Maynard Family Racing
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)
Seattle Winner Tim Wilkerson Closes Out Western Swing with Quarterfinal Finish in Sonoma
SONOMA, CA – Fresh off of his NHRA Northwest Nationals victory near Seattle one week prior, Tim Wilkerson was looking for a repeat 
performance in wine country on Sunday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. The driver/tuner of the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang was strong in qualifying to secure a spot in the quick-half of the Funny Car field, but came up short in a tough quarterfinal match, ending his chances of going back-to-back with Western Swing wins.
Wilkerson opened the weekend by tuning his SCAG/LRS Ford to a good, representative run of 3.974 seconds during the first qualifying session. In the final qualifying round, Wilkerson launched hard and kept his 11,000-horsepower machine hooked up to clock the second-quickest pass of the session, earning two bonus points and the No. 4 starting position.
On race day, the two-time winner in 2023, drew Alex Laughlin as his first-round opponent. Against the Funny Car upstart, Wilkerson powered his tiger-striped machine to the finish line in 3.966 seconds, easily defeating Laughlin’s early tire-smoker. In the second elimination round, Wilkerson faced multi-time world champion and current point leader, Matt Hagan. Wilkerson made a good run but tire-spin downtrack caused him to slow to a 4.014 E.T. as he approached the 1,000-foot marker, and Hagan was able to hang on, posting the quickest pass of the round for the win.
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.
HOT OFF HIS LATEST VICTORY, WILKERSON IS LOADED FOR BEAR AT SONOMA
Sonoma, CA – Tim and crew are looking to make it two-in-a-row by picking up his second consecutive race win after having powered to 
victory last weekend at the NHRA Northwest Nationals.
As a huge bonus, the team will participate in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge on Saturday where he will compete for a $10,000 purse and three championship bonus points!
Wilkerson talks about their success, “We changed a lot of things going into Seattle and are happy with the results so far. I’ve got to thank my guys for sticking with me as we worked through the kinks; they’re doing a great job and I’m so proud of them. Winning Seattle was a great thing, and hopefully we can carry that momentum into our race in Sonoma this weekend and who knows, maybe we can go back-to-back with wins. I’d love nothing more than to do that for my guys, our supporters at SCAG and LRS, and the Maynards.
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.
SCAG Top Fuel Team Continues to Make Progress at Seattle
KENT, WA – Prior to the Western Swing, Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team had a successful test session in 
Indianapolis and were eager to take what they learned and apply it in competition. With the NHRA Mile-High Nationals near Denver, the first of three Western Swing events, widely regarded as a ‘one off’ due to the high elevation, Schumacher and his Mike Neff-led team were looking forward to putting their newly-acquired data to the test in the sea-level conditions found at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.
Schumacher returned to the NHRA Northwest Nationals as the defending Top Fuel event champion. His 2022 Seattle triumph went down in the books as win No. 1 for the JCM Racing team, which made its debut that same weekend, and he was looking forward to going two-for-two at a facility where he is a five-time event winner.
During qualifying, Schumacher and the SCAG team made two solid passes out of three, with their best-of 3.826-second pass placing them in the No. 12 position on the Top Fuel ladder.
Wilkerson Picks Up Second Win in Six Events at NHRA Northwest Nationals
KENT, WA – Tim Wilkerson raced to victory at the NHRA Northwest Nationals on Sunday afternoon at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., the 
sight of JCM Racing’s first win as an organization. By clinching his second win of the season and 24th overall, Wilkerson successfully delivered the second Seattle trophy for the Maynard and Lehman families, who made their debut as NHRA team owners during the 2022 event. It was Wilkerson’s fourth Wally trophy from Pacific Raceways, a track where he scored the hardware for three consecutive seasons spanning from 2009 through 2011, before experiencing a 12-year Seattle dry spell.
Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang, Wilkerson found his way back to the Seattle winner’s circle by posting a 4.007 E.T. at 321.96 MPH to defeat J.R. Todd’s 4.014-second final round effort.
“What an exciting day,” said Wilkerson following the win. “When the track is 130 degrees, it is carte blanche what you are going to get. Pretty lucky when we were racing Matt (Hagan), they had some problems. (Ron) Capps too. Blake (Alexander) gave me a really great run and so did J.R. I had her tucked in there pretty damn deep in the finals. That was a dang good run in that right lane. Really excited about this for my guys and SCAG. They had all kinds of dealers and distributors here this weekend and they were standing there on the starting line in the final, so we’re glad we could put on a good show for them. Rottler, too. They were out here today. They’re longtime supporters of mine and I have about a dozen of their machines in my shop.
WILKERSON LOOKING TO IMPROVE ON LAST 2 RACES OF THE SWING STARTING IN SEATTLE
KENT, WA – Tim’s always looking to gain exposure for his race partners. Rottler Manufacturing will be recognized as an associate partner on 
the SCAG/LRS Ford Mustang during this weekend’s event in honor of their 100-year anniversary.
“Really looking forward to having a better showing at these last two races of the Western Swing after Denver. We had a great car last weekend but ended up pulling the tires loose first round, so we need to overcome that heading into Seattle.” explained Wilkerson. “I usually have a pretty good car in Seattle and Sonoma, so hopefully that trend will continue this year. We’ve been trying out some new clutch discs, which seem to be giving me a little bit of a problem, but we’ll work through it. This race marks the mid-point of our season, and I feel good about where our performance is headed as we approach the second-half of the year.”
NHRA Northwest Nationals Event Highlights: Three-time event champion: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2011 No. 1 qualifier
