U.S. Army NHRA Racing Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Saturday Qualifying Report
U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and his U.S. Army team continued their remarkable run of success in 
Indianapolis Saturday by winning the third annual Top Fuel Traxxas Nitro Shootout at the 60th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway. Schumacher defeated Richie Crampton in the final by demonstrating the same attributes the Army looks for in its Soldiers – putting mission first, a never quit attitude and a refusal to accept defeat.
“The Sarge” rocketed the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) down the track with a run of 3.748 seconds at a new track record speed of 328.54 mph to win the race and also earn the top qualifying position through three sessions.
“What an incredible effort by the U.S. Army team,” said Schumacher, after picking up the $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout. “We watched Morgan (Lucas) run a 3.75, so we knew that (Richie) was going to have a good car. Like we said at the press conference yesterday, these are the best cars. They are cars that have gone out and won races and continuously find themselves in the final round. To be the last one standings is very satisfying. I don’t know how else to say it. This is my tenth win at Indy, but not my tenth Indy win. Ten times I’ve had my win light come on and get a trophy here. We have a huge, monumental day on Monday. What an incredible opportunity. We have the right car do it. I said coming into this event, that we tend to be the right place, right time car. And this is the right time and the right place. We are getting stronger and better each run.”
Schumacher followed Friday’s impressive opening qualifying session by defeating his DSR teammate Spencer Massey in the opening round by posting a pass of 3.801 seconds at 318.84 mph. “The Sarge” followed that up with a classic victory over rival Doug Kalitta in the semifinals with a run of 3.761 seconds at 325.37 mph. In the final, Schumacher’s .049 light paved the way for victory and allowed him to regain the top spot in qualifying.
“We just had a better car,” continued Schumacher, who will be looking to become the only driver in U.S. Nationals history to win the event 10 times. “Everyone in this class is good. I can bring an A game every time, but so are they. I said last night that our qualifying run put us in a great position to win this race, because we didn’t have to go out and also qualify, we didn’t have to back it down to make sure we were safe to get in the show. We could just go after it. (Crew chief) Mike (Green) and (assistant crew chief) Neal (Strausbaugh) have been doing an incredible job. We talked about going after the top qualifying spot or winning $100,000. The goal was winning and as it turned out, we were able to do both. We just keep getting better.”
Brown made a solid pass in his Traxxas Nitro Shootout contest with Crampton to open his Saturday, but the pass of 3.854 seconds at 314.46 mph wasn’t enough to defeat Crampton. The 2011 U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner climbed to 14th on the ladder in the fourth session Saturday night with a lap of 3.833 seconds at 320.20 mph. Brown will have two more opportunities to improve his position Sunday.
Qualifying will conclude Sunday with two sessions that will set the final ladder for Monday’s eliminations. ESPN 2 will provide four hours delayed coverage of qualifying beginning at 11 a.m. EDT and then an additional two hours starting at 5 p.m.
