U.S. Army NHRA Racing 14th Annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals Final Qualifying Report
Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher helped celebrate the U.S. Army’s 239th birthday in style Saturday by showing that, every time he 
and his U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) are on the track, he looks to demonstrate the same attributes the Army looks for in its Soldiers – putting the mission first, a never-quit attitude and a refusal to accept defeat.
Moments after he took part in a ceremonial cake cutting at the starting line just prior to the weekend’s third scheduled qualifying session for Sunday’s elimination rounds of the 14th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway, Schumacher laid down the fastest run of the day in his U.S. Army Dragster with a time of 3.854 seconds at 310.77 mph. It ended up third-best for the weekend in the Top Fuel qualifying order as the seven-time world champion is seeking his series-high sixth event title at Bristol Sunday.
Schumacher backed it up with another solid run in hotter, trickier conditions during final-round qualifying with a time of 3.865 seconds at 316.75 mph. That run was fastest in that session, as well. Had it not been for a timing light malfunction in his lane during Friday night’s opening-round qualifying session, Schumacher in all likelihood would have been three-for-three and top qualifier heading into Sunday’s elimination rounds. Timing equipment showed Schumacher crossed the finish line in 3.676 seconds at 330.47 mph in his opening-round run Friday, which was by far below the national elapsed time record of 3.701 seconds set by Antron Brown in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR in 2012 at Reading, Pennsylvania. While Schumacher’s time was disallowed because of the timing light malfunction, U.S. Army team data calculated it to be a run in the 3.81-second range, which would have stood as the fastest qualifying time of the weekend. Friday’s scheduled second-round qualifying session was canceled due to weather.
“You go out, you do your job, lights don’t always work, things don’t always go your way,” said Schumacher, who was overall event winner here for the U.S. Army team in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 and matches up against No. 14 qualifier Billy Torrence in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations. “We’ve got a great car right now. I think it’s the best car we’ve had all year. And this track’s always been good to us. We look forward to get going Sunday. I guarantee you even the No. 1 qualifier doesn’t want to race against me – we got there first both times we matched up in qualifying. I’ll tell you what, this 239th birthday celebration has us especially fired up because the U.S. Army team is honored and takes great pride in representing the more than 1 million Soldiers who protect our freedom and our way of life.”
Brown, who stopped the clocks Friday in 3.873 seconds at 313.07 mph and was third-best on opening day, did not improve his position during his pair of runs Saturday. Brown, who is seeking his first Bristol event title, opened the day with a run of 3.919 seconds at 309.49 mph before dropping a cylinder in his final-round pass. Schumacher bumped him down to fourth in the qualifying order, matching Brown against No. 13 qualifier Richie Crampton on Sunday’s opening round.
“The good part is, we qualified well with all the different circumstances with the weather and Tony losing his run last night, the hot conditions this afternoon and all this crazy stuff that’s been going on,” Brown said. “On that last run, the car just dropped a hole. That’s all it was. It was running really well to that point. It was going to run exactly what they wanted it to. So, with that being said, we’ll work on it and go after it just like we always do on race day with our game face on and our best foot forward. We’re in the top half of the ladder and we get lane choice, so we’ll go out there and do what we do. It’s going to be hot tomorrow, just like it is today, so it’s going to be tricky for everybody. But we know how to do tricky. And the car was running easy. We had a hole out and still it was just three hundredths off the numbers we were shooting for. We’ll keep our poker hand hidden, for now.”
