U.S. Army NHRA Racing Sixth Annual NHRA Midwest Nationals Final Qualifying Report
The U.S. Army driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown turned in a series of competitive runs 
in Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions for this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois. They’re seeded third and sixth, respectively, for Sunday’s elimination rounds.
Schumacher and his U.S. Army Dragster team for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), second on the provisional ladder after a stellar Friday-night run of 3.680 seconds at 327.66 mph, closed qualifying Saturday with another stout run of 3.681 seconds at 330.72 mph that was second-best in the final session. It was surpassed only by DSR teammate Leah Pritchett’s 3.67-second run in the same session, which bumped Schumacher from second to third in the final order. “The Sarge” opened the day with a conservative run of 3.754 seconds at 328.54 mph.
“Everything was good with our U.S. Army car and our nine-man team,” said Schumacher, a two-time Gateway event titlist who will face No. 14 qualifier Troy Buff in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations. “The Army car was magnificent. Believe it or not, it felt just a little slow on that last run today, so we know there’s more out there. But we have a good car for race day – an excellent car. So far, it’s been one of our best, most consistent weekends of the year, which gives us a great chance to make up some big ground tomorrow. We’re certainly due to start winning some of those really close races on Sundays.”
Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR bested Friday’s provisional No. 10 qualifying effort on both of his runs today, starting with a run of 3.736 seconds at 329.34 mph that bumped him up one spot on the ladder. The winner of four of the last five Gateway event titles and the last two Top Fuel world championships closed the day with a run of 3.693 seconds at 330.55 mph that moved him all the way up to sixth overall. He’ll face No. 11 qualifier Terry McMillen in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.
“We’ve just been working hard to improve ourselves,” Brown said. “Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald, co-crew chiefs) and the rest of our Matco Tools/U.S. Army team have been just sticking with it, showing some good signs here and there and, now, we’re just refining it. So we’re finally getting onto some stable ground where we can continue to march forward. After that run there, we feel we’re going to be very competitive and we know we’ve got some more to improve. The good part is we’re headed in the right direction and we’re going in there and we’re going to fight like we always do every weekend. It’s going to be anybody’s race tomorrow, but the good part is we set ourselves up on the top side of the ladder. Now, we’ve just got to push as hard as we can. It’s race day and that’s where all the points are earned.”
FS1’s delayed, one-hour broadcast of today’s qualifying highlights is set for 1 p.m. EDT Sunday. Elimination rounds are set for noon Sunday with three hours of live television coverage on FS1 beginning at 2 p.m.
