READING, PA – Tony Schumacher kicked off his bid for a ninth NHRA Top Fuel title and JCM Racing’s first world championship by advancing to the quarterfinals in Reading, Pennsylvania at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, the first event of the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Starting from the No. 2 qualifying position for the third time this season, the winningest Top Fuel racer in Maple Grove Raceway history scored a first-round win on Sunday morning before falling to fellow Countdown-contender Antron Brown in the second round of eliminations.

A five-time winner in Reading, Schumacher’s best qualifying performance of the weekend came when he kept his Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. Top Fuel dragster hooked up and firing on all eight cylinders to run the second-quickest pass of the Friday night session. The 3.733-second at 328.70 mph run earned the team two bonus points for their effort and held up through all four sessions to place them second on the Top Fuel timing sheets to start race day. Schumacher’s Sunday morning began with a first-round match-up versus Doug Foley.

Against Foley, Schumacher moved first and never trailed for the win, recording a 3.759 E.T. to advance into the quarterfinals where he faced his former teammate, Antron Brown. The two multi-time world champions were nearly even leaving the starting line, but Schumacher lost traction shortly after the launch while his opponent made a full pull in the opposite lane for the win. Continue reading →

INDIANNAPOLIS – The 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals can push even the most experienced drivers to the limit, but Rookie of the Year contender Ida Zetterström proved she has what it takes to compete in the sport’s most prestigious race when she scored a first-round win on Monday morning. She set new career-best numbers in her JCM Racing/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster before bowing out in the second round at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Though she was looking for a second consecutive semifinal appearance in just her second career NHRA event, the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion is happy with her first ‘Big Go’ experience.

Zetterström, who moved from her home in Finland’s Åland Islands to the Indianapolis area earlier this year, started the weeklong celebration of speed that is the U.S. Nationals by throwing out the first pitch at the Indianapolis Indians game on Tuesday night. It was her first-ever baseball game, and she learned of the significance of the ‘first pitch’ just a few weeks before taking the mound. She continued the week with pre-race activities like local media appearances and an autograph session at the Cruz Pedregon Racing open house on Thursday evening. Continue reading →

INDIANAPOLIS – The NHRA U.S. Nationals is a race that holds a wealth of memories and historic moments for eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher. He’s felt the pressure at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park nearly every Labor Day weekend for the past three decades, and he’s experienced the thrill of victory an unprecedented 10 times in the 70-year history of the event. This time around, Schumacher in his Leatherwood Distillery dragster scored a nail-biting first-round win before a starting line mishap in the second round ended his day earlier than planned.

In Friday’s first qualifying session, Schumacher launched hard but started to lose traction and had to lift to a 4.896-second pass to sit on the bump spot going into Saturday’s two sessions. He laid down a 3.739 E.T. at 326.32 mph in the second session to move up to seventh. Schumacher had issues on the third and fourth qualifying attempts, but his 3.777 E.T. in Q5 was the fourth-quickest pass of the final session, earning one bonus point. Schumacher ended up No. 8 on the final qualifying order. Continue reading →

BRAINERD, NM – Tony Schumacher and the Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel team were consistent throughout qualifying at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, making three solid passes out of four, but came up short in the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning at Brainerd International Raceway as Schumacher attempted to pick up his second win of the season.

Schumacher and the team unloaded with a good, clean 3.808-second pass on Friday to open the weekend. They missed the mark during the day’s second session but rebounded in a big way on Saturday, clocking 3.782 and 3.790-second runs during the final two field-setting sessions. Schumacher settled into the No. 13 spot on the Top Fuel eliminations ladder and found himself facing NHRA newbie Tony Stewart in the opening round on Sunday morning. In the ‘Tony vs. Tony’ battle, Schumacher moved first in his Leatherwood Distillery rail, but Stewart had the difference made up by the time they cleared the 60-foot mark and never trailed for the win, blocking Schumacher from making a run at a fourth Brainerd trophy. While Schumacher and the team would have preferred a longer race day on Sunday, the eight-time world champion feels hopeful with the amount of progress his team has made as of late. Continue reading →

SONOMA, CA – Two-time NHRA Sonoma Nationals Top Fuel event champion Tony Schumacher will need to wait another year to take his third Sonoma Raceway win, as the eight-time NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series world champion bowed out in the first round of eliminations Sunday morning at the 36th running of the Sonoma Nationals. Schumacher in his Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster went up in smoke, sending the JCM Racing team home early from the second race of the abbreviated Western Swing. With a win and two runner-up finishes in the first 12 races of the season, Schumacher leaves Sonoma sixth in the points standings.

