Tony Schumacher and SCAG Top Fuel Team Continue to See Advances in Their Performance

LAS VEGAS – Tony Schumacher was looking to take care of some unfinished business by capturing his first four-wide Wally trophy at this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. Ahead of the first of two back-to-back four-wide events, Schumacher remarked that the last time he and crew chief Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff raced the Spring Las Vegas event together as driver/crew chief in 2018, they advanced to the final quad and were leading their three opponents until a mechanical malfunction cost them the race. Neff and Schumacher reunited for the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series season, and after seeing an uptick in performance at the series’ most recent event in Pomona, Calif., the duo felt they had the car to get the job done on Sunday in Las Vegas.

With 86 national event wins, including his class-best eight triumphs from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a win from the unique four-wide format is one of the few things that has eluded Schumacher throughout his storied career. He’s come close to four-wide success, finishing as the runner-up in 2012 and 2017 in Charlotte, in addition to advancing to the final quad in Las Vegas in 2018 and again in 2022.

Schumacher’s quest for the Sunday hardware began with a solid qualifying performance in which he placed the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster eighth on the elimination ladder by recording a 3.763 E.T. in the opening session. He then went on to make two more good passes, and once the fields were set, Schumacher found himself facing a tough first-round contest with fellow world champs Brittany Force and Antron Brown. Force left first and Schumacher and Brown left together shortly after. All three drivers charged hard to the finish line stripe with the trio posting 3.78 E.T.s across the board, but Force and Brown held the slight lead to power through the beams first to advance, eliminating Schumacher after the first round.

“This was week two in a row of coming up on the bad end of one hell of a drag race, but we’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season so despite the early loss today, I feel good about where our team is headed,” said Schumacher. “We used to smoke the tires three out of every four runs, and now we’re getting down the track every time. Patience will pay off. Our SCAG team is doing a hell of a job, the guys are working extremely hard. We will find the tune-up that will get us three-hundredths quicker. Right now, we’re losing really close drag races but I’m not stressing it because everyone that’s been around the sport knows those tables will turn. Anyone that has ever watched Mike Neff, Jon Schaffer, Phil Shuler, and myself work together knows that it’s just a matter of time.”

Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team will have another shot to pick up a four-wide trophy when the NHRA heads east to Concord, N.C. near Charlotte for the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, April 28-30.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.763 E.T. at 325.77 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.789 E.T. at 325.77 MPH defeated by Brittany Force 3.785 E.T. at 327.74 MPH, Antron Brown 3.780 E.T. at 321.65 MPH