U.S. Army NHRA Racing 53rd Annual NHRA Finals at Pomona Final Qualifying Report
The U.S. Army driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown locked down the Nos. 6 and 4 
positions on the elimination ladder after the final two rounds of qualifying Saturday for this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season-ending 53rd annual NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.
Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), who did not get down the racetrack cleanly during either of his Friday qualifying runs, turned in a pair of solid runs that bode well for his prospects of winning a seventh career Pomona event title Sunday. “The Sarge” opened the day with a run of 3.757 seconds at 326.00 mph in relatively hot conditions that was second-best for the session. The eight-time Top Fuel world champ then closed the day with a run of 3.721 seconds at 328.54 mph that was fourth-best for that session. He’ll match up against No. 11 qualifier Shawn Langdon in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.
“Like we said last night, we knew this U.S. Army car is a good car and that we were going to go out and get the job done today,” said Schumacher, a six-time career event winner and 13-time finalist at Pomona. “That first run today was the one we wanted to start the weekend off with yesterday. It bodes well for us in the heat of the day Sunday. The last run we were hoping to be able to get a 67 (3.67 seconds) out of it but that’s about all the track would give us. We’ll take it, we’ll take the No. 6 spot, and we’ll go out and try to bring home a win in the last race of the season tomorrow.”
Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR dropped a position from the No. 3 spot he earned Friday despite a solid closing run today of 3.708 seconds at 326.87 mph that was third-best for the session. His Friday fast time was eclipsed in today’s opening session by DSR teammate Leah Pritchett, the same session Brown’s Dragster smoked the tires at halftrack and coasted across the finish line in 4.740 seconds at 154.96 mph. Brown will face No. 13 qualifier Mike Salinas.
“We’re just getting ready for race shape for tomorrow,” said Brown, who arrived at Pomona each of the last two years having already clinched the Top Fuel world title, the second and third of his career. “We were a hundredth off from being low for the round that last run. The car ran really well. It did that run nice and easily and smoothly and effortlessly. The good part is we’re getting back to where we want to be. We’ve been pushing this weekend, being really aggressive, and that’s the way you’ve got to be. We’re happy with what we’ve been doing. It sets up good for race day tomorrow and we’ve just got to take it one round at a time and give it all we’ve got.”
Elimination rounds Sunday are set for 2 p.m. EST with live television coverage on FS1 beginning at 4 p.m.
