Multiple Event Titles at Stake for U.S. Army Top Fuel Duo at Historic Brainerd

BRAINERD, MN – Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher was the first in history to do it, and it propelled him to his record eighth and most recent Top Fuel world championship in 2014. His fellow U.S. Army driver and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Antron Brown, the two-time and reigning Top Fuel champ, is looking to become the second one to do it this weekend and further widen his already hefty lead atop the standings.

“It” is scoring not one, but two NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel event titles on consecutive days. Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster for DSR opened the 2014 Countdown to the Championship playoffs by winning the completion of the Carolina Nationals – suspended because of rain six days earlier – on Saturday of Texas Fall Nationals weekend, then winning the Texas Fall Nationals event itself on Sunday. Talk about a Texas two-step, the historic achievement marked the record 75th and 76th Top Fuel wins for the most decorated driver in class history, and gave him a commanding lead in the Countdown standings he never relinquished.

This weekend, Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR look to finish the job they started two weekends ago at Pacific Raceways in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington when they advanced all the way to the Top Fuel final against Steve Torrence before persistent rain washed out the remainder of the NHRA Northwest Nationals. Brown and Torrence will square off to determine the Northwest Nationals title during the third round of Top Fuel qualifying Saturday for this weekend’s 35th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.

Unlike Schumacher’s historic feat in 2014, the chance to hoist a pair of Wally trophies this weekend for Brown does not carry quite the championship implications, but he could add his series-leading fourth and fifth event titles of the season to his 100-point lead over second-place Doug Kalitta entering the weekend with just two events left in the regular season. When the six-event Countdown begins after the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis two weeks hence, the top-10 drivers will have their point totals reset with the first-place driver assigned a 30-point lead over the second-place driver, and 10-point increments separating each driver from positions two through 10.

This weekend’s event at Brainerd takes the U.S. Army duo to one of their most successful tracks on the tour. Schumacher is a three-time Top Fuel winner and six-time finalist there, as well as six-time No. 1 qualifier. Brown scored five Brainerd event titles in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class from 2000 through 2006 before breaking through in the Top Fuel ranks there in 2011. Brown also was Brainerd runner-up in 2012 and three times has been the No. 1 qualifier. A year ago this weekend, Brown became the first driver to eclipse the 3.7-second mark when he broke off a head-turning run of 3.680 seconds during Sunday eliminations at Brainerd.

Two weekends ago in Seattle, Schumacher laid down his career-best elapsed time of 3.686 seconds on his final qualifying run Saturday before also beating his previous best during Sunday eliminations with consecutive runs of 3.702 and 3.706 seconds. Similar conditions are forecast for this weekend in Brainerd with highs topping out in the upper 60s and lower 70s, which means the potential for more record-breaking performances.

Saturday’s running at Brainerd of the rain-postponed Top Fuel final from Seattle between Brown and Torrence will be broadcast live by FS1 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT. Qualifying coverage from Friday and Saturday will be recapped on a delayed broadcast by FS1 at 10 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s elimination rounds will be carried live on FS1 from 2 to 5 p.m.

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

Things looked like they were really coming together for the U.S. Army team two weekends ago in the cool, ultra-fast conditions at Seattle. Now you’re headed to Brainerd, where the forecast calls for similar conditions. What is your outlook for the weekend?

“I’ll say this – up till Seattle, I wouldn’t have been ultra-comfortable with those conditions, like the highs in the 60s and low 70 that we have forecast for this weekend. But the way our car is starting to perform in those conditions – those Friday-night qualifying runs – it gave me a lot of hope. We ran in the 60s (3.60 seconds). Things are shaping up to be those same, fast conditions at Brainerd this weekend, just like last year, when people were laying down record runs left and right. The fans are going to see some outstanding racing. We crept along for six races this summer, running extremely well in the heat but trying to get the cool conditions figured out and, at Seattle, we ran great. On Sunday, we got beat by a 70, so there’s nothing to be too upset about there. I’m not going to show up at Brainerd thinking we’re the only car that can run well, by any means, but now we know we can run well in those conditions, too. We’re back in the saddle as far as where we used to be. We have a bad-to-the-bone car. Now, we can force people into making mistakes in those cool conditions, too, because we can compete now whereas, for a stretch, we were a known entity in the hot conditions but struggled in the really cool conditions. I’m just looking forward to getting there. We had such a good car in Seattle, I’ll admit it was a letdown to lose. So, I can’t wait to get to Brainerd.”

Brainerd is said to be very similar to Seattle in the area of horsepower potential. Are there certain nuances about the racetracks you visit that you especially look for throughout the season?

“If a track has nuances, they don’t tell me about them. I don’t want to know. Unless there’s a groove I have to drive around, I don’t want to know about any of that stuff. The crew does its job and I do mine. I always say the mind can hold seven things in it. That’s why phone numbers have seven digits. There’s a reason for that. The more you tell a driver to watch for and do, the more he’s going to make mistakes. I like to say I’m a machine. I want to get in the car and be exact and do the same thing every time. Throw another thing in there and say, ‘Watch for this,’ and the potential to make mistakes increases. I think my guys are really good about knowing that. Likewise, I don’t have to get out of the car and tell them what it did. I don’t have to. We have computers for that. I drive the car and do my best to keep it in the groove and go straight, leave on time, and do the same thing every time so they don’t have to worry about the driver. We’ve been doing it this way for a long, long time and it’s a proven approach that works.”

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

During the weekend off between the end of the Western Swing in Seattle and this weekend’s event at Brainerd, your Matco Tools/U.S. Army team decided to do some major work on the racecar. Is everything OK for this weekend?

“Our (chassis) showed a little stress in a couple of areas and we came back and our fab guys did an incredible job in a short amount of time to pretty much put a whole new car together. We just want to make sure we have everything covered so we can give ourselves the best chance to go out and compete for another championship. It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of sacrifice from our guys. They drove all the way back from Seattle to the shop in Indy and a lot of teams took their stuff to Brainerd, parked and took some time off. The thing about it is, championships are not won by sitting idle. This team is very familiar with the workload it takes to win. This is a very crucial time right now. Our main focus is we want to be ready for the Countdown (to the Championship). We need to be hitting on all eight cylinders.”

You had a lot of momentum going during Sunday eliminations at Seattle before the rains came and postponed the final round to this weekend at Brainerd. Your thoughts on that?

“The NHRA made the right call on that. It would’ve been nice to finish it there because we saw some incredible conditions, but it’s looking like we might see some similar conditions this weekend in Brainerd. We have to go in there and hit a grand slam. I feel really good there. We know what needs to be done and how to do it. I have all the confidence in the world in the team we have.”