Schumacher’s first qualifying attempt ended with tire haze on the top end, but he improved slightly with a 3.907-second pass in the second session to end the day in the No. 11 spot. He really improved in the third session on Saturday, laying down a 3.733 E.T. at 323.97 mph to move up one spot. Schumacher overpowered the track in the final qualifying session and locked in the No. 10 position for Sunday eliminations.

On race day, Schumacher’s traction troubles resumed in his first-round match with Justin Ashley. He hit the throttle pedal and drove into tire smoke shortly after, coasting across the finish line in 8.495 seconds while Ashley made a full pull in the opposite lane to move on. Continue reading →

NORWALK, OH – A frustrating weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals came to an early end in the first round for eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher. Racing at Summit Motorsports Park on Sunday morning, Schumacher made his quickest pass of the weekend in JCM Racing’s Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. Top Fuel dragster, but it wasn’t quick enough to turn on the win light in the first round, where numerous races were determined by thousandths of a second.

Schumacher, who won the inaugural NHRA Norwalk Nationals in 2007, struggled to get down the track in the first qualifying session on Friday, but he bounced back in the night session with a 3.791-second pass at 327.66 mph. After rain delays on Saturday, Schumacher hazed the tires in the third and fourth sessions to wrap up qualifying. In an incredibly quick Top Fuel field that left three drivers on the outside looking in, Schumacher secured the No. 15 qualifying position.

In the opening round of eliminations on Sunday morning, Schumacher in the Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. dragster fired off a 3.783 E.T. at 320.74 mph, the team’s quickest effort of the event. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quick enough to get past Justin Ashley and his 3.764-second pass. Continue reading →

NORTH DINWIDDIE, VA – Tony Schumacher was looking to keep his winning ways going aboard the Waltrip Brewing Co./Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster on Sunday at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond. Fresh off a win from the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals two weeks prior, the JCM Racing team felt they had a proven combination for the challenging conditions facing the teams at the North Dinwiddie facility, but dropped cylinders during the quarterfinals on race day prevented Schumacher from going two-for-two behind the wheel of his new co-branded paint scheme.

Schumacher qualified 13th for the two-day event, which saw teams battle extreme heat during Saturday’s three qualifying runs. While they would have preferred a more favorable starting position to begin race day, the team was undeterred as they had won from 12th in Bristol, Tennessee, and powered to a runner-up finish from the 14th seed in Epping, New Hampshire the weekend before that. Seeking his third consecutive final-round appearance and fourth overall in 2024, Schumacher’s race day started with a first-round battle versus No. 4 qualifier Shawn Reed. The eight-time world champ turned on the win light when he took his machine to the finish line in 4.095 seconds to defeat Reed’s 4.490-second effort. In the quarterfinals, Schumacher faced his former teammate Antron Brown in their first head-to-head meeting this season. The Waltrip Brewing Co./Leatherwood Distillery machine moved first but starting mixing up cylinders as it approached the 330-foot mark, causing Schumacher to slow while Brown made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance. Continue reading →

BRISTOL, TN – One week after coming up second in the NHRA New England Nationals final round, eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher found redemption by beating defending world champion Doug Kalitta on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals to score his 87th national event victory. Sporting a new Waltrip Brewing Co./Leatherwood Distillery look on his Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher crossed the Bristol Dragway finish line stripe ahead of Kalitta in an Epping, New Hampshire final-round rematch to take the honors of hoisting his first Wally trophy of the season. The momentous victory was No. 9 for the JCM Racing organization and moved Schumacher up three spots in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series point standings from eighth to fifth.

Before the on-track action started, Schumacher and the JCM Racing team celebrated the unveiling of the co-branded dragster at a special event at the Waltrip Brewing Co. taproom in downtown Bristol. Team owner Joe Maynard is an equity owner in the premium brewing company founded by NASCAR legend Michael Waltrip. Schumacher will banner the co-branded Waltrip Brewing Co./Leatherwood Distillery paint scheme once again when the Mission Foods Series returns to zMAX Dragway near Charlotte in September for the NHRA Carolina Nationals. Continue reading →