Schumacher, U.S. Army team win 73rd title, eighth at Las Vegas; Capps leads DSR Funny Cars with second straight semifinal

LAS VEGAS, NV – Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army Top Fuel team ended one of its longest non-winning streaks Sunday by earning their 73rd title and eighth at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to jump from eighth to fourth in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series standings after four of 24 races.

Schumacher’s last final round was last June at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago where he also won the last of three titles in 2013.

Schumacher won in his 126th championship round with a time of 3.797 seconds at 326.16 mph to defeat points leader Doug Kalitta’s 3.814 (321.12). It was Schumacher’s quickest run of the weekend in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals with crew chief Mike Green and assistant Neal Strausbaugh.

DSR’s Antron Brown, who started championship eliminations from the No. 1 qualified position, lost to Schumacher in the semifinals.

Schumacher received an assist from Don Schumacher Racing teammate Spencer Massey in the quarterfinals when a mechanical problem nearly stopped Massey’s Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher in its tracks at the starting line while the U.S. Army lost traction and slowed to a 4.869 (220.69).

In Funny Car, DSR’s Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T team advanced to its second straight semifinal that enabled the team to jump three spots to fourth in the standings heading to the next event on April 11-13 near Charlotte.