Ninth Annual Carolina NHRA Nationals Friday Qualifying Report

U.S. Army Racing drivers Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown began their quest for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world championship Friday at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte by completing two rounds of qualifying. Schumacher and Brown rank third and seventh, respectively, in the provisional qualifying ladder with two sessions remaining Saturday in this year’s first Countdown to the Championship event.

Schumacher, the two-time NHRA Carolina Nationals champion, and his U.S. Army team carried the momentum from their 10th U.S. Nationals victory to Bruton Smith’s facility and posted the second-best qualifying pass in Friday’s opening session with a run of 3.782 seconds at 320.20 mph. “The Sarge” closed qualifying with a machine-like pass of 3.730 seconds at 325.14 mph in the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR). The eight-time Top Fuel world champion grabbed three points out of a possible six available Friday.

“We had a really day scoring points in both sessions,” Schumacher said. “This U.S. Army Racing team is incredibly strong. They are confident. Obviously, we were a little frustrated not being number one, but after looking at the data we know how good the runs we made today were. That number one spot doesn’t win you races. Getting down the track over and over again and making the right calls on Sunday does. We can make adjustments based on the information we learned today. I would have liked those extra points today, because every one of them matters when you are chasing a championship. I’m really happy with the U.S. Army car. I’m happy with my U.S. Army team. We are all excited coming off a great win and looking forward to coming back tomorrow.”

Brown led the Top Fuel contingent to Charlotte as the top seed in the Countdown. The two-time and defending NHRA Carolina Nationals winner made a lap of 3.836 seconds at 308.28 mph in the first qualifying session aboard the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. The two-time and reigning Top Fuel world champion jumped up the provisional ladder in session two by making a run of 3.742 seconds at 317.94 mph.

Top Fuel qualifying continues Saturday with third- and fourth-round sessions scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. EDT. FS1 will cover qualifying and broadcast highlights Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Eliminations began at 12 noon Sunday and FS1 will begin live coverage at 2:30 p.m.