Tony Schumacher Races to First Final Round of 2023 at Rain-Delayed New England Nationals

Bristol, TN – A week after qualifying No. 13 at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, Tony Schumacher raced to a runner-up finish at the rain-delayed eliminations held during qualifying at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The driver of the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster clocked a solid 3.835 in the final round but came up just short to his new JCM Racing teammate, Justin Ashley, on Saturday.

While Schumacher struggled like many of the other teams in Epping’s extreme qualifying conditions, he started with a clean slate when eliminations began at Bristol. He used a 3.797-second pass to move past Shawn Langdon in the first round, giving him a bye in the quarterfinals on Saturday. With the sun heating up the racing surface, the bye run came at the perfect time, as Schumacher started to lose traction and lifted to a 4.487-second E.T.

In the semifinals, which also counted as the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Schumacher and opponent Mike Salinas left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times. Schumacher held on and the SCAG Power Equipment dragster charged ahead, crossing the finish line first with a 3.945-second pass at 310.20 MPH to advance to his 157th final round.

An exciting side-by-side race between Schumacher and Ashley capped off Top Fuel qualifying at Bristol. Ashley was first off of the starting line with a .041-second reaction time to Schumacher’s strong .061, an advantage that made all the difference at the finish line. Schumacher recorded a 3.835-second blast at 323.66 MPH to finish just .009 seconds behind Ashley’s 3.846-second effort.

“It was excellent to get by that first round,” Schumacher said. “It gave us a single (in the second round) to go out and get ready, and it really helped to propel us into the final round. It gave us an extra run, which we’ve been really suffering with a lack of runs. We’ve had a couple of tracks where it’s three qualifying sessions and a couple of tracks where you get rain. We just need the runs as a new team. So, this helped us a lot, and it showed (in the final round). We made a great run, drove through the clutch a little bit in the final round and got beat. But all in all, it’s been a heck of a race, heck of a weekend. It’s a letdown to get beat, but we get to do it again tomorrow. Let’s see if we can’t go out there and get it done.”

Schumacher, who qualified No. 10 with his 3.797-second best from the first round of Epping eliminations, will enter Thunder Valley Nationals eliminations tied with Funny Car’s Ron Capps as the winningest driver at Bristol Dragway. Before strapping in for the first round, he will be inducted into the track’s prestigious Legends of Thunder Valley during pre-race ceremonies.

Qualified (Epping):  No. 13 (9.359 E.T. at 57.60 MPH)

Epping Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.797 E.T. at 323.58 MPH defeated Shawn Langdon 3.846 E.T. at 316.82 MPH
E2: 4.487 E.T. at 178.50 MPH defeated Bye
E3: 3.945 E.T. at 310.20 MPH defeated Mike Salinas 4.140 E.T. at 464.23 MPH
E4: 3.835 E.T. at 323.66 MPH defeated by Justin Ashley 3.846 E.T. at 324.12 MPH

Qualified (Bristol): No. 10 (3.797 E.T. at 323.58 MPH)