U.S. Army NHRA Racing 30th Annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals Friday Qualifying Report 

The U.S. Army driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown are fifth and fourth on the provisional ladder after the opening two rounds of qualifying Friday for this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 30th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

Continuing the three-event Western Swing with the backup U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) that was pressed into service on race day Sunday after a wheelstand incident in final qualifying last week at the Mile-High NHRA Nationals outside Denver, Schumacher laid down a pair of quality runs in scenic Wine Country today. He opened with an effort of 3.769 seconds at 326.79 mph that was fourth-best among the Top Fuel competitors today, then closed with a solid 3.709 seconds at 328.30 mph in pristine conditions typical of Friday-night qualifying at Sonoma.

“Naturally, you want to be out there running in the 3.60s on a night like this, but we were right on the edge of that and it puts us in a good qualifying spot, all things considered,” Schumacher said. “It is what it is. There were three cars that went out and ran 3.60s, and Antron and I were right there with 3.70s. We’ll keep our eye on the prize, which is won on Sunday afternoon, and work hard to get this car figured out as soon as possible. This U.S. Army team has the best nine guys in the business on the job.”

Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR had a tire-smoking run of 5.052 seconds at 138.77 mph to start the day, but the finish was strong with a second-round run of 3.705 seconds at 329.42 mph.

“The track was really good and we just wanted to make a really good, quality lap,” Brown said. “We thought we could go out there and run a high 60 but the good thing was we left the starting line, a good 60-foot, we’ll work on the rest tomorrow. If the weather’s right tomorrow, we can go for it. It gets cool here pretty early. If the track cools down and we’re in the latter part of the pack, we might be able to sneak one in. We always want a good starting spot and that’s what we’ve got right now.”

The final two qualifying sessions Saturday are set for 5 and 8 p.m. EDT with FS1’s same-day-delayed coverage set for 10 p.m. Elimination rounds are set for 2 p.m. Sunday with live television coverage on the FS1 beginning at 4 p.m.