Ninth Annual NHRA Carolina Nationals Final Qualifying Report
With qualifying complete for the first of six NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship 
events, U.S. Army Racing teammates Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown can turn their focus toward winning the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte Sunday. Schumacher and Brown, the 2014 and 2015 Top Fuel world champions, begin their quest for a third victory in the event from the third and seventh positions, respectively.
Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel world champion, posted a pair of solid passes to open the event Friday and secured the third position with his pass of 3.730 seconds at 325.14 mph in the U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Friday evening. In qualifying sessions three and four Saturday, “The Sarge” made laps of 3.776 seconds at 322.19 mph and 5.762 seconds at 115.46 mph in much warmer conditions.
“We have a great opportunity tomorrow,” Schumacher said. “This is what we’ve worked for all season. It’s been about working toward a championship for (crew chief) Mike (Green) and (assistant crew chief) Neal (Strausbaugh) and all the U.S. Army Racing guys. Coming off a huge weekend in Indy, we wanted to carry that momentum right into the Countdown. We did that Friday going down the track both times with very consistent runs. I said it yesterday that you win races by making good runs time after time after time. Today, it was about preparing the car for what can expect weather-wise tomorrow. The U.S. Army car is responding extremely well to the changes Mike and Neal are making to it. I can’t wait to get back here tomorrow and race.”
Schumacher, the winningest driver in Top Fuel history with 82 career victories, will face Cameron Ferre in the opening round of eliminations. Ferre is making his debut in the Top Fuel division this weekend and qualified 14th with a lap of 3.932 seconds at 313.37 mph in Saturday’s first qualifying session. Schumacher is 6-2 in previous first round competition kicking off the Countdown in its current format. In 2008 and 2014, he won the NHRA Carolina Nationals to begin his championship runs.
Brown, who won his first 14 rounds of competition in last year’s Countdown, closed qualifying on a high note with passes of 3.784 seconds at 320.89 mph in session three and 3.766 seconds at 318.92 mph in Saturday’s final session aboard the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. The 2011 and 2015 NHRA Carolina Nationals champion held the seventh position with his run of 3.742 seconds at 317.94 mph Friday evening.
“Tomorrow is very important,” said Brown. “We definitely want to get off to a good start and just take it one round at a time. That’s going to be the key thing. We have to give it all we have each round. That’s our game plan and we will just focus on one round at a time. This is what you strive for. This is what you live for. It’s not going to be easy and we’re just ready to get after it right now. This Matco Tools/U.S. Army team is ready for war. My guys are honing in on it. The car is getting better and better. We found a gremlin that’s been biting us since Indy. We zeroed in and found it last night. The car is back to being normal and today, I feel like we got the balance. We’ve been working hard. That last run today felt like ol’ nelly was back. We’re ready to march into tomorrow.”
Brown will face Clay Millican in the opening round and look to even his first round record in Countdown openers since 2008 to 4-4 with a victory. The two-time Top Fuel world champion has an 18-1 career record versus Millican, including three wins this season and five in previous Countdown matchups.
Eliminations begin at 12 noon EDT Sunday and FS1 will begin live coverage at 2:30 p.m.
