U.S. Army NHRA Racing NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Friday Qualifying Report
The U.S. Army driver trio of Leah Pritchett, Antron Brown and Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher are eighth, first and 
sixth on the provisional ladder, respectively, after the opening two rounds of qualifying Friday for this weekend’s 37th annual NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.
Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing, a three-time Brainerd Nationals winner, three-time runner-up and six-time No. 1 qualifier, opened the day with the better of his two runs, laying down an effort of 3.946 seconds at 308.92 mph despite dropping a cylinder. It was fifth-best in the opening session. “The Sarge” smoked his tires at halftrack during his second run and coasted across the finish line in 4.936 seconds at 144.27 mph, dropping down to eighth in the qualifying order by session’s end.
“We had a solid run despite dropping a cylinder, and then we missed the second one by just a little bit after seeing Antron’s run – it’s definitely a game of inches,” said Schumacher, who’s Brainerd victories came in 2000, 2004 and 2008. “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow in even warmer conditions, and then see how things play out on Sunday, which is supposed to be much cooler. The teams that can adapt are the ones that will benefit the most. We have the best nine guys in the business working on this U.S. Army car and I like our odds.”
Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR, who won the Top Fuel class of this event in 2011 and was runner-up the last two seasons, had a tire-shaking run of 4.789 seconds at 156.21 mph to open the day, then closed with a vengeance. His run of 3.789 seconds at 325.45 mph grabbed the top spot and set the stage for his possible third Top Fuel No. 1 qualifying effort at Brainerd and the 50th overall in his career. He currently has 38 No. 1s in Top Fuel and 11 in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
“We’ve been working hard for this,” said Brown, who was No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier here in 2014 and 2016. “We went through our bumps and bruises. But the thing is, that’s why you go through those struggles so you can have days like this. Brainerd has always been a good track for us. I won here once in Top Fuel and four times in Pro Stock Motorcycles, and we’ve been in the final round numerous times.
This will be a great race as far as momentum-building if we can do well here. We were aiming to be in the top-three in qualifying. So far, we’re No. 1 but tomorrow’s another day. We just want to make two great laps tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do on race day one lap at a time and we’ll go after it. I feel charged up. I’ve got plenty of energy. We’ve been preparing. I’ve been working out, getting myself right. The team is right. I feel like we’re in a good place and we’ve just got to keep growing on that.”
Pritchett and her Mopar/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR, the defending event champ and two-time winner this year, also opened with the best of her two runs today, a run of 3.841 seconds at 324.83 that was second-best in the session. She also smoked her tires during her second run, which stopped the clock in 4.612 seconds at 163.45 mph. She fell to sixth.
“It was an up-and-down day, but we all know this sport is filled with ups and downs,” said Pritchett, who beat Brown here in last year’s Top Fuel final. “That first run made us feel we were off to a great start, and I really don’t think we were that far off on that second run. We’ll gather it up and get back after it on Saturday and see where we end up. In the big picture, this team is definitely headed in the right direction as we close out the regular season.”
The final two qualifying sessions are set for 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. EDT Saturday. FS1 will broadcast a one-hour qualifying highlight show at noon Sunday, followed by three hours of live eliminations coverage beginning at 2 p.m.
