U.S. Army NHRA Racing – Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Sunday Qualifying Report
Performing under pressure is skill that not everyone has mastered. There’s no question U.S. Army driver Tony “The Sarge” 
Schumacher is an A+ performer when it comes to pressure situations. The scene was packed with pressure Sunday afternoon in the final qualifying session of the 59th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
After making only one clean pass during his the previous three qualifying runs, Schumacher was outside the Top Fuel field and down to his last chance to crack the top 16 when his U.S. Army dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) was pushed up to the starting line. In typical Schumacher fashion, he not only made his best pass of the weekend and moved into the field, but he jumped all the way to the top of ladder. His stay at the top lasted only a couple of minutes until his U.S. Army teammate
Antron Brown delivered another critical performance jumping from 16th to first in the next run. No other driver topped the miraculous runs by the U.S. Army tandem, and they head into Monday’s elimination rounds with the top two spots.
“There was absolutely so much pressure on us today, and I couldn’t be prouder,” said Schumacher, who ran a lap of 3.814 seconds at 319.82 mph. “That’s when this U.S. Army team is the best. It was a critical time to make a run. We weren’t in the field and had one opportunity. This U.S. Army team never gives up. We knew what our mission was all weekend and that was to get qualified for the U.S. Nationals. We’re a better team under pressure. We suck it up. We’re like the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, have to come through team. That was proven again today.”
Schumacher hazed the tires in qualifying session three earlier Sunday afternoon, and through three rounds of qualifying the nine-time U.S. Nationals champion was sitting 16th. When Morgan Lucas made his pass early in qualifying session four, Schumacher was knocked out and knew there was only one way to get into the field. He had approximately 24 minutes to think about the moment in front of him. He never wavered when it came time to conquer the moment and earned his opportunity to make history Monday.
“All you can ask for is a chance and we have a great one,” said Schumacher, who will face Clay Millican in Monday’s first round of eliminations. “This is a big weekend in Indy. With the Snake & Mongoo$e movie being released, it puts this weekend in perspective for a lot of the newer fans that may not know how historic this event really is. Years ago, people lived for the U.S. Nationals. It’s everything drag racing was all about back then. Fans didn’t care as much about the championships, it was about winning Indy. The U.S. Nationals is still the signature event of our season. We’ve been blessed to win it nine times and honored to be part of the rich history. Tomorrow, we have a chance to do something no other driver has ever done. A little bit earlier today, we didn’t have that chance at all and we had to earn it. It’s just a great testament to this nine-man U.S. Army team led by (crew chief) Mike Green. They proved again that they possess mental, emotional, and physical strength like no other reflecting the Army Strong Soldiers we represent coming through when they absolutely had to.”
Brown has had a rollercoaster weekend at the U.S. Nationals bouncing around the qualifying ladder. By the time, the reigning Top Fuel world champion reached the starting line for his final qualifying session, he was in position 16 and if he didn’t improve his time, he was staring at a first-round matchup with Schumacher. The 2011 U.S. Nationals champion staged the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster for DSR and promptly made a monster run of 3.811 seconds at 320.58 mph to earn his second No. 1 qualifier of 2013 and third career No. 1 in the U.S. Nationals (2009 and 2011).
“We really planned on it going up there and shooting for that kind of lap,” said Brown, who will face Morgan Lucas Monday in the first round. “(Co-crew chiefs) Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) and all of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army crew put their heads together and basically said we have nothing to lose. We were going to give it our full effort and they weren’t scared. Both us and our teammate in the U.S. Army car stepped up to the plate and made great runs in that session. I guarantee it doesn’t get any easier tomorrow with Morgan Lucas. That is going to be a tough, tough matchup.”
The pressure Monday will be just as high for both Schumacher and Brown.
“The Sarge” has qualified second in the U.S. Nationals on two previous occasions (2004 and 2009) and both times has won the event. His matchup with Millican will be only their second race versus one another at Indy. Schumacher defeated him in the 2007 first round and also went on to win that event. The two have met twice in 2013, with Schumacher winning a second-round race in Topeka and a final matchup in Chicago in their most recent race.
The last time Brown topped qualifying in the U.S. Nationals he went on to win the event. He has never faced Lucas in the U.S. Nationals, and their only matchup in 2013, came in the second round at Las Vegas where Brown prevailed.
Top Fuel elimination rounds are scheduled to begin Monday at 11 a.m. EDT with ESPN2’s delayed broadcast set for 12 noon.
