Four-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher defeated Brandon Bernstein on a holeshot by just .004-second to claim the Top Fuel title on a rain-slowed Sunday at the 20th annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals, and "Hot Rod" Fuller, Ron Capps, and Dave Connolly clinched spots in the Countdown to the Championship playoff fields.

"Fast Jack" Beckman made it two wins in a row in Funny Car when he defeated John Force in a final round that concluded with Force’s Castrol GTX Ford in flames, but, other than some singed paint, he was okay. Connolly climbed back into the Pro Stock winner’s circle and ended Allen Johnson’s bid for not just a second straight win on the Western Swing but also his second straight in Seattle with the quickest pass of the