Don Schumacher Racing
Tony Schumacher on Bad Side of Good Drag Race at U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis, IN – Despite making steady progress all weekend, Tony Schumacher found himself on the bad side of a good drag race on 
Monday morning at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, the final event of NHRA’s regular season. Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher secured a spot in the 16-car field by clocking three solid runs during qualifying with his best run, a 3.784 E.T. at 326.79 MPH, slotting him in the No. 12 seed out of 19 cars vying to get into the show.
The 10-time U.S. Nationals event champion drew No. 5 qualifier Mike Salinas as his first-round opponent on race day. Schumacher moved first to claim the holeshot advantage but his opponent had pulled ahead by the time they reached the 330-foot marker. The SCAG machine started creeping up on Salinas and had him almost reeled in by the time they approached the 1,000-foot beams, but Salinas powered across the finish line first to score the narrow victory, which saw Schumacher come up short by just five-thousandths of a second.
10 TIME INDY CHAMP SCHUMACHER LOOKING FOR HIS ELEVENTH
Indianapolis, IN – With an unprecedented 10 U.S. Nationals victories, Schumacher is the winningest Camping World Series driver in 
Indianapolis history . He made hde his Top Alcohol Funny Car debut at the 1995 event and advanced to the final round in 1996 during his Top Fuel debut season.
Team minority owner Don Schumacher captured his first NHRA win during the 1970 U.S. Nationals race.
“I love Indy. It’s where I got my start racing in Top Fuel. I’ve had so much success there and nothing would be better than to have a good get-healthy weekend at a facility that’s been so good to me over the years. Our SCAG Top Fuel team is coming off of a beautiful test session where the car performed like it should. The crew is full of confidence, I’m full of confidence, and we feel good. It’s going to be a great weekend and we’re ready to put on a great show.” expressed Tony.
Tony Schumacher Leaves Brainerd Looking for More
Brainerd, MN – Three-time Brainerd winner Tony Schumacher made a trio of clean, consistent qualifying passes at the NHRA Nationals at 
Brainerd International Raceway, providing a boost of confidence going into race day. Schumacher’s SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster ran into a bout of tire smoke in the opening round, though, leading to an early end to Sunday competition for the eight-time NHRA world champion.
Schumacher opened qualifying with a 3.828-second pass at 322.34 MPH on Friday afternoon. He improved to a 3.804 E.T. at 327.90 MPH on Saturday, then followed that up with a consistent 3.819 E.T. at 326.08 to end up No. 10 on the final qualifying order.
While the SCAG Power Equipment dragster was one of the most consistent cars in qualifying, crew chiefs Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff and Jon ‘LJ’ Schaffer went into eliminations looking to step up. Unfortunately, Schumacher drove into tire smoke early in the run and couldn’t recover in time to catch Leah Pruett in their first-round match.
The SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel Dragster Team Headed to Brainerd
BRAINERD, MN – Tony Schumacher powered to a runner-up finish at the 2022 Brainerd event, and is looking for a repeat performance as he 
aims to reach his second final round of the season.
Schumacher leads the Top Fuel class in No. 1 qualifiers (six) at Brainerd International Raceway.
“I love Brainerd, and I’m looking forward to getting there for several reasons. We’re coming off of a No. 4 qualifier from Topeka last weekend, the best we’ve qualified so far this year. Yes we lost in the first round, but weather conditions just jacked with us all weekend long last weekend, and we still performed good. Our SCAG dragster is running right, and I tend to do well at Brainerd. Last year, we were runner-up there, and hopefully we can repeat with another visit to the final round this weekend.” explained Tony
NHRA Brainerd Nationals Event Highlights: Three-time event champion (2000, 2004, 2008), Four-time runner-up (2003, 2006, 2011, 2022), Six-time No. 1 qualifier (2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012)
DSR Performance Block Party Benefitting Riley Children’s Foundation to Help Kick Off NHRA U.S. Nationals Race Weekend
BROWNSBURG, IN – Since 2006, the Don Schumacher Racing organization has proudly supported Riley Children’s Foundation, having 
raised more than $820,000 for Riley Children’s Health, the only nationally-ranked pediatric children’s hospital in Indiana. For more than a decade, the motorsports juggernaut hosted an Open House event in conjunction with the NHRA U.S. Nationals race weekend. The annual event served as a major fundraiser for Riley Children’s, and with the 2023 ‘Big Go’ quickly approaching, the Brownsburg, Ind.-based organization is excited to announce the launch of a new race weekend kick-off event, the DSR Performance Block Party benefitting Riley Children’s Foundation.
The DSR Performance Block Party will start at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, and will conclude at 2:00 p.m., allowing race fans plenty of time to head to Indianapolis Raceway Park, located just three miles away, for the first round of qualifying for the NHRA U.S. Nationals, scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
“Riley Children’s Foundation is grateful for the tremendous support from the Don Schumacher Racing organization to benefit children’s healthcare,” said Liz Elkas, President and CEO of Riley Children’s Foundation. “Thanks to their philanthropic gifts, we can direct funds to the most urgent needs of Riley Children’s Health and pediatric research. We are excited for their new event this year.”
The event will feature a car show by the Indy Hi-Winders Car Club, with more than 100 hot rods and custom cars expected to be on display. A first-place trophy custom-created by Tom Pastis of Cold Hart Art will be awarded to the owner of the ‘best in show’ entry. DSR Performance Block Party guests will be treated to Sandvik Coromant and DSM Precision Manufacturing machining demonstrations, in addition to a demo of the DSR Performance crate engine dyno. In exchange for a donation, guests will also have the rare opportunity to tour the state-of-the-art DSM Precision Manufacturing machine shop.
