Schumacher No. 1 at Bristol, going for second straight NHRA pole; Hagan third to lead DSR Funny Cars at hometown track in Bristol

BRISTOL, TN – Tony Schumacher grew up in Chicago and now lives in Austin, Texas, but he might consider buying a condominium at Bristol Dragway after earning the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday night during opening day of the 15th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals near Bristol Motor Speedway.

Schumacher, the eight-time and reigning NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel champion, has won at the track five times and is on the verge of earning his second consecutive and third pole of the year with Don Schumacher Racing’s U.S. Army team led by crew chief Mike Green.

Schumacher, who is second in points with two titles through 10 events this year, was quickest in the first session with a time of 3.844 sec. at 318.32 mph but was even better on the late night run with a track-record 3.768 (323.58).

“That was a great run and now it’s over, he said. “It’s supposed to be 91 on Sunday and those conditions will be closer to what we saw on our first run today. That run was more impressive than the one that put us No. 1.”

The last two qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1 and 3:30 p.m. (ET) Saturday leading to Sunday’s eliminations set for noon. Thunderstorms forecast for the hot, humid Friday never developed but a high chance of thunderstorms exists in the afternoon and evening on Saturday.

Close behind in third is DSR teammate Spencer Massey (Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant) with a time of 3.778 at a track speed record of 326.63 mph). Points leader Antron Brown (Matco Tools/U.S. Army) is No. 5 at 3.805 (312.21).

“We earned six points and are on the pole by one-thousandth of a second,” Schumacher said. “Our team talks; we had a discussion about how to run the right lane (on the last run) and keep the car straight. There’s a bump out there that you have to be prepared for and keep the car straight before you hit it or it makes the car move around a bit. A good team discusses the situation before we race.”

The quickest among DSR’s four 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars was reigning world champion Matt Hagan and the Rocky Boots/Mopar team led by crew chief Dickie Venables whose best time of 4.035 (318.09) in the second session puts them in the No. 3 spot.

“We had a great Rocky/Mopar Dodge tonight and we really wanted to win our first pole here,” Hagan said of Bristol that he considers a home track because it’s less than two hours from his home in Christiansburg, Va.

“We have a lot of friends out here and my family will be here on Sunday and that’s when we want to turn on four win lights,” said Hagan, who has won three titles in 10 events this year is rank first in Mello Yello points. He is seeking his first NHRA Wally trophy from Bristol

This is the third race in a three-week span. DSR has scored three event titles out of four possible in the previous two races.