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 U.S. Army Duo Brings Thunder and Lightning to Bristol This Weekend

BRISTOL, TN – Thunder and lightning are making their way to the hills of Northeast Tennessee in the form of U.S. Army drivers Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown, who join their fellow NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competitors at scenic Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway for this weekend’s 17th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion and winningest driver in series history in his U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), thundered his way into the 2017 season in style, reaching the semifinals or better at seven of the first eight events, including four final rounds and the event title at the prestigious NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida.

Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR, in turn, have provided the lightning as he chases his third straight Top Fuel title and fourth overall. Brown nearly pulled off his second career victory at his home track in Englishtown, New Jersey last weekend, but qualified No. 1 there for the second time and showed some incredible speed and quickness in extreme heat and slick conditions. The final-round appearance, where he came up just short against another red-hot driver, Steve Torrence, was Brown’s fifth final in the last eight events and thrust him into the Top Fuel points lead with eight events left until the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

“The Sarge” can be thanked for opening the door to Brown’s latest No. 1 position in the standings, knocking off previous points leader and fellow DSR driver Leah Pritchett in the first round at Englishtown. Schumacher’s bid for his second event title of the season was derailed by longtime rival Doug Kalitta in the second round, however. It was the second second-round exit in the last three events for Schumacher, which sandwiched his first and only first-round exit of the season at Epping, New Hampshire.

With Bristol next up for the U.S. Army team, Schumacher and company arrive in Thunder Valley relieved to have found the solution to a set of issues that have led to their temporary struggles over the last three events. And it’s just what the doctor ordered as the scenic Bristol Dragway is one of Schumacher and the Army team’s most successful tracks, with five event titles, another final-round appearance and four No. 1 qualifier positions.

Brown, meanwhile, is still seeking his first Bristol win. After scoring his first career event title at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas last month, Bristol is now the only track of the 21 where the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competes that Brown has yet to conquer. His lone appearance in the final round at Bristol came in 2011, when he lost a close race against three-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon. He’d love nothing more than to check Bristol off the list with another strong run this weekend.

Qualifying for the 17th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals begins Friday afternoon with FS1 providing live coverage at 8 p.m. EDT Friday and delayed coverage of Saturday’s sessions at 11 p.m. FS1’s same-day-delayed coverage of Sunday’s elimination rounds is set for 6:30 p.m.

TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

It’s been just a bit of a rough stretch by U.S. Army team standards the last three events, but you’re headed to one of your best tracks at Thunder Valley this weekend. Your thoughts?

“We started the season in championship form and then made some changes to the U.S. Army car to try and stay ahead of the curve, which you’re always doing if you have any aspirations of winning another championship. It’s been a rough stretch, yes, but it’s also over a few tracks that have never been among our best. Englishtown, honestly, I’ve won it once and was in the finals one other time in my 20 years, so it has not been a track we’ve ever performed well at on a consistent basis. Bristol is the opposite. We run well there all the time. When you get to a place like Englishtown, or a place like Atlanta, it’s just a matter of, ‘Get me there, get me in, get me out,’ and hope it’s without too much damage – just maintain. Now, Indy, if you’re not ahead of me at Indy, you’re not getting ahead of me. Englishtown and Atlanta are the kinds of place where everybody seems to catch up to me. Now, we’re taking what we’ve fixed on our racecar to a place like Bristol, which is always a good race for us. And we’re going there with knowledge of where we are. I wouldn’t want to be going to Bristol with the car we’ve had the last few weeks. Although, if I’m going to go somewhere with the car we’ve had the last few weeks, Bristol would be a place I would get lucky with a car that’s not at its best. But fortunately, we’re going there having figured things out some issues. Fortunately, points-wise we’re OK. It’s a longs season. We go all the way to the end no matter what side of the standings you’re on.”

What is it about Bristol that has led to so much success for the U.S. Army team there?

“Everybody seems to have tracks where they are good and, fortunately, Bristol is one of those for the U.S. Army team. We solved a set of issues that have been a thorn in our side, so now we’re ready to go to Bristol and get some momentum going into the dog days of summer. Bristol being Bristol, that just has us all the more fired up to go out there and represent the U.S. Army once again. It’s a special place to race, for sure. There is some altitude to deal with there, but mostly it’s just that I love Thunder Valley. I always go into that race feeling successful. I think, anytime you win races at a track, it gets easier the next time. That’s why I go into Bristol with a completely positive attitude and the results have been the proof.”

ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

What are your thoughts as you head to Bristol for this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals?

“Bristol always has been a special place. It’s always been good to us, to an extent. Just like Englishtown, where we finally won for the first time two years ago and qualified No. 1 again and went to the final again last week, Bristol is a place we’d love to finally break through. You’re right in the middle of a valley and it’s one of those premiere tracks where you want to go out there and you want to do well. We’ve qualified well there before, we’ve been No. 1, we’ve been out there and we’ve done well in the past. We’ve been in the final where we’ve lost because you’re pushing too hard because you really want to win. It’s been one of those tracks where we really want to win, for sure, and cross it off the bucket list. We’ve just got to attack, just like we did at Topeka and Epping and Englishtown the last three race weekends. We’ve our work cut out for us. Bristol is tough, but we’ve got to start off with good qualifying like we’ve been doing. And that’s our goal there – to get off to a good start. It’s going to be hot in Bristol, it’s not going to be easy. We’ve just got to put our best foot forward and see if we can keep our consistency going.”

With five final-round appearances in your last eight race weekend, which includes a pair of wins, it looks like you’re ready to attack the hotter summer months. Can you keep up the momentum with the way the Matco Tools/U.S. Army car is right now?

“We are right there. That 3.78 in the semi-finals in the heat at Englishtown last week was a jaw-dropper type of run. We definitely have the performance when it gets hot. Now, the thing is, we need to go out and stop the little problems. When you run in these hot conditions, you can drop holes because you don’t have lube on the engine from the clutch. I’m feeling very good with the way we ran in the really hot weather at Englishtown. We’ve been going rounds, which tells you how strong this team is right now. We only have two wins right now, but we should have a lot more, but the finals didn’t go our way. The key is we’re going rounds and that’s what wins championships. We’re heading in the right direction and we’re improving every weekend. It was hilarious because people were making comments that we’re a consistent car, but we’re not the quickest car, so at Englishtown it was good to go out and qualify number one and go some rounds and take over the points lead. So we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and let the results speak for itself.”

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