It’s Winning Time in St. Louis for U.S. Army Racing Top Fuel Driver Trio
MADISON, IL – The theme entering last weekend’s opener of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 
Countdown to the Championship playoffs was quite simple – “Find a way to go rounds and put yourself in a position to win.”
For the U.S. Army Racing trio of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher, Antron Brown, and Leah Pritchett, the results of the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway weren’t quite “mission accomplished,” but there were enough silver linings to provide each with optimistic expectations heading into round two during this weekend’s seventh annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois.
Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion and driver of the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), will reach his milestone 500th career event this weekend as he continues building his legacy in the sport. Last weekend, “The Sarge” advanced to his 152nd career final and fifth of 2018 but came up short in his bid for career Top Fuel win number 85 after losing traction late in his winner-take-all matchup with Steve Torrence. Schumacher is tied for second in the Countdown standings with 2,169 points, trailing leader Torrence by 50 markers.
“The Sarge has twice won on the outskirts of St. Louis – in 2006 and 2010 – and twice he’s won the second round of the Countdown, when it was on the outskirts of Dallas in 2009 and 2014. Both Dallas event titles springboarded him to the championship. His best Countdown results at Gateway came two years ago, when he reached the final. Last September, he lost to Brown in the second round.
Brown also has distinguished himself as one of the best all-time in drag racing, especially at the St. Louis event. The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR won for the first time at Gateway in 2009 before reeling off consecutive victories from 2012 to 2015 to become the only professional competitor to win four consecutive races at the track. Since the event became part of the Countdown seven seasons ago, he has been a rocket man on the banks of the Mississippi River. In September 2012, Brown started a streak of 16 consecutive round wins at the track, capturing final-round wins over Spencer Massey, Khalid al Balooshi, Shawn Langdon and Dave Connolly. The streak was ended in 2016 by Langdon in a first-round matchup, but Brown made his way back to the semifinals last year before losing to eventual winner Torrence.
The three-time Top Fuel world champion raced his way to the semifinals last weekend in Reading from the sixth qualifying position. Brown knocked out reigning Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force and defeated his DSR/U.S. Army teammate Pritchett before narrowly losing to Schumacher in the semifinals. He ranks fifth in the Countdown standings with 2,116 points, 103 behind Torrence.
The opportunity for another statement race remains for Pritchett, who continues to chase her first career Countdown win aboard the Papa John’s Pizza/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR following last weekend’s run at Reading, where she qualified third and defeated Audrey Worm in the opening round before losing to Brown. Pritchett remains fourth in the points with 2,118 and trails Torrence by 101 markers.
This weekend marks her third career Top Fuel start at St. Louis. She qualified seventh in 2016 but was defeated by Schumacher in round two. Last year, she qualified second and reset the Gateway Motorsports Park speed record to 332.75 mph before losing in the second round to Torrence.
Qualifying at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals begins Friday with sessions at 5:30 and 8 p.m. EDT, continuing Saturday with sessions at 4 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s elimination rounds begin at noon with FS1’s live television coverage set for 2 p.m.
TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing
Last weekend, you kicked off the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship playoffs with a run to the final round. How important was it to have a strong Sunday to open the Countdown?
“It was very important, but it wasn’t just Sunday for the U.S. Army team. We made three good qualifying laps utilizing some new strategies, and then the opportunity presented itself for Mike (Neff, crew chief) and Phil (Shuler, assistant crew chief) to push it even farther. We stepped up to qualify second in the final session Saturday. That set us up for Sunday and we put ourselves in a spot to win by advancing through the field. That’s why you do this. There is only one trophy. We didn’t get it in Reading, but we are going to do everything we can to grab it in St. Louis.”
The St. Louis race became part of the Countdown in 2012 and both of your wins at the track occurred when the race was held earlier in the season. How big would a Countdown win in St. Louis be this weekend?
“I’d love it. It’s been proven that wins in the Countdown go a long way toward winning the championship. When we first won in St. Louis back in 2006, things were a lot different. It was in June. We were coming off consecutive championships, had not won a race yet and were struggling through a tough start to the year. We get that first win and what happened later that year was a historic run that probably had something to do with a Countdown being created. We fell behind Doug Kalitta by 346 points during that season and ended the year having to win the final race and set a new world record to be champions and we did it. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs and we absolutely had to come up big and we did. That mentality and ability to come through when the pressure was at its highest is something we’ve carried on with this U.S. Army team ever since. This weekend, we are taking the same approach in St. Louis. We have to go out and get qualifying points each round. And like last week, we must put ourselves in a position to win Sunday. You have to string together wins, round by round, race by race.”
ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing
It’s winning time in terms of the 2018 NHRA championship battle. Despite being knocked out in the semifinals last weekend, you return to St. Louis with the opportunity to make some noise early in the Countdown. What’s the best-case scenario for this weekend?
“I’m feeling really good. And one way to be feeling great is to be the last one standing on Sunday. That’s my best-case scenario, but that’s incredibly tough to do out here today with how good this field is. You look at Steve (Torrence) and how he came out last weekend and made a statement that the CAPCO boys aren’t messing around. All three of our DSR/U.S. Army cars advanced and the Kalitta teams – man, everyone is tough. At some point, you are going to have to beat everyone to get the ultimate prize. I just try to keep it simple and focus on one run at a time. I said last week that if we just keep doing what we are doing and make a couple minor tweaks, we are going to be in the right spot.”
St. Louis has seemingly been the right spot for you since it became part of the Countdown. What’s been the secret to your success there?
“I just love racing in St. Louis. Curtis Francois and everyone at Gateway does a tremendous job with that track. I’m not sure there is any secret to our success other than hard work. It’s just been a special place for us. It’s one of the early Countdown races and the Matco Tools/U.S. Army guys are always ready for battle when we get there. We’ve won there in all three of our championship seasons and we’d like to put ourselves squarely in the championship race by winning Sunday.”
LEAH PRITCHETT, driver of the Papa John’s Pizza/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing
Last week in the Countdown opener, you described it being a lot like Christmas where you wanted it to last as long as possible. It’s week two. Are you still looking at the overall picture, or have you turned your focus just to the weekend ahead?
“My thoughts on St. Louis are concise and simple – steady and ready. I talk about striving for perfection, and these are the times it matters most, the times I look forward to most. We continue to slightly tweak our strategy to find that extra edge and this weekend is no different. The overall game plan is always the same – grab as many qualifying points as possible and race one round at a time. We had some extensive carnage from our second round in Reading that brought on an extra workload for the crew this week. A St. Louis win right now is really what they deserve and what we plan to deliver in the Papa John’s Pizza Top Fuel dragster this weekend.”
