LAS VEGAS – Tony Schumacher made his quickest pass of the NHRA Nevada Nationals in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday morning, but it wasn’t quick enough to move on and continue chasing a ninth Top Fuel world championship. Schumacher, the class leader at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in terms of wins and No. 1 qualifier awards, is currently ranked seventh in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points leaving Las Vegas with one race left in the season to cement his final position, although that could change on Monday. After a lengthy track cleanup following the Top Fuel semifinal round, NHRA announced they were postponing the remainder of the race until the following morning. Depending on who wins the final round, Schumacher could potentially drop one spot to eighth.

Schumacher arrived in Las Vegas with the Leatherwood Distillery livery back on his JCM Racing dragster for the final two races of the year. Through Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11), Leatherwood Distillery will donate 50 cents from every bottle sold to benefit both A Soldier’s Child and Brother’s Keeper Veteran Foundation. JCM Racing will present a donation check on behalf of Leatherwood to A Soldier’s Child organization at the upcoming NHRA Finals during pre-race ceremonies. Schumacher’s machine also featured a new event partner, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 357 and the Southern Nevada National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Continue reading →

ENNIS, TX – NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Ida Zetterström made some solidly impressive runs in qualifying this weekend at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, landing in the top half of the packed Top Fuel field. But the JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel Dragster team did not have enough to hold off their JCM Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in today’s opening round of eliminations.

Zetterström’s qualifying efforts started off strong when the talented Top Fuel pilot powered her 11,000-horsepower machine to an impressive pass of 3.808 seconds at 324.77 mph during Friday’s opening session. That evening, under the lights of Texas Motorplex, with an additional qualifying bonus on the line, she laid down a blistering run of 3.757 at 323.42 to land her Jon Schaffer-tuned dragster in the No. 8 position on the ladder.

On Sunday, Zetterström met her JCM Racing teammate on the stage during the opening ceremonies, playfully aiming finger guns at the eight-time world champion. This is the first time the two have faced each other in competition. Schumacher held on to his slight starting line advantage to turn on the win light while Zetterström’s dragster hazed the tires early and she was forced to abort the run. Continue reading →

ENNIS, TX – Eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher’s late-season push in the Okuma/JCM Racing dragster continued Sunday afternoon at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, where he charged to a semifinal finish. The most recent winner on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, Schumacher went into the weekend ranked sixth in the Top Fuel points standings. After his semifinal loss to points leader Justin Ashley, Schumacher is fifth going into the final two races of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Schumacher’s promising performance at Dallas kicked off in the first qualifying session on Friday when he made the third-quickest pass of the round, a 3.762 E.T. at 324.93 mph, to earn one bonus point. He drove into tire smoke in the night session, ending the day in the No. 9 spot. The Austin, Texas, resident came back on Saturday and nearly repeated his Q1 performance with a 3.768 E.T. at 328.83 mph. He was consistent in the final qualifying session, running a 3.782 E.T. at 325.85 mph.

Qualified ninth, Schumacher paired up with teammate Ida Zetterström in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, guaranteeing a JCM Racing entry would advance to the quarterfinals. In a first-time matchup for the eight-time world champion and the Rookie of the Year contender, Schumacher moved first and raced to a 3.801-second pass at 322.27 mph to get the win. Zetterström was on a good run until her machine hazed the tires. Continue reading →

Madison, IL – NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Ida Zetterström, who started her NHRA Top Fuel career with a first-round holeshot win over Steve Torrence, came up short in another first-round battle with Torrence at the NHRA Midwest Nationals Sunday morning at World Wide Technology Raceway. But between rain-shortened qualifying and eliminations, she made three consistent passes in her JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster, giving the reigning FIA European Top Fuel champion confidence going into the final three races of her rookie season.

Persistent rain washed away any chance of hitting the track on Friday, leaving Zetterström and her 18 fellow competitors with just two Saturday qualifying attempts to get into the 16-car field. With Jon Schaffer making the tuning calls, Zetterström got into the show in the No. 13 spot in her first attempt with a 3.814-second pass at 308.14 mph. She then stepped up with a 3.76 at 319.37 mph in the second and final qualifying session to move up to a career-best No. 9 position, setting up a first-round matchup with the four-time world champion for the third time in Zetterström’s five starts. Adding to the excitement, Zetterström was part of a historic field, which included four women competing in the Sunday show, a first for the NHRA Top Fuel category. Continue reading →

MADISON, IL – Eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher picked up his second win of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season on Sunday afternoon at the Midwest Nationals, giving him a much-needed boost in his hunt for a ninth series title. Aboard the Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel racer in NHRA history, powered past Steve Torrence in an exciting final round showdown to bring his total win count up to 88 national event victories. Thanks to his successful outing at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis, Schumacher, who started the Countdown to the Championship ranked eighth, now occupies the No. 6 spot with three races remaining before the series champion is crowned.

