U.S. Army Racing Duo Set To Dive Back into Title Chase at Midwest Nationals

MADISON, IL – Just two events into the six-event Countdown to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Championship, the U.S. Army Top Fuel driver duo of Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher and Antron Brown find themselves in somewhat unfamiliar territory.

As they continue their mission to give the U.S. Army its fourth consecutive Top Fuel world title and fifth in the last six seasons, Schumacher and Brown find themselves winless through the first two playoff events for the first time since 2013 – the last year a U.S. Army driver did not win the championship.

They’ll look to turn things around this weekend at the sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park, situated just across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis in the town of Madison, Illinois.

Both made quarterfinal-round exits in the opening Countdown event at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, North Carolina two weekends ago and, last weekend at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania, both dropped their races against eventual event titlist Brittany Force – Schumacher in the quarterfinals and Brown in the semifinals.

As they head to round three of the playoffs this weekend at Gateway, Schumacher finds himself fifth in the Top Fuel standings, 85 points behind leader Steve Torrence, who’s also winless in the playoffs, thus far. Brown, meanwhile, sits fourth, 51 points behind Torrence. Charlotte winner Doug Kalitta, who nipped Schumacher at the finish in close quarterfinal race that weekend, is second, 22 points back of Torrence, while Force is third, 43 points out of the lead.

The good news this season is that no Top Fuel driver appears to be running away with the title chase, as was the case in 2014, when Schumacher and the U.S. Army team swept the opening two Countdown events at Charlotte and Dallas and never looked back en route to his record eighth career Top Fuel world championship. Likewise, the following year, Brown swept the opening two events at Charlotte and Gateway, and for good measure added a third consecutive event title at Maple Grove en route to the 2015 title. Last year, Brown again opened the playoffs with the Charlotte event title before stumbling in the first round at Gateway, but then rebounded to win Maple Grove for the second straight year. He went on to capture his second consecutive and third career world title and, like in 2015, he had it clinched by the season’s penultimate event at Las Vegas.

This year, the Army duo will have to mount somewhat of a comeback for the championship Wally to reside in the Army camp for the fourth year in a row. Schumacher, for one, mounted comebacks of historic proportions during his run of six consecutive Top Fuel world titles from 2004 through 2009.

The straits aren’t nearly as dire just two events into the 2017 Countdown, but Schumacher and Brown know this weekend’s event at Gateway just might turn out to be the make-it-or-break-it point in the most hotly contested Top Fuel playoff chase in recent memory.

Schumacher and the U.S. Army team will no doubt channel their Gateway-winning efforts of 2006 and 2010 this weekend. They almost pulled off the victory last year when they dropped a close final-round matchup against then-fellow-Don Schumacher Racing teammate Shawn Langdon, who also ousted Brown in the first round that day. That opening-round loss by Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army team last year ended a stellar four-year reign of consecutive Gateway event titles. The two-time-defending Top Fuel champ will look to resurrect that Mississippi Mojo from 2012 through 2015 and his title chase will be back on track.

Qualifying for the sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals begins with sessions at 6 and 8:15 p.m. EDT. FS1 will provide a live, one-hour broadcast at 6 p.m. Friday. Qualifying concludes Saturday with sessions at 3 and 5:30 p.m. with FS1’s delayed qualifying wrap-up show set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Sunday’s elimination rounds will be broadcast live by FS1 beginning at 2 p.m.

TONY “THE SARGE” SCHUMACHER, driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

You’re headed to the third of six Countdown races with about four round wins to make up over the leader in the point standings. Your thoughts about starting to make up that ground beginning this weekend at Gateway?

“Anyone who’s ever been in the Countdown or paid attention to the Countdown over the years is fully aware that the U.S. Army team has come back by far more than anyone else. A lot of people are already pointing at some of the teams ahead of us right now as the likely championship contenders, and in a lot of ways we certainly can’t blame anyone for feeling that way. But I also feel like, let them say whatever they want, let them put their house payment on it. It’s easy to talk smack when you’ve got nothing on the line. Trust me, there are a lot of good cars out there, there are a lot of people who can win this thing. Go ahead and throw the pressure on them. Let them think they’ve got a chance. They’ve never dealt with this kind of pressure at the end of the season. I believe it’s going to go down the final race of the year like it has so many times. There are just too many cars in this thing, and I feel privileged and honored to be driving one of them.”

Should you and the U.S. Army team be able to successfully complete your comeback by season’s end, it would mark your ninth career Top Fuel title. Your thoughts on that?

“It would be incredible. First of all, I’m a huge fan of the number nine. I can’t get to 10 without going through it. So, I think it would just show that collectively we’ve worked hard enough to catch up. Kids need to see that. I’m so sick and tired of everyone thinking you can just squeeze through and everyone ties. I want to show that we can come back after being a little off for the last year or two. We’ve got to explode, we’ve got to get some good breaks. The U.S. Army car is a great car and the U.S. Army team has made history for a lot of years in this series, and we’ve just got to make the right decisions and win and show that we can come from behind. We’ve done it so many times before. We know how to do it. We never want to forget how to do it. Getting back to the number nine, it’s always been a lucky number for me, I just like it. Plus, I’ve been stuck on eight (championships) for a couple of years and that ticks me off (laughs).”

Even though things haven’t gone exactly according to plan, lately, it doesn’t seem to have had any effect on your confidence.

“Confidence is always a good thing. It’s great to be in the Countdown knowing you have a great car and a confident team. The fact is, we are much better under pressure. I point that out to our guys all the time. We’re racing a less-than-four-second race where you can win and lose by inches. It’s very, very intense – very intense – as much as bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, full count, you’re up and the game’s on the line. There are not many things that are more intense than that moment and we have to deal with it each and every run. It’s something that takes a special group. When you’re going out and performing well and you know you’ve got this tune-up capable of winning a championship, it’s so nice to be able to put that to use. I joke about this, but I’m going to say it – I like to joke and say I’m a gifted driver. People laugh because it sounds cocky. Then I clarify it. I don’t mean I’m better than anybody. I mean, it’s a gift to be able to drive the U.S. Army racecar. But the biggest gift of all is to have those nine guys with the Army on the side of the car, but be presented with this monster moment where you have to win. That’s a gift. Anyone who’s ever heard my speech knows I don’t want that moment with my five high school friends working on my racecar because they’re completely incapable of it. Those nine U.S. Army team members who work on my car, they’re great at it. They look forward to that moment. They remember that racing itself is about the love of the game and it’s about the love of the moment, getting through, getting over big humps and hurdles. It’s what has made our team so darn successful.”

ANTRON BROWN, driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing

What is it about Gateway Motorsports Park that’s enabled you to win so many times there?

“St. Louis has been so good to me. There are some places you go and everything just clicks and that has been one of them. But there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it. We just have to take it one round at a time and that’s been our plan all along. I’m ready and my Matco Tools/U.S. Army team’s ready, and we’ve got to be all in and we have to be ready together. That’s what it is going to take to compete and try to pull off some round wins against these teams. Nobody can relax right now. There are still four races to go and we have to fight. This Countdown puts a lot of pressure on a lot of teams and a lot of teams step up. You can’t take anybody lightly. If we want to go out here and compete for a championship, we are going to have to outdo every one of them. We just have to go out there and keep doing what we’re doing and pressing hard. Hopefully, we can be in this position at the end of the year and have a chance to bring this championship home.”