Like Us
Follow Us
Schumacher Loses to Brown in Second Round
Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher lost a "pedal-fest" in the second round against Antron Brown, his Matco Tools/U.S. Army teammate, in today's 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals here at Pacific Raceways.
Schumacher, who spun the tires of his U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster shortly after the start, pedaled in an attempt to catch Brown, whose tire spin came later during the 1,000-foot run. "The weather conditions really changed from the first round to the second," the reigning and seven-time NHRA Full Throttle World Champion said. "We came out aggressive, but had a bit more power than the track could hold with the increasing sun and temperature." The result - Schumacher's 4.328-second run at 228.07 miles per hour could not overcome Brown's 4.162-second lap at 225.45 mph.
Conditions - and results - were different during the cool, overcast weather of the opening session. Track temperature under the clouds of that round did not reach 90 degrees, while the century mark was eclipsed on the sun-drenched surface during the second session. Schumacher set low elapsed time (3.819 seconds) and top speed (322.19 mph) of the weekend in blasting to a first round victory against Ron Smith (6.449 seconds at 104.82 mph).
"Of course, we are not pleased with today's outcome; we strive to win every round and every race," said the Chicago-area resident. "Like the Army Strong soldiers who might run into some obstacles in fulfilling their mission, remaining focused on the ultimate goal is the most important thing; and in our case, that goal is the championship.
"We will take the lessons learned here and apply them next week in Sonoma (23rd annual Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals) and during the rest of the season's races." Schumacher, with 1,140 points, travels to California in third place in the championship competition, nine behind Cory McClenathan (who defeated Brown in today's final round).
Race-runner-up Brown remains in fourth place in the championship battle with 1,025 points, 115 behind Schumacher. On the U.S. Army NASCAR Racing front, Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Haas Automation/U.S. Army Chevrolet, 22nd in Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
The result dropped Newman to 16th in the driver standings; he is currently 99 points from qualifying for the Chase for the Championship playoffs (top 12 in points). There are seven races remaining before the Chase begins.
