It’s Playoff Time as U.S. Army Duo Kicks Off Six-Event Countdown at Charlotte

CONCORD, NC – It’s time to wipe the slate clean, time to get down to business for the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown as the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship begins with this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside Charlotte, N.C.

Last year’s Top Fuel world championship came down this very duo – a fitting testament to the fact the Army is our Nation’s preeminent leadership experience, where the Nation’s future leaders are developed and empowered with the confidence to take decisive action when needed and the flexibility to excel in constantly evolving situations. And it wasn’t settled until the very last run of the season finale at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., and by the slimmest of margins, as Brown emerged with his first career Top Fuel title a mere seven points ahead of the seven-time champion Schumacher.

As expected from these two fierce competitors, Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) have been focused since this year’s season opener at Pomona on winning “The Sarge’s” eighth career Top Fuel title, while Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster team for DSR have had their minds set on a championship repeat.

That journey begins in earnest this weekend at zMAX Dragway with the first of four consecutive weekends of championship racing kicking off for the 10 Countdown finalists. Like he did last year, Schumacher enters the Countdown seeded third in the standings that were reset following the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis two weekends ago. “The Sarge,” a three-time event winner this season, is 40 points behind five-time event winner Shaun Langdon of Al-Anabi Racing, the No. 1 seed, and 10 points behind DSR teammate Spencer Massey. Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army team won two events this season but also endured an otherwise challenging regular season and begin the Countdown as the sixth seed, 70 points back of Langdon.

Charlotte is an ideal venue for both Schumacher and Brown to try and get off to a solid start in the Countdown. “The Sarge” advanced to the final round at last year’s Countdown opener, where Langdon scored his first career event title. Schumacher was victorious at Charlotte in 2008, was also runner-up in the April 2012 event, and was fast qualifier in September 2011. He came back to beat Langdon and Brandon Bernstein but came up just short against Massey to score a runner-up finish in the Four-Wide Nationals this past April. Brown, meanwhile, won the September 2011 event at zMAX and scored a runner-up finish in 2008.

The sixth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals begin with qualifying rounds Friday and Saturday. ESPN2’s coverage of qualifying airs Saturday (check local listings) while Sunday’s three-hour broadcast of elimination rounds begins at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster:

You begin your quest for your eighth career Top Fuel world championship this weekend after a somewhat up-and-down ‘regular season.’ What is the U.S. Army team’s approach to this year’s Countdown to the Championship?

“Just like we do each and every race weekend, we are going to give it our very best. For the U.S. Army Soldiers we represent, that is all we have ever done, and it’s everything we can ever do. Only the strongest wear our colors. U.S. Army Soldiers possess a mental, emotional and physical strength like no other, and this U.S. Army Racing team reflects those strengths. We have had our ups and downs. We started out really well the first part of the season, but then, like most teams, we went into a developmental mode working on tune-ups that are going to add to our championship total. And it wasn’t like we were trying to get just a little bit better. We were looking for leaps and bounds, and that takes time no matter how you look at it. We were in the middle of the time part of it when it cost us some early round losses along the way. There are a lot of great teams out there, and more and more teams that have always been good have actually gone out there and won rounds and won event titles this season. You know, if I’m one of the fans paying money to see the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth this year. Now that it’s Countdown time, once again, we’re going to look back on our last 10 years of winning championships and we’re going to do textbook, powerhouse racing these last six events. We learned a lot over the previous six events this season – we learned a lot of what not to do, which is almost as important as learning what to do. The best thing about our U.S. Army team is that we know how to do it under pressure, and we’re the best at it. We want to go out and dominate, to win early, to build ourselves a solid lead so that, when we get to the last two events, it doesn’t all come down to the last run like it already has three times in my career.”

You talk a lot about thriving under pressure. What is it about the U.S. Army team that makes it that way?

“It’s about being ice cold, which is business as usual for each and every one of us. It’s about being like a machine. You go out there and do your job like the pressure doesn’t matter. You go out and do the very best you can every single time with nothing left to give. If you do that every single time, you’re going to be successful way more often than not. If you get beat, then you shake the other guy’s hand because he beat you. I used to love what Larry Bird used to say about how, in the closing seconds of a game, he always wanted the ball in his hands for the last shot, not anybody else in the world. I’m very blessed to have had that ball in our hands so many times over the years. We’ll just keep motoring on and get to the end of the season and get ourselves in that spot and see if we can win this battle for a championship.”

Regardless of the fact the U.S. Army team has been in developmental mode for a good part of this season, it’s also been one of the most competitive Top Fuel fields in the history of the series. And it seems teams always give it something extra when they’re lined up against you. How do you feel about that?

“I think, first of all, we’ve advanced through more rounds than anyone else in history, so there are that many more chances to line up against us and beat us. It’s the Army car. It’s won more events in the history of the sport than anyone else, and it’s won more championships. When you line up against the Army car, whether you’re one of the veterans out there or a newcomer, that’s a car you want to put on your resume one that you took out. We’ve definitely had a fair share of guys get their first wins against us. I appreciate that – they’re giving us their very best. The thing people have to realize is, they’re going to run better against me because, if they don’t, they’re going to get beat. So they turn knobs they’ve never turned before and the drivers step up and they just do a great job. But, we’ve also won more than they have.”

ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster:  

You begin this year’s countdown as the defending Top Fuel champion with the No. 6 seed after starting last year’s Countdown in the top spot. Is your outlook any different than it was a year ago?

“Our class just gets stronger and stronger each and every year. It’s a dogfight just to be in the top-10, to make the Countdown. I guarantee you, we have anywhere between 14 and 16 cars on any given Sunday that can win an event in Top Fuel. Our main goal is to focus and to contend for another championship. It’s definitely going to be 10 times harder than it was last year because everybody is throwing their best shot at us. This is where it all counts for the championship, and we’re sitting right in the middle of the field. We have our work cut out for us, but there isn’t anything that we can’t handle. We’re going to head in there with our heads up and bring our ‘A’ game. We have to head into the Countdown with the attitude that we have nothing to lose, and we don’t. We’re going to go out there and give it all we’ve got and have fun. We’re looking forward to getting to Charlotte. After getting that No. 1 qualifying spot at Indy our last time out, that means we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

What are your thoughts about racing at zMAX Dragway?

“We always love going to Charlotte, especially since it starts off the Countdown. Everybody knows it’s our premiere track on the tour. It’s by far the best strip on the NHRA circuit, and it’s a great way to go out and start the Countdown. The fans there turn out and show us a lot of support. The track surface, by far, is going to be stout, where we’ll be able to go out there and throw down some runs. The track can always handle a lot more power than we’re trying to put down out there. We try to put everything we’ve got into it and it still wants us to go faster and quicker. We’re fortunate to be at zMAX and we’re really looking forward to going out there and getting it done.”