U.S. Army Duo Closes Western Swing at 26th Annual NHRA Northwest Nationals
KENT, WA – His spot in the 2013 Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship clinched when this year’s three-event Western Swing 
commenced in Denver two weekends ago, Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) have had their eyes focused on nothing but the ultimate prize – Schumacher’s eighth career Mello Yello NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world championship.
This weekend’s 26th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways just outside Seattle brings the curtain down on this year’s Western Swing and marks the third-to-last event of the Mello Yellow Series’ regular season.
It also marks the continuation of the U.S. Army team’s calculated Countdown preparation schedule, during which it is pushing its technology to the absolute limits. The level of engineering and teamwork on display at the racetrack is reflective of the Army’s leading-edge technology and the powerful, realistic training of its Army Strong Soldiers. Likewise, the ultimate mission for Schumacher and his U.S. Army teammates is to win the war in the form of this year’s Top Fuel world title. And, knowing that pushing the limits of technology now can cost the team a battle or two along the way, it’s willing to make that sacrifice in the interests of winning that all-important championship.
Despite his three event wins this season and consistent performances through the first 15 events of 2013, Schumacher slipped to third in the regular-season points race – albeit by just two points – after getting beat by DSR teammate Spencer Massey in the opening round Sunday at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Massey, who also has three event titles this season, lost in the Sonoma final to Al-Anabi Racing’s Shawn Langdon, who jetted to his series-leading fourth event title of the season and opened a 102-point lead over Massey and a 104-point lead over Schumacher.
But, as Schumacher is quick to say, it’s entirely possible to win a championship in the six-race Countdown with the best car from the third position in the standings, but it’s not as likely a driver can win from the top position with just a good car. Hence, the team’s focus on testing new parts and pieces and tune-ups in these final events of the regular season.
Pacific Raceways has been one of Schumacher’s best racetracks in his illustrious career. He scored event titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 – the latter culminating a sweep of that year’s Western Swing – reached the final three other times, including last year, and was top qualifier in 2004 and 2008. If the new parts and pieces on his car respond favorably this weekend, Schumacher just might find himself adding to those stellar results. If not, it’s all about the Countdown.
Meanwhile, defending Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR, seems to have turned the corner on a rather disappointing middle part of the schedule by reaching the semifinals at Sonoma for the second time in the last four events. He’s currently fifth in the points, 306 behind Langdon but, more importantly, a relatively safe 341 ahead of 11th in the battle for this year’s 10 Countdown positions.
Brown’s lone event title at Pacific Raceways in 2009 clinched a sweep of that year’s Western Swing, and he was right back in the final the following year but lost to Cory McLenathan. Brown also was top qualifier at the track in 2011, and was eliminated in last year’s semifinals by Schumacher.
TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster:
Your thoughts as the U.S. Army Dragster heads to Pacific Raceways to close out this year’s Western Swing?
“Here we are at the last race of the Western Swing. We are keeping power, and to this point we’ve been battling back and forth with Shawn Langdon and our teammate Spencer Massey. Since we locked ourselves into the Countdown at Denver, we made it clear at Sonoma last weekend that our sole focus is all about winning the championship. So, until we get to U.S. Nationals testing in late August, we’re doing everything we can, by trying all sorts of different parts and pieces, to ensure the U.S. Army car is at its absolute best when we get to the Countdown. Hey, the Army is the Nation’s preeminent leadership experience, where the Nation’s future leaders are developed and empowered with the confidence to take decisive action when needed and the flexibility to excel in constantly evolving situations. Along those lines, we’re focused completely on the leadership position at the end of the Countdown and, even though that’s nine events away, the time to take steps to help ensure we’re where we want to be at the end of the Countdown is right now.”
Your performance at Seattle has been almost magical with four event titles and another three final-round appearances in your last nine visits there. Why is that?
“It’s a great, fast track at Seattle. We go out there and we win. Any of those kinds of tracks, whether it’s there or Indy, that I think is the key – when you sit back, and go, OK, we’ve got to win a championship, let’s look at the races that are left. Those are the ones you want to go to, where you dominate. And Seattle has been absolutely great to us for a long time, several years in a row. Our crew chief has a good handle on Seattle. It’s got good air and it’s a great track to go fast. I’m really looking forward to it.”
How would you size up your season to this point?
“It’s been a lot better than some years – I’ve had better years, too – but, I think our crew has the potential to be as good as any team we’ve ever worked with, and the tune-up does, too. Any time you make big changes like we have this year, it’s flat going to take time to get it right. At the beginning of the year, we found a great tune-up, but we also wondered what was going to happen in the middle of the year when it got hot out. Until you get there, you just don’t know. We went out and did excellent in Chicago. Made a little mistake out in Ohio, but here we are finishing up the Western Swing and the top three in the standings are keeping par and are battling back and forth and we’re pushing ourselves away from the rest of the field, and that’s most important to us. You’ve got to extend yourself, get far out there, so that at the end of the day when you’re battling, you’re consistently one of those two or three cars.”
Are you surprised at all about how well Shawn Langdon and his Al-Anabi Racing team have been doing this year?
“I’m not at all surprised. They’re a great team. Why wouldn’t they be? Langdon’s a great driver. He spends as much time getting ready for races as anybody else. He’s got a great crew chief, he’s got a great team, and the people there know how to win championships. It’s going to be a battle. If anyone thought any differently, they haven’t been watching racing in a long time.”
ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster:
You made it to the semifinals at Sonoma last weekend for the second time in the last four events. Safe to say you feel like things are finally on an upswing?
“I would say we feel like that’s the case. We had a good weekend out in Sonoma. I thought we had a good weekend in Denver the weekend before that even though we got put out in the first round. At Sonoma, we had our best run of the weekend in the first round and just kept building on that. You when things are finally right when you make changes to the car and it does exactly what you want it to. Everyone’s been working really, really hard and that’s the payoff. There’s confidence in the air with Matco Tools/U.S. Army team. Seattle will be another chance to keep building, to keep pushing. We want to peak by the time we get to the U.S. Nationals. That’s what our Matco boys are working hard at, and we expect to keep making progress this weekend in the Northwest Nationals.”
You swept the Western Swing back in 2009. This weekend, you have a chance to salvage one win in the three events of this year’s Western Swing. And, is there any consolation in knowing no one will sweep the Western Swing this year?
“No one is going have to worry about that this year. It was a lot of fun when we got out the broom for the sweep in 2009 but, right now, our Matco Tools/U.S. Army team is focused on being ready for the Countdown.”
