U.S. Army NHRA SpringNationals Final Qualifying Report
Houston TX – U.S. Army drivers Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown showcased the level of engineering and 
teamwork Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in the Houston suburb of Baytown, Texas, that is reflective of the Army’s leading-edge technology and the powerful, realistic training of its Soldiers.
Both Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammates made significant improvement in their final qualifying efforts and are in prime position for Sunday’s elimination rounds of the 27th O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.
Schumacher and the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for DSR clocked the fourth-fastest run of the weekend during today’s opening qualifying session – 3.790 seconds at 322.04 mph. He finished the day with a run of 3.857 seconds at 318.92 mph. Schumacher will meet No. 13 qualifier Khalid alBalooshi in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.
“That first run was pretty stout and felt like it’ll be a good indication of what we can expect tomorrow, especially if the weather is like it was during our first run today,” said Schumacher, whose two career event titles at Royal Purple Raceway came in 2005 and 2009. “On that second run, it was probably too soft early, I probably drove through the clutch, and it probably put a hole out. That’s what I’m guessing on that second run based on what it felt like. Still, it was a pretty good run. We’re doing everything we can to ensure tomorrow is a good day for us. Every member of this U.S. Army Racing team, from the pit crew to the business staff, plays a vital role in the success of the car on the track. Similarly every Soldier, no matter which of the more than 150 career options he or she chooses in the U.S. Army, is vital to the success of the mission. Our mission tomorrow is to leave here with a Wally and this U.S. Army car is the car to do it.”
Brown, who scored his very first career Top Fuel victory here in 2008, jumped all the way from 10th to second in the qualifying order with a stellar run of 3.787 seconds at 322.04 mph on his final pass of the day. That earned him a first-round meeting Sunday with No. 15 Clay Millican.
“The thing about it is, this weather has been really tricky,” said Brown, whose third-round qualifying run today was clocked at 3.830 seconds at 320.28 mph. “We just kept our heads down and kept after it. We had an engine problem Friday night, so we couldn’t see where we needed to go after losing that run. But despite that, we came back today and hit it strong, went 83 (3.83 seconds) that first run and it showed these Matco Tools/U.S. Army boys what was happening with the track and the weather conditions. We felt confident even with the sun back out on that final run that we could come back up and press hard for it. We wanted to move into the top ladder in the field and we knew the track could handle it. We put a nice, good, solid lap on the board and it put us in the No. 2 spot. We’re feeling really good for race day because we’ll have similar conditions – cloudy, sunny, windy, humid – what I call a sweat box.”
ESPN2’s three-hour coverage of Sunday’s elimination rounds begins at 7 p.m. EDT.
