Newly Minted Bristol Legend Tony Schumacher Ends ‘Epic’ Weekend in Second Round

Bristol, TN – After reaching the final round of the rain-delayed NHRA New England Nationals on Saturday, Top Fuel star Tony Schumacher was hoping to go one round further in Sunday’s eliminations at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Unfortunately, a flash of tire smoke marked the end of Schumacher’s day in the second round.

Driving his SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher qualified No. 10 with a 3.797-second pass that he recorded on his way to the Epping runner-up finish to Justin Ashley in an all-JCM Racing final on Saturday.

When Sunday rolled around, Bristol Dragway honored Schumacher during pre-race ceremonies by inducting him into the Legends of Thunder Valley, the track’s prestigious hall of fame. Schumacher is the winningest Top Fuel driver at the historic Tennessee track with six victories, and he’s now just the second member to be inducted as an active driver, joining John Force, who was welcomed into the elite club in 2016. He’s a second-generation inductee, as his father, Don Schumacher, was honored in 2014.

In the opening round of eliminations, Schumacher charged to his best performance of the weekend, a 3.767-second E.T. at 328.06 MPH, to knock out Dan Mercier in a decisive fashion.

During a rain delay between the first and second rounds, Randy Gloede, CEO of SCAG Power Equipment, announced the winner of a raffle for a SCAG mower. Two thousand raffle tickets were sold between Epping and Bristol, with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. After announcing the winner, Gloede also said that SCAG would match the proceeds, bringing SCAG’s contribution to $20,000.

When the rain cleared, Schumacher’s SCAG machine showed promise in the first 60 feet of his second-round matchup with Antron Brown, but he broke traction shortly after and had to pedal. He wasn’t able to recover in time to catch Brown before the 1,000-foot finish line.

“That was a disappointing second round, honestly,” Schumacher said. “We just missed it. I really was thinking we were going to run a 3.72. But I didn’t have a great light on that one either. Could have won. We need to slide it down that race track. I need to be better on my game.

“But as far as Bristol goes, it was an epic weekend, just a heck of a time,” Schumacher continued. “Being inducted into their hall of fame and the Legends deal was great. It’s a big honor for me to be on the wall with the rest of those great names. I love this place. I think we learned a lot. I think we finally got some rounds in and we’re just a few points out of the top 10. So, we’ve got a car that we needed all year long. It’s getting better every run and we’ll get it done.”

Schumacher, who leaves Bristol 11th in the Camping World Series Top Fuel points standings, will be back in action June 23 – 25 at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.797 E.T. at 323.58 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.767 E.T. at 328.06 MPH defeated Dan Mercier 3.877 E.T. at 313.80 MPH
E2: 5.699 E.T. at 116.82 MPH defeated by Antron Brown 3.765 E.T. at 329.50 MPH