“The Sarge” Wins Historic Fifth Gatornationals
His name is all over the NHRA Mello Yello Series record book, but the latest entry for U.S. Army Racing driver Tony
“The Sarge” Schumacher is one he’ll remember for a long time. The eight-time Top Fuel world champion defeated his U.S. Army and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Antron Brown Sunday afternoon in a classic final round duel to become the winningest Top Fuel driver in the tradition-rich 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville (Florida) Raceway.
The odds were in Schumacher’s favor heading into Sunday eliminations after he earned his 81st career NHRA pole with Friday’s pass of 3.682 seconds at 328.22 mph in the U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. In the first two events of 2017, DSR’s Leah Pritchett was the top qualifier and went on to post four consecutive win lights. “The Sarge” had reached the semifinals in the first two events himself, so he knew his U.S. Army team led by crew chief Mike Green and assistant crew chief Phil Shuler were onto something.
Schumacher was machine-like in the first round after Smax Smith left early and was disqualified. Posting a lap of 3.724 seconds at 321.27 mph gave him lane choice in his second round matchup with Clay Millican. Schumacher made the right lane work in his victory over Millican with a run of 3.751 seconds at 326.64 mph to continue his pursuit of a fifth Gatornationals victory. It was back to the left lane for his semifinal confrontation with Steve Torrence, which he won thanks to a stout run of 3.715 seconds at ??? mph. The win advanced to him to his first final of the season, 143rd of his career and for the ninth time in Gainesville.
The final was the 13th time the U.S. Army teammates faced off for a Wally and second time the two would meet in the Gatornationals final. Schumacher was victories in the 2010 battle. Brown was on point on the starting line with his .034 seconds reaction time, but Schumacher, who left with a respectable .066 light drove around his teammate with a lap of 3.703 seconds at 329.26 mph to become the first driver in Top Fuel to win five Gatornationals.
“Everything went right today,” said Schumacher following his 83rd career Top Fuel triumph. “That final round with Antron was an absolute battle. He has had my number here for a while. I know he’s won more than I have and that pushes me to be better. Going against him makes me step up. Going against their team makes my U.S. Army guys step up. And to go out and win the Gatornationals for the fifth time is special. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to be put on a list with “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and Joe Amato. Those guys are legends. And throw in Larry Dixon, who is just a tough competitor that I battled with for so long and had a true rivalry with for a long time. To do something that no one else has done is a huge accomplishment. My U.S. Army team went out there today and made history. What makes it is so big is that you qualified number one and advanced to the final. And you are sitting there with the chance at history. It’s all laid out for you, but you are running Antron Brown, who is a three-time world champion and great driver. The cars within a few thousandths of a second of each other in the semifinals, so there’s nothing easy about it. You just have to step up. Do you job and be a machine to make the most of the opportunity. Those are great moments. Those are the moments you are going to remember for a long, long time. You were put in a position to do it surrounded by people capable of the moment and you did it. That’s what its all about.”
With his the victory, the famed Gainesville Raceway becomes the 10th venue on the current NHRA schedule where Schumacher is the all-time winningest driver in Top Fuel. The win also allowed him to close the gap on Pritchett in the championship standings to just 21 points through three of 24 events.
The positive for Brown during his weekend was the feeling of progress behind the wheel of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota for DSR. He qualified third and reached his first final of the season. On Sunday, Brown opened with a crushing run of 3.711 seconds at 327.98 mph to defeat Chris Karamesis and followed that with a lap of 3.787 seconds at 321.42 to beat Troy Coughlin, Jr. That set the stage for his semifinal race with Doug Kalitta. It was the 48th time the two have met and Brown turned on the win light with his impressive pass of 3.719 seconds at 326.24 mph during the heat of the day to advance to his 109th career final. He carried a career record of 34-28 into the final with Schumacher, but came up just short of securing an eighth victory in the finals over his U.S. Army teammate.
“We’re making strides and continuing in the direction we want to go in,” said Brown, who ranks third in the Top Fuel standings. “We learned a lot this weekend and I couldn’t be prouder of our Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota boys. When you come to the Gatornationals, and this was my 20th time racing here, you want to win it. We had a little bug bite in the final round and that’s going to make us better. Our U.S. Army teammate, Tony with crew chief Mike Green and that whole crew, did a phenomenal job all weekend winning from the No. 1 spot. We’re going to keep driving and keep pushing. The competition is at an all-time high. When you win a race, you’ve done something special and we want to get back to where we belong.”
After three rounds of the 24-event NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series for 2017, the top-10 drivers the Top Fuel standings are:
1. Leah Pritchett (300 points)
2. Tony Schumacher (279 points, -21)
3. Antron Brown (243 points, -57)
4. Doug Kalitta (220 points, -80)
5. Brittany Force (202 points, -98)
6. Steve Torrence (185 points, -115)
7. Troy Coughlin, Jr. (143 points, -157)
8. Shawn Reed (136 points, -164)
9. Clay Millican (133 points, -167)
10. Scott Palmer (116 points, -184)
Next up is the 18th annual Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 31-April 2. FS1 will carry Sunday’s elimination rounds live in a three-hour show beginning at 6 p.m. EDT.
