U.S. Army NHRA Racing 38th Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals Friday Qualifying Report 

The U.S. Army driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown are third and ninth on the provisional ladder after the opening two rounds of qualifying Friday for this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado.

Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion and driver of the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) who won this event a year ago this weekend, laid down a pair of solid runs after rain held up his opening-round run, as well as that of Brown and two other Top Fuel competitors, by 90 minutes. Schumacher and Brown were the first pair to take to the racetrack after the rain delay and “The Sarge” answered with an effort of 3.821 seconds at 321.19 mph placed him third in the order.

Brown’s run of 3.941 seconds at 308.50 mph in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR was good for sixth in the opening session.

In the evening’s closing session, Schumacher laid down a better run of 3.776 seconds at 326.63 mph that kept him at third in the provisional order while Brown had to shut down his Dragster early and coasted across the finish line in 6.668 seconds at 106.06 mph.

“It was a good run for the fans – we love those people for staying out here – and for the Bandimere family for making great racetrack and a great racing event that we appreciate so much as drivers and teams,” said Schumacher, who’s vying for his third career Mile-High Nationals win this weekend. “To get through rain and the cleanup and for the Safety Safari having done such a great job to get us back out here racing is tremendous. We’re part of the best show on earth. Mello Yello Drag Racing, you really can’t beat this. It was a very enjoyable night.”

The final two qualifying sessions Saturday are set for 7:30 and 10 p.m. EDT with FS1’s delayed coverage set for 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Elimination rounds are set for 1 p.m. Sunday with live television coverage on the FOX network beginning at 3 p.m.