U.S. Army NHRA Racing 20th Annual NHRA Route 66 Nationals Friday Qualifying Report
The U.S. Army Racing duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown returned to Chicago with an eye on 
pushing the U.S. Army winning streak to six consecutive Top Fuel wins in the Windy City. Following Friday’s two qualifying sessions, Schumacher and Brown rank second and fifth, respectively, in the 20th annual NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.
It was a homecoming for Schumacher, who now resides in Austin, Texas and the eight-time Top Fuel world champion and Chicago native opened his run for a sixth NHRA Route 66 Nationals triumph with a qualifying pass of 3.827 seconds at 314.24 mph aboard the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) to grab the fourth position. He followed that up with an impressive run of 3.758 seconds at 325.37 mph to climb up to the second position with two qualifying sessions remaining Saturday to set Sunday’s elimination ladder.
“It was nice to come see family and friends and be at an incredible racetrack,” said Schumacher. “The atmosphere here is great and that’s a testament to (track president) Scott Paddock and his staff. It’s a big weekend here in Chicago for the U.S. Army team. We’ve been working really hard and made a couple of good runs today. That second lap was an improvement, but (crew chief) Mike (Green) and I looked at the data and there was still more out there. There should have been cars that ran better than we did, but people just made mistakes. And we didn’t. We got down the track. We have to be pleased with what we did and knowing that we are learning some new things that hopefully help us go out and win this race. You’ve got to remember that racing conditions Sunday are going to be much different than what we had today and will have tomorrow. It’s going to take past data and teamwork to succeed Sunday. This U.S. Army team has proven how good we are at rising to the occasion. I wish I could trick myself that everything is a big occasion, but there just some things that are flat more important. There are certain places and certain times when winning is a must and that’s win we are the best.”
Brown is the defending Chicago winner and started strong behind the wheel of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR with a lap of 3.766 seconds at 328.54 mph in the first session. With improved conditions Friday night, Brown’s co-crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald were clearly going for a big run. Unfortunately, the track couldn’t hold it and Brown lost traction early in the run and coasted to a pass of 6.008 seconds at 112.76 mph.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at 5 and 7:45 p.m. EDT with FS1 airing two hours of live coverage beginning at 5 p.m. Eliminations are set to begin at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday and FS1 providing three hours of live coverage starting at 3 p.m.
