Army Duo Comes Up Short at Gateway Brown Ousts Schumacher in Second Round, Then Falls to Points-Leader Torrence

The U.S. Army driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown reached the halfway point in the six-event Countdown to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Championship playoffs Sunday afternoon at the sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois, and both face a mini-mountain to climb as each looks to bring the Army its fourth consecutive Top Fuel title  and fifth in the last six years.

Schumacher and the U.S. Army Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) were eliminated in the second round for the third consecutive weekend, this time at the hands of Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army team for DSR in their first head-to-head meeting since “The Sarge” prevailed in the semifinals of April’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina.

It left Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion who qualified third here this weekend, 142 points behind first-place Steve Torrence with the three events to go. While Brown got down the left lane cleanly with a solid run of 3.692 seconds at 331.12 mph, Schumacher’s U.S. Army Dragster began hazing its tires at halftrack and he was left coasting across the line in 4.218 seconds at 208.26 mph.

Consequently, he was among the top-three qualifiers here this weekend – No. 1 Clay Millican and No. 2 Leah Pritchett being the others – who all struggled to get down the right lane and were eliminated in the second round.

“Sure, you could blame it on that lane, that round, but that’s hindsight,” said Schumacher, who handily beat a tire-smoking Troy Buff in the first round today with a stout run of 3.693 seconds at 324.75 mph. “Everybody has seasons where they’re unstoppable. We’re getting there. Understand that the battles are big and the competition is excellent. That’s just the way it goes. We’ll fight on. We don’t give up, we just battle, like our Army Soldiers do every day. Say what you will about the points. All we can do is show up and try to win. I don’t look at points because they don’t mean anything until you reach a certain point. We’ve got a long way to go, still.”

After evening his head-to-head record against Schumacher this season at two wins apiece, Brown relished the opportunity to knock off points leader Torrence in the semifinal round in their seventh meeting this season, most importantly to close the 51-point gap to Torrence in the standings with which he started the weekend. Torrence drove away to the win in 3.689 seconds at 330.72 mph to Brown’s 3.711 seconds at 331.12 mph, then went on to win his eighth event title of the season and the 16th of his career. The loss to Torrence left Brown with a 94-point deficit to first place.

“That semifinal round was a big one and we all knew it,” said Brown, who beat Terry McMillen in his first-round race today with a run of 3.721 seconds at 328.94 mph. “We went up there and we gave it all we had. The good part is we’re learning. Our car is running well and we’re running consistently. We had back-to-back great runs. We have three races left and the last race is points-and-a-half. So we’re going to be right in the thick of things. Dallas has always been good to us. We need to have a really good breakout weekend in Dallas in qualifying and then in the race. We’re going to have fun with it. Right now, this class is just very, very competitive. The Capco car (Torrence Racing) is running strong and Steve has been doing a great job of driving. They’re doing exactly what they have to do to win a championship. We’ve been there the last two years doing the same thing. Our game is elevating at the right time. It’s just these close races that bite you. We’re going to go into this next race and give it all we’ve got and we’re not going to leave anything behind. We’ve got that Army fight in us right now. We figured some things out this weekend. I feel confident going into Dallas, Las Vegas and Pomona. These last three races are going to be great for everyone involved. This Matco Tools/U.S. Army team is going to be ready to play.”

After three of six Countdown playoff events and 21 of 24 on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour for 2017, the top-10 drivers in the Top Fuel class are:

1. Steve Torrence (2,376 points)
2. Doug Kalitta (2,334 points, -42)
3. Brittany Force (2,293 points, -83)
4. Antron Brown (2,282 points, -94)
5. Clay Millican (2,235 points, -141)
6. Tony Schumacher (2,234 Points, -142)
7. Leah Pritchett (2,224 points, -152)
8. Terry McMillen (2,115 points, -261)
9. Scott Palmer (2,105 points, -271)
10. Shawn Langdon (2,100 points, -276)

After taking next weekend off, the Countdown to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Championship playoffs resume with the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis. Elimination rounds Sunday, Oct. 15, will be carried live on FS1 beginning at 2 p.m. EDT.