No. 4 Qualifier Tony Schumacher and SCAG Power Equipment Team Continue to Make Progress During Heartland Nats
TOPEKA, KS – Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Tony Schumacher secured his best qualifying position of the season at 
the final running of the Menards NHRA Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, clinching the No. 4 seed to start race day. Schumacher, the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, began the weekend by unloading with a solid baseline pass in the opening qualifying session. Crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer followed that up with another impressive pass in the third round, tuning the SCAG dragster to a 3.801 E.T. at 322.04 MPH to lock in a spot in the quick half of the field.
Schumacher drew Scott Palmer as his first-round opponent on race day, and after a lengthy delay due to persistent rain, the two drivers lined up, ready to battle for the win light. Schumacher was first on the throttle, giving him a slight lead out of the gate but his machine started to lose traction shortly after, and Palmer was able to chase him down for the win.
“That was a terrible race to lose, but again, we’re a great team,” said the 2010 Topeka Top Fuel event champion. “Nobody tries harder than these guys. We’ll get this figured out. It’s a process, and you have to trust the process. I’m not an angry person, I’m not throwing helmets. I understand that these things are difficult. We have found many new ways of not doing things as part of the process. We started with all new parts, all new pieces, all new chassis, and we will succeed. We will get this figured out. It’s painful for me, it’s painful for each guy on this team, but they stick together like a band of brothers I’ve never seen.”
SCHUMACHER/MAYNARD HEADED TO FINAL TOPEKA RACE
Topeka, KS – Owns the Heartland Motorsports Park track record with his 3.660 E.T., recorded during the 2017 event. Tony talked about 
Topeka, “Even though we can all get into the Countdown, no one wants to get in by default. We want to get in by earning our spot in the top 10, and we have three races left to do that. We’re way, way too good of a team to be sitting in the spot that we’re sitting in. We need to step it up and make moves right now. After Sonoma, we showed some signs of life in the power level and the clutch; everything is working so let’s put all that together, bring it to Topeka, and start earning our way back into the top 10.”
Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor Event Highlights: 2010 winner, 2013 runner-up, Two-time No. 1 qualifier (2011, 2017)
2022 Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor Event Recap: Qualified 12th; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Doug Kalitta in E1; defeated by Steve Torrence in E2)
Tony Schumacher Ready to Move on to Topeka After Early Exit at Sonoma
SONOMA, CA – Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team bounced back from qualifying struggles by making their 
best pass of the weekend in the opening round of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. The 3.748-second effort wasn’t enough to get past Josh Hart’s holeshot advantage, though, leaving the eight-time world champion looking ahead to Topeka.
Schumacher was one of numerous nitro drivers that struggled to get down the track on Friday, and his challenges continued on Saturday in the third session. The JCM Racing brain trust then put together a conservative pass for the final session, allowing Schumacher to lay down a 3.833 E.T. to qualify No. 11.
The SCAG Power Equipment dragster had a huge performance jump in the first round of eliminations, recording a weekend-best 3.748-second pass at 330.39 MPH. Unfortunately, opponent Josh Hart cut the quickest reaction time of the session and ran quick enough to hold off Schumacher’s better pass to beat him on a holeshot.
THE SCAGS POWERED TOP FUEL TEAM IS HUNGRY FOR A WIN IN SONOMA
Sonoma, CA – The Schumacher/Maynard SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel Dragster is ready for a great outing in Sonoma as the team hist 
the last race on the western swing.
Testing of a new set up started before Denver with a session at Indy. Improvements were made at Seattle with the car showing great potential. Now they will capitalize on all they’ve learned and put it into the efforts this weekend.
“Sonoma is a great track, and I’m super excited to be back there once again, it’s one of my favorites. The crowd is so huge, and the track does such a good job getting people in and packing the place. More importantly, we feel that we are going in there with a great race car. We had a tough match in Seattle, might have beat some of the other cars, but Sonoma we are going to take everything that we learned in Seattle and come right off the trailer ready to kick some butt!” exclaimed Tony.
JCM Racing Celebrates One-Year Anniversary
Joe Maynard Reflects on First Year as NHRA Team Owner
BROWNSBURG, IN – Immediately following the 2022 NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Joe and Cathi Maynard, together with Don Schumacher, 
jointly announced that the Maynard family would assume the controls of the Tony Schumacher-piloted Top Fuel operation as majority team owners. Less than one week later, the Maynard’s JCM Racing team made its on-track debut at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, and at their first race in an ownership role, Joe and Cathi, along with their partners Eric and Kim Lehman, clinched their first win when Schumacher powered to victory to deliver Wally trophy No. 1 for JCM Racing.
Since that time, the JCM Racing organization has blossomed into a three-car powerhouse with the additions of Tim Wilkerson and Justin Ashley, who teamed up with JCM to form Maynard Wilkerson Racing and Maynard Ashley Racing, respectively. Add a burgeoning driver development program overseen by Maynard’s son, Joe C. Maynard, to the mix, and it’s not hard to see how the JCM Racing organization has taken the NHRA world by storm in just one year’s time.
Team patriarch Joe Maynard took time to reflect on JCM Racing’s inaugural year following the 2023 NHRA Northwest Nationals where Wilkerson powered the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang to victory, picking up win No. 5 for the organization.
