U.S. Army NHRA Racing NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Friday Qualifying Report
The U.S. Army Racing trio of Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, and Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher are second, fourth 
and fifth on the provisional ladder, respectively, after the opening round of qualifying Friday for this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 64th annual NHRA Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) was part of the final pair Friday night and the 10-time U.S. Nationals winner was eyeing the No. 1 position to close out the opening session. The eight-time Top Fuel world champion posted a good lap of 3.801 seconds at 328.14 mph, but it was only fifth-best in the provisional ladder.
“Generally speaking most teams would have been happy with that run, but this is Indy,” said Schumacher, after posting the fastest speed of the session. “We came out here and tested for two days to make that particular run. We ran a 3.74 in testing and we wanted to replicate that tonight and get that No. 1 spot. It’s behind us now. I’ve won this race from all different spots on the ladder and I know we have a really good U.S. Army car here this weekend. I’m comfortable with it and it went right down the track. It was still pretty warm here tonight. I think we can still see some good conditions tomorrow and Sunday where we can improve. We ran that number (3.80) during the day in testing, so I know we have a shot. That’s what is great about Indy. You have an extra chance to get better. I’ve got a great team surrounding me and we are going to do everything we can to come out champions on Monday.”
Brown carried his recent momentum into the U.S. Nationals aboard the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. The 2011 U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner was impressive in laying down a lap of 3.772 seconds at 325.22 mph. The three-time Top Fuel world champion knew the importance of starting the weekend on the right note and was pleased with his team’s effort Friday night.
“We had a great lap with our Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota car,” said Brown. “We came out tonight just trying to make a good run. Testing definitely paid off for us. We were looking for a better run. The track was good early, but we just didn’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot tonight. We know there are going to be some hot runs the next two days, but maybe some cloud cover can tone it down and we can run better. That’s what we are going to shoot for. We feel good about being second right now and we’re just going to keep working to get better and better with each run. That’s what we are looking forward to tomorrow.”
Pritchett continued her impressive 2018 campaign by delivering a solid run behind the wheel of the Papa John’s Pizza/U.S. Army Dragster /U.S. Army Dragster for DSR. Consistency has been a goal in qualifying for Pritchett and her team led by crew chief Tod Okuhara. Her run of 3.797 seconds at 323.50 mph was exactly what they were looking for.
“What’s unique about Indy is that you already have jitters going into Q1, but then it’s dark. The session is delayed. There’s tons of smoke and no wind. There’s light only to about 200 feet and from there you just have rely on your instincts on how the car feels where you know the groove to be true. We laid down a run we were all happy with. That 3.79 is what we were looking for. Tod’s last words to me were that we were trying to run in the high 3.70s. I think that’s the most important thing. We set our objectives and reached them. That’s what we wanted to do on Friday and we’ve got three more incredible days to go.”
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions are set for 2 and 5 p.m. EDT Saturday. FOX Sports 2 (FS2) will air Saturday Nitro Live at 4:30 p.m.
