U.S. Army NHRA Racing NHRA Nationals Friday Qualifying Report

The U.S. Army Racing duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown rank sixth and seventh, respectively, after posting solid passes Friday afternoon during the first qualifying session of this weekend’s Eighth Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk Ohio. Each lost traction during the second session, but vow to utilize a level of engineering and teamwork reflective of the Army’s leading-edge technology in tomorrow’s dual qualifying sessions, and ultimately Sunday’s race, to earn another NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel victory for the U.S. Army and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR).

Schumacher, driver of the U.S. Army Dragster for DSR, recorded a time of 3.839 seconds at 322.65 mph in Friday’s first-round qualifying, which was good enough for the third position at the conclusion of the session. The seven-time Top Fuel champion rattled his tires in the second session shortly after his launch, which resulted in a run of 8.717 seconds at 77.07 mph. He will have two more opportunities Saturday to improve his time and earn his first number one qualifying spot of 2014.

“We were all trying to go fast,” said Schumacher, who won his second event title of the season two weekends ago at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. “I don’t know what (crew chief) Mike (Green) will say, but the dew point, to me, it looked wet. It looked like vapor setting down. To me, when I sat there and watched, it looked outside like there was mist. Not necessarily a water mist, but thick air. It’s no big deal. It’s Friday night, we have two night runs tomorrow. The truth is, we don’t race in the night anyway. We race when it’s hot, and there are very few cars out there that can bump our U.S. Army car when it’s hot.”

Brown’s day nearly mirrored Schumacher’s. The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR made a strong pass during the first session, recording a time of 3.840 seconds at 311.56 mph. The 2012 Top Fuel champion lost traction during the second session and clocked a run of 7.046 seconds at 87.09 mph.

“We’re in the top-half of the field right now,” said Brown, who scored his fourth event title of the season last weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. “The track is really, really good out there. It got the best of us tonight, but we’re going to go back and regroup and get after it tomorrow. I think we can get into the 3.70’s I think we can get there in the first run tomorrow. It’s definitely where you need to be. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a track this good, and that puts a smile on our faces because we know what it’s capable of holding. It’s been sucking the life out of all these cars, but I guarantee you that tomorrow we’re going to go out there and be Army Strong with our Matco Tools/U.S. Army car.”