US Army Carolina Nationals Friday Qualifying Report
Concord, NC – Qualifying for the NHRA Countdown to the Mello Yello Championship playoff kicked off Friday night at zMAX Dragway 
near Charlotte, N.C., with Tony Schumacher posting a stout run that placed the seven-time Top Fuel champion and his U.S. Army Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) second in the provisional qualifying order.
It was a run that epitomized the level of engineering and teamwork on display at the racetrack that is reflective of the Army’s leading-edge technology and the powerful, realistic training of its Army Strong Soldiers as Schumacher was the beneficiary of superior preparation by the U.S. Army crew during his second-round qualifying run.
His trip down the 1,000-foot dragstrip came in at 3.766 seconds at 318.84 mph, an effort surpassed tonight only by Morgan Lucas’ run of 3.749 seconds at 324.51 mph.
“For Mike (Green, crew chief) and Neal (Strausbaugh, assistant crew chief) and all the Army guys, that was a pressure run because we’ve been going into Saturday not qualified a time or two, lately,” said Schumacher, who begins the six-event Countdown third in the Top Fuel standings. “I’ve got to say, each member of this U.S. Army Racing team plays a vital role in the success of the car on the track, and that was clear tonight. Similarly, every Soldier, no matter which of the more than 150 career options he or she chooses in the Army, is vital to the success of the mission. We made great changes to the clutch, great changes to the car, great changes to the tune-up, and it got us right down the track. If we didn’t put a hole out in the end there, we would’ve run a lot better. But we still ran a 76 and that is fantastic for today.”
Schumacher’s DSR teammate and defending Top Fuel champion Antron Brown clocked his fastest run in tonight’s opening round of qualifying. Brown’s run of 3.847-second, 317.72-mph run was the 14th-best of the day. The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster for DSR encountered problems at the end of his second-round run and barely came in under the 5-second mark.
Tonight’s qualifying runs will be broadcast by ESPN News at 11:30 p.m. EDT. Third- and fourth-round qualifying rounds are set for 1 and 3:15 p.m. EDT Saturday with ESPN2’s qualifying show set for a 3:30 p.m. EDT start
