U.S. Army NHRA Racing 34th Annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals Friday Qualifying Report
Morrison, CO – It was a rough opening day at the mile-high office for the U.S. Army duo of Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown, both 
of whom struggled to get down the 1,000-foot straightaway at Bandimere Speedway just west of Denver during both rounds of qualifying Friday for the 34th annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Considering their respective teams push technology to the absolute limit week in and week out on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit, displaying a level of engineering and teamwork that is reflective of the Army’s leading-edge technology and the powerful, realistic training of its Army Strong Soldiers, pushing the limits, especially 5,280 feet above sea level, subjects even the most proficient racing teams to days like this.
Schumacher and his U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) sit 13th in the provisional qualifying order with an first-round run of 4.657 seconds at 233.72 mph. Schumacher had to back out of the throttle two-thirds of the way down the track after spinning his tires. He suffered a mechanical issue about the same distance down the track on his second run and crossed the line at 5.301 seconds at 117.14 mph.
“I’m not worried, we’ll be alright. I’m confident we’ll lay down the run we need when we need it,” said Schumacher, the seven-time Top Fuel world champion and a three-time event winner this season who entered the weekend one point out of the lead in the Top Fuel standings. “On one hand, if this kind of stuff has to happen to you, it’s a lot better when there are 17 cars entered, like there are this weekend, and not a whole plethora of 22 or 23 angry guys coming out to get you. We broke something there on the second run. Obviously, it’s something that wasn’t supposed to happen and I have no doubt in my mind that we’re addressing it. We weren’t trying to do anything outrageous there, so there wouldn’t have been cause to blow a motor. The conditions were absolutely phenomenal and we thought it would be important to go out there and lay down a solid run. We’re a little behind the eight-ball, yes. But the whole point of this exercise is to win the event. We’ll get back after it tomorrow. Like I always say, only the strongest wear our colors. The U.S. Army Soldiers we represent possess a mental, emotional and physical strength like no other, and this U.S. Army Racing team reflects those strengths.”
Brown, the defending Top Fuel champion, is 15th in the provisional qualifying order after his second-round run of 4.657 seconds at 233.72 mph in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. He didn’t get down the track cleanly on either of his two qualifying runs today.
Top Fuel qualifying concludes Saturday with third- and final-round sessions set for 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. EDT. ESPN2’s delayed qualifying coverage begins at 10 p.m. EDT.
