Countdown Begins on Good Note for U.S. Army Teammates
Schumacher Advances to Semifinal, Brown Wins Second Charlotte NHRA Event of 2015
The battle lines have been drawn in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series six-race Countdown to the 
Championship. With the first race in the books, U.S. Army teammates Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown have established themselves as the drivers to beat in the mission to become the 2015 Top Fuel world champion. Schumacher opened the Countdown by reaching the semifinal round of the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte. Brown raced past Schumacher in their semifinal matchup and defeated J.R. Todd in the final to grab the lead in the championship standings.
Schumacher led the Top Fuel contingent to Charlotte to open the Countdown and qualified second aboard the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR). The eight-time and reigning Top Fuel world champion and winner of a record 80 Top Fuel event titles advanced to the semifinal by defeating Chris Karamesines with a run of 3.844 seconds at 321.19 in the first round and Doug Kalitta with a pass of 3.865 seconds at 318.92 mph. The all-U.S. Army showdown in the semifinal was over almost as quickly as it began when the U.S. Army Dragster lost traction just after launch.
“Honestly, I think we got our car back and that’s the most important thing,” said Schumacher. “We’ve got five races to go and I’ll take this car anywhere man. I wouldn’t trade my chances with anyone. This is a great U.S. Army car. We did a good job starting the Countdown with the lead. We came out and qualified number two and advanced to the semifinal. A lot of teams would be really happy for that opportunity. This U.S. Army team has been through these championship runs before. Consistency is the key and that’s what (crew chief) Mike (Green) and (assistant crew chief) Neal (Strausbaugh) and all the Army guys are focused on. I’m going to tip my hat to Antron and his team. They had a great weekend. We knew whoever was going to come out on top this weekend was going to have to earn it because of how tough it is here. We don’t have any reason to complain. We know we are in battle to win the championship and this was just the first round.”
Brown, who entered the weekend looking for his second consecutive zMAX Dragway triumph of the season, took out Terry McMillen in the opening round with a pass of 3.849 seconds at 312.64 mph before ousting Steve Torrence with a lap of 3.823 seconds at 314.90 mph. The 2012 Top Fuel world champion made it nine consecutive wins over Schumacher in Countdown events with his semifinal victory and improved his career record to 31-24 versus his U.S. Army teammate. Brown closed the weekend with another solid pass of 3.832 seconds at 311.86 mph to capture his fifth win of the season, 36th Top Fuel triumph of his career and 52nd NHRA victory overall.
“The drivers always get all of the credit but we’re just one small part of the equation,” said Brown. “It goes to our whole organization, all of our crew chiefs and all of our team guys that work so hard. The track was changing, getting hotter and still got better. There is nothing like being up there for the final and your teammate comes up and says ‘go get ‘em, AB’ and that’s what Tony did in the staging lanes. We went up there and were able to bring it home for DSR. You want to start off (the Countdown) strong because it’s a sprint now. There’s six races for the championship. Do the math. There’s 24 rounds of racing left and the more rounds you win, the less other people have to catch you. Our main focus is one round at a time. We just give it all we have and let the chips fall where they fall. I’m blessed to be part of this team and we’re going to keep on pushing.”