After persistent rain showers kept teams from taking to the track on Friday, the Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff-led team started the weekend on Saturday by posting a run that placed them at the top of the timing sheets. Schumacher’s opening lap of 3.739 seconds at 325.22 mph held up to be the quickest of the round and added three bonus points to his overall total. The team made another statement-making pass in the second and final qualifying session, with Schumacher rocketing to a 3.718 E.T. at 325.22 mph to add two more bonus points to his tally. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Competing on the zMAX Dragway track for the first time, NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Ida Zetterström was in pursuit of adding more round wins to her growing list of accomplishments on American soil. After earning a spot on the NHRA Carolina Nationals eliminations ladder, the Swedish-born racer faced Brittany Force on Sunday, but her day was cut short after her car unexpectedly shut off shortly after losing traction in the first round.

The Jon Schaffer-tuned JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge team opened qualifying with a solid run of 3.797 seconds at 317.94 mph in unseasonably hot and humid conditions. The run provisionally placed Zetterström 12th in the qualifying order. Looking to crack into the top half of the field in Friday night’s cooler conditions, the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion rolled up to the starting line for the second qualifying session but lost traction right at the hit. Traction issues continued during the third session and she went into Q4 sitting on the ‘bump’ spot in 16th with 18 cars competing for a chance to race on Sunday. With one session remaining, Zetterström closed out qualifying with a good-looking pass of 3.807 seconds and secured the No. 16 seed to start race day. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – With Leatherwood Distillery and Waltrip Brewing Company co-branding on his JCM Racing dragster, eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher went into the NHRA Carolina Nationals eager to pick up his third Charlotte fall race victory. Those hopes were dashed early, though, when Schumacher ended up on the wrong side of a tough race in the first round of eliminations Sunday afternoon at zMAX Dragway. Still, Schumacher held on to his No. 7 spot in the points standings with four races remaining in the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

Schumacher went right to the top half of the field in the opening qualifying session on Friday, with his 3.782 E.T. at 327.11 mph putting him No. 7. He moved up to fifth in the second session with a 3.714-second pass at 325.92 mph to wrap up day one of qualifying. Schumacher ran into traction issues in both of Saturday’s qualifying sessions, though he remained No. 5 on the final qualifying order thanks to his Friday night effort.

In Sunday’s first round of eliminations, Schumacher met up with veteran driver Doug Foley. Schumacher grabbed a few thousands of a second advantage out of the gate, but his 3.834-second run at 320.28 mph wasn’t quick enough to hold off Foley’s winning 3.78 E.T. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Joe C. Maynard raced to the zMAX Dragway winner’s circle on Sunday at the NHRA Carolina Nationals to capture his second national event triumph in his rookie season competing in the Top Alcohol Dragster category. The victory went down in the books as national event win No. 10 for the third-year organization. Maynard powered his Samsel Racing-prepared JCM/Leatherwood Distillery A/Fuel Dragster to victory in 5.272 seconds at 273.05 mph to defeat Julie Nataas, the category’s reigning champion, in the final round.

Maynard, an Army veteran and son of JCM Racing team owner Joe E. Maynard, clinched his first national event win at the 2024 season-opener when he doubled up at the Gatornationals, also winning the divisional race in Gainesville, Florida in his debut event. Maynard found his way back to the winner’s circle at the Concord, North Carolina facility by utilizing his machine-like reflexes to help him defeat a stacked lineup of opponents on race day.

“Miss you, Mom, this is dedicated to you,” said an emotional Maynard following the win, pointing to his Wally trophy. “I miss her every day, but I know she’s smiling down on us. I also want to thank my dad and everyone at JCM Racing for supporting us. I’m proud to be able to deliver this win for Leatherwood and our whole team.” Continue reading →

Reading, PA – Multi-time European drag racing champion Ida Zetterström bowed out early on Sunday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals after she was eliminated in the opening round of competition for the first time in her NHRA career. The 2023 FIA Top Fuel champ clocked the second-quickest run of the first round aboard her Jon Schaffer-tuned JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster, but it wasn’t enough to outpace Shawn Langdon, whose starting line advantage allowed him to propel through the finish line beams first and advance into round two.

Zetterström qualified 12th out of 19 Top Fuel dragsters vying for a shot in the Sunday show at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Swedish speedster opened the weekend with a tire-smoking run in the first qualifying session but quickly rebounded. On Friday night, Zetterström took her 11,000-horsepower rail on a 3.779-second at 329.10 mph ride to reset her career-best speed. She closed out qualifying on Saturday by powering her machine straight down the groove in 3.771 seconds in Q4, which held up to be the third-quickest pass of the session. Continue reading →