U.S. Army Duo Looking To ‘Finish the Job’ in Seattle This Weekend 

KENT, WS – As this year’s edition of the three-event NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Western Swing makes its way to scenic Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington for this weekend’s NHRA Northwest Nationals, a common theme for the U.S. Army duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown is quite simple: Finish the job in Seattle.

For Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion and driver of the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), finishing the job this weekend means rekindling the magic with which he earned the No. 1 qualifying position at Pacific Raceways a year ago, then carrying it all the way through four round wins in Sunday eliminations and hoisting the Wally trophy at the end of the day.

For Brown, the two-time-defending and three-time overall Top Fuel world champion, finishing the job in Seattle behind the wheel of his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR means just that – finishing it in Seattle which, like for Schumacher wasn’t the case a year ago this weekend, although for altogether different reasons.

Schumacher and his U.S. Army team are looking for their record-tying fifth Seattle event title this weekend and, more importantly, they want to turn the corner from a rough recent stretch during which they’ve advanced as far as the semifinal round just once in the last eight events. A win this weekend would tie Schumacher with Joe Amato atop the all-time Seattle titles list with five wins apiece. It would also help generate some much-needed momentum for the Army team with just two regular-season stops on the tour left before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin.

Brown was credited with last year’s Northwest Nationals event title – the second of his career – but he didn’t actually close the deal until two weekends later and 1,500 miles away at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway. Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster swept through T.J. Zizzo, Clay Millican and Morgan Lucas in the opening three rounds of Sunday eliminations at Pacific Raceways, but rain then washed out the rest of the event and moved the Seattle Top Fuel final to Brainerd, where Brown beat Steve Torrence. It was Brown’s fourth of seven event titles of 2016 en route to his third career world championship and second in a row.

Wrapping up the typically grueling three-event Western Swing on a high note is the motivation for both Schumacher and Brown. And both are determined to finish the job in Seattle.

Qualifying for the 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals begins Friday afternoon with FS1 providing live coverage at 9 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s qualifying highlights are set for a delayed FS1 broadcast at 2 a.m. Sunday. The FOX network will broadcast Sunday’s elimination rounds live beginning at 4 p.m.

TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

Your thoughts as this year’s Western Swing winds up in Seattle this weekend?

“At Seattle, we’ve probably had more success than the first two races (of the Western Swing) put together. We have a great car at that place – very fast – and the crowd seems to be building there. Hopefully, we can go out and win it and go off and be in position to wind up the regular part of the season on a high note. Seattle is a fast racetrack and there’s good side-by-side racing. It’s the end of a grueling part of the schedule, so you can be the team that’s not thinking, ‘Let’s get this over with,’ but thinking, ‘Let’s close this out and do it right.’”

With your most successful stop on the Western Swing at hand, there are just two more events left in the regular season before you officially begin your quest to win a ninth Top Fuel title. Your thoughts on that?

“I think the best thing I can do is be at the top of my game in the cockpit. That would give our engineers Mike Green and Phil Shuler even more confidence as we head to Brainerd and Indy. We understand what it’s like to get there, how big those moments are and how good you’re going to have to be in those moments. That’s how you win titles, that’s how you string together a number of titles, going into it knowing you can do it. You show up knowing we’ve done this before and you just try to be a machine. It’s more difficult than ever to win one. But everything we do is putting ourselves in position to fight for it, and that’s all you can ask for – to be in the position for the battle. I couldn’t ask for any more. I just have to go out and do my job because the U.S. Army team is performing well and I don’t want to be the weak link.”

ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

You’re heading to Seattle to wrap up another Western Swing at another track where you are the defending event titlist, even though rain postponed the actual final round at Seattle and you hoisted the Wally trophy at the next event at Brainerd. Your thoughts heading into the weekend?

“It was great to win that race, but I wish we could have finished up in Seattle last year for all the fans who came out.  Our Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster was really there and, in the final, we had a great race versus Steve Torrence, who we have matched up with a lot this year. Seattle’s always been good to us.  I can’t wait to get up there again and try to end the Western Swing on a good note. There are only two races left in the regular season after next week so, hopefully, we can start to build some momentum in Seattle this weekend to try to get that No. 1 seed heading into the Countdown.”

The competition this year seems to be even more balanced throughout the Top Fuel ranks than ever before. And your Matco Tools/U.S. Army team continues to look like a contender to win no matter where you go. Is that the case, in your mind?

“One thing about this Matco Tools/U.S. Army team is we challenge for it every weekend. Like our U.S. Army Soldiers, you can’t ever count us out. We persevere and, out here with the competition the way it is, that’s what you have to do. I think it shows every weekend how tough it is to win out here. It’s a battle each and every weekend and it’s not going to get any easier with the Countdown (to the Championship playoffs) coming up.”