Gainesville, FL – Tony Schumacher, driver of the Maynard Family Racing/Scag Power Equipment Top Fuel Dragster is a 5ive-time event winner (2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017), four-time runner-up (2000, 2011, 2012, 2015) and three-time No. 1 qualifier (2006, 2011, 2017)

2020 Gainesville Recap: Qualified 13th; First round exit (defeated by Steve Torrence in E1)

Last Event (Phoenix): Qualified 12th; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Justin Ashley in E1; defeated by Clay Millican in E2)

Career Statistics: 514 races; 85 event wins; 88 No. 1 qualifiers

Noteworthy:Leads the Top Fuel class in number of wins at Gainesville (five): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017. Scag Power Equipment makes its NHRA debut as a DSR primary partner at the Gatornationals

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BROWNSBURG, IN – DSR Performance, the retail arm of Don Schumacher Racing, is pleased to announce the launch of the DSR Performance Racer Contingency Program for the duration of the 2022 NHRA season and beyond. Beginning with this weekend’s NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, March 11-13, current DSR Performance customers will have the opportunity to participate in the newly introduced program which offers teams a financial incentive based upon on-track performance at each applicable NHRA event.

NHRA national event winners, runner-up finishers, and No. 1 qualifiers will be eligible to receive a DSR Performance credit which would be applied to the participant’s next parts order. The program is open to all DSR Performance customers competing in the NHRA’s Camping World Series Top Fuel and Funny Car categories, as well as all Pro Mod competitors. In order to be eligible, the DSR Performance logo must be prominently featured on the participant’s entry throughout the entirety of the race weekend. Teams are able to opt-into the DSR Performance Racer Contingency Program at all NHRA Camping World Series and E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Series events.

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CHANDLER, AZ – Tony Schumacher started race day at the NHRA Arizona Nationals from the No. 12 spot and faced last week’s winner, Justin Ashley, in round one. Before he even pulled up to the line for the opening session, the Maynard Family Racing/Kaizen Collision Centers Top Fuel team were faced with adversity when an electrical issue prevented them from being able to fire up the car during their pre-race warm-up. With the clock ticking, Schumacher and his team made it to the starting line with minutes to spare. Schumacher and Ashley lined up, and both drivers encountered problems early.

The eight-time Top Fuel world champ battled through dropped cylinders to hang on for a winning 3.892-second E.T. before suffering an explosion at the finish line while Ashley coasted to a 4.026 in the opposite lane. The explosion caused some serious carnage on Schumacher’s machine, but his Todd Okuhara-led team dug deep to get the car turned around before round two, with Schumacher having to suit up and strap in while he was still in the race pit.

Schumacher staged his machine alongside Clay Millican, his round two competitor, but once again, he started encountering issues right out of the gate and clicked his dragster off near the 300-foot cone while Millican drove away with the round win. Despite the race day drama, Schumacher feels confident that his team will quickly adapt and overcome, and will soon enjoy a Sunday finish in the winner’s circle.

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Chandler, AZ – Tony Schumacher, driver of the Maynard Family Racing/Kaizen Collision Centers Top Fuel Dragster, looking for steady improvement at event #2 of the 2022 NHRA season.

History: NHRA Arizona Nationals Event Highlights: Five-time event winner (2000, 2002, 2005, 2013, 2015)
Six-time No. 1 qualifier (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2018)
Raced to a runner-up finish in 2012
2018 Phoenix Recap:
Qualified No. 1; First round exit (defeated by Greg Carrillo in E1)

Last Event (Pomona 1):
Qualified 12th; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Doug Kalitta in E1; defeated by Austin Prock in E2)

Career Statistics: 513 races; 85 event wins; 88 No. 1 qualifiers

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POMONA, CA – If Tony Schumacher had to grade his overall performance at his first race back after a three-year hiatus, he’d assign himself a B, but says his Maynard Family Racing team is worthy of an A grade.

In his first NHRA Winternationals outing since 2018, Schumacher qualified twelfth on the elimination ladder to set up a round-one meeting between two Top Fuel titans at the season-opening event. Lining up opposite fellow nitro veteran Doug Kalitta, Schumacher was laser-focused on kicking off the 2022 season with a round win, and delivering a winning time slip to team sponsors, Joe and Cathi Maynard. He posted a 3.726 E.T. to outpace Kalitta’s solid 3.730-second effort and advance to round two. Against Austin Prock in the quarterfinals, Schumacher encountered troubles right out of the gate, allowing his opponent the decisive round win, but Schumacher is adamant that his team’s early exit is not indicative of things to come.

“The team is really coming together, the tune-up is coming together; I’m pleased overall” said Schumacher, who, save for a seven-race stint in 2020, has sat idle since the conclusion of the 2018 season. “I didn’t drive up to my abilities in that second round and I think I’ve still got a lot of regrouping to do, but in the end, the car, the team, myself, we’re going to be a really good, really strong team this year.

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Pomona, CA – Schumacher will make his highly-anticipated return to NHRA competition at the 2022 Winternationals, kicking off his first full season since 2018. An eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion, Schumacher will begin his campaign for a ninth series title and DSR’s 20th when the season commences this weekend. The last time Schumacher competed in Pomona (November 2018) he raced to a runner-up finish. Tied with Don Garlits and Doug Kalitta for the most Top Fuel wins (six) at Pomona: Spring: 2004, 2008, Fall: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.

