first and Schumacher and Brown left together shortly after. All three drivers charged hard to the finish line stripe with the trio posting 3.78 E.T.s across the board, but Force and Brown held the slight lead to power through the beams first to advance, eliminating Schumacher after the first round.

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Las Vegas, NV – Tony has advanced to the final quad at the 2022 Las Vegas Four-Wide event. While Schumacher is the most successful driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, he has yet to hoist a four-wide Wally trophy. He’s come close; finishing as the runner-up in 2012 and 2017 in Charlotte, in addition to advancing to the final quad in Vegas in 2018 and 2022.

Schumacher leads the Top Fuel class in number of victories (eight) at LVMS and leads the class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (11) at LVMS

Tony talks about Vegas, “I’ve won at Vegas a lot, but have never won a four-wide trophy from either there or Charlotte. I will say, the last time that Zippy (Mike Neff) and I raced together at the Vegas four-wide event, we were literally in the lead in the finals when the car shut off. So, we’re continuing with our theme of ‘we have some unfinished business’ this weekend.

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Pomona, CA – Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team continued to build upon their program at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. Right out of the gate, the team unloaded with a smooth and straight pass during the event’s opening qualifying session, posting a 3.762 E.T. to place Schumacher in the top half of the field to start Saturday. The team backed up their solid Q1 effort with another good run during the second qualifying round, and were looking strong during Q3 until Schumacher’s machine pitched the blower belt as it approached the top end.

At the conclusion of the event’s three qualifying sessions, Schumacher was locked-in for eighth and faced No. 7 qualifier Shawn Langdon as his first-round opponent. The former world champs were the first pair to hit the track on Sunday and kicked off the elimination show with an exciting side-by-side race. The drivers launched hard and were glued together from start to finish, both clocking their best runs of the weekend, but Langdon’s slight starting line advantage (0.049 vs. Schumacher’s 0.065) gave him enough of an edge to propel him through the beams first.

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Pomona, CA – “My family and I know how to win at Pomona, no matter the race,” explained Tony.  He’s tied with Don Garlits and Doug Kalitta for the most Top Fuel wins (six) at Pomona: Spring: 2004, 2008 and Fall: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.  He leads the Top Fuel class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (10) at Pomona: Spring: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013 and Fall: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and is tied with Kalitta for number of Winternationals poles (four).

Schumacher’s father, Funny Car pioneer and minority team owner Don Schumacher, won the 1973 event.

Tony explained further, “I’ve won both Pomona events multiple times and have had a lot of success at that track, but that was then and this is now. The conditions look really good this weekend, and we could see a lot of fast times, and hopefully we’ll put on a good show for the fans. We had really strong crowds in Phoenix and Gainesville. NHRA has really been working hard on the marketing side to sell these events out, and it would be great to see a nice, huge crowd, and see the stands full again this weekend.”

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POMONA, CA – Tony Schumacher and crew chief Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff have reunited, it was announced today, setting up what is certain to be a dominant force in NHRA Top Fuel competition in 2023. The rumors had been swirling throughout the race pits all weekend during the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., and on the first day of the 2022 – 2023 NHRA Camping World Series off-season, the Maynard Family Racing (JCM) team is pleased to confirm the news.

“Yes, it’s official. Zippy will be the crew chief on our SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster next season,” said Schumacher. “Truthfully, this is a huge deal, and I have no doubt we’re going to be a powerhouse team.”

Neff joins Schumacher after tuning Funny Car driver Bob Tasca to six of Tasca’s 12 total wins over a two-year period. Joining Neff in his new role is Jon Schaffer, who served as Neff’s assistant crew chief on Tasca’s machine. Phil Shuler, a member of Schumacher’s current brain trust, will remain onboard and continue to lend his expertise. Todd Okuhara will leave his current role as crew chief on Schumacher’s car.

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POMONA, CA – The Maynard Family Racing team closed out the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series season by campaigning a ‘giving car’ for the second consecutive event, this time representing A Soldier’s Child (ASC) on Veteran’s Day weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

With 18 Top Fuelers vying to make Sunday’s elimination show, Tony Schumacher powered his 11,000-horsepower machine to the fourth-quickest run of the opening qualifying session, clocking a 3.759 E.T. to put his machine comfortably in the field. By the time he rolled through the waterbox for Saturday’s first session, Schumacher had been bumped back to 12th, but his team cranked it up and tuned the DSR Performance-powered ASC dragster to a stout 3.701-second pass, which held up to be third-quickest of the session and launched Schumacher back into the top half of the field.

Starting race day from eighth, Schumacher faced No. 9 qualifier Clay Millican in the opening round of eliminations, and the two were the first pair of competitors to hit the track on Sunday morning. The eight-time Top Fuel world champ stood on the gas ready to battle it out for the round win but a loss of traction right at the hit of the throttle ended his chances at making a run through the NHRA Finals Top Fuel field.

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