Tony leads the Top Fuel class in number of No. 1 qualifiers (10) at Pomona: Spring: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, Fall: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Team patriarch and Funny Car pioneer Don Schumacher won the 1973 event.

Quotable:
“I’m very excited to be back running a full season with my sights set on a ninth championship. I’m looking forward to kicking off my first full season since 2018 after what I would say was a successful test session in Phoenix. It was great to get to spend time with my team, and I look forward to watching them grow into champions. We made 11 runs overall, all planned shutoffs, and saw some great 60-foot numbers. When Todd (Okuhara) smiles, you know it’s all good.”

The father/son duo won DSR’s first championship together in 1999, and are in pursuit of the organization’s 20th series title in 2022

BROWNSBURG, IN – Tony Schumacher’s decision in the mid-1990s to pursue a career in professional drag racing is what brought his father and legendary Funny Car driver, Don Schumacher, back to the sport after a 24-year hiatus spent focusing on growing the family business, Schumacher Electric.

The father/son duo hit the track in 1998 as the newly formed Don Schumacher Racing, a single-car Top Fuel team with Tony in the driver’s seat, and it didn’t take long for them to find success. During their second season, Schumacher raced to his first of 85 national event wins, became the first driver to eclipse the 330-mph barrier, and was crowned the 1999 NHRA Top Fuel champion at the end of the year, winning his first of a category-best eight series titles.

Since its inception, DSR has fielded entries in five different NHRA categories, added 366 national event Wallys to its collection – the most of any NHRA team – and captured 19 championship titles. Schumacher was a major contributor to DSR’s ever-expanding trophy case, having gone on to set nearly every record in the category until his longtime sponsor, the U.S. Army, redirected its marketing efforts away from motorsports at the end of the 2018 season, leaving the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history without proper funding for a full-time ride. NHRA fans have been clamoring for his return ever since, and thanks to the Maynard Family and Scag Power Equipment, Schumacher is ready for his highly-anticipated ‘second act’ as he prepares to return to full-time competition for the first time in more than three years.

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Walcher will campaign a third Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak for DSR in 2022

BROWNSBURG, IN – Don Schumacher Racing is proud to announce that it has added a third team to its 2022 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series line-up with the addition of Warren Walcher to the organization’s championship-winning program. Walcher, who will campaign a third 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak for DSR, is eager to join his two new teammates, David Davies and Mark Pawuk, as he begins his first full season competing in the popular FSS category.

The Grand Junction, Colo. resident is scheduled to compete in all eight FSS events, making his DSR debut at the series’ season-opener at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. in March. Walcher’s machine will utilize a DSR engine and drivetrain, and the car will be tuned and maintained by co-crew chiefs Kevin Helms and A.J. Berge who will continue to oversee Davies and Pawuk’s Drag Paks, in addition to Walcher’s new entry.

The longtime automotive enthusiast joins DSR after having received his FSS license in 2021 which he used to enter his first FSS race, the Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas, the final event of the 2021 FSS season. While Walcher may be new to the category, he is hardly a motorsports novice. Previously, Walcher spent time racing in ‘the dirt’ aboard ATVs and dirt bikes, and competed in the NHRA’s Sportsman ranks before advancing into the Factory Stock class last year.

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BROWNSBURG, IN – The most decorated Top Fuel driver in NHRA history is set to make his highly-anticipated return to the dragstrip in 2022, and with the help of Scag Power Equipment, Tony Schumacher is ready to mow down the competition and make a bid for a category-best ninth series title.

Scag Power Equipment, an industry leader in commercial riding, stand-on, and walk-behind lawn mowers, has joined forces with the fan-favorite driver who announced in October that he would be returning to the Don Schumacher Racing stable to compete on the NHRA Camping World Series circuit full-time in 2022. Scag joins DSR as a primary partner where it will have top billing on Schumacher’s 11,000-horsepower machine at five events during the 2022 season. Additionally, Scag will serve as a co-primary supporter at six races, sharing equal branding space with the Maynard family, who joined drag racing’s winningest organization at the start of the 2021 season, and later announced they would be expanding their relationship to become one of Schumacher’s primary backers in 2022.

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Capps Delivers Championship Trophy No. 19 for Don Schumacher Racing

POMONA, CA – Don Schumacher Racing driver Ron Capps was crowned the 2021 NHRA Camping World Series Funny Car champion on Sunday during the NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. Capps, pilot of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, clinched his second Funny Car title to capture championship trophy No. 19 for Don Schumacher Racing, and the seventh Funny Car title for the winningest organization in NHRA history.

The 2021 Funny Car championship chase came down to an intense intramural battle between Capps and his DSR stablemate, No. 2 ranked Matt Hagan, on the final day of the season. With 187 points up for grabs at the NHRA Finals, Capps began the race weekend with a 58-point advantage – or a two round lead – over his teammate. The NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car team was solid in qualifying with crew chiefs Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli and John Medlen tuning Capps’ machine to the best run of Q2 and second-best run of Q1 to bank seven crucial bonus points. Their qualifying performance enabled them to further extend their lead on Hagan’s team to a 67-point margin, which equated to a three round advantage heading into race day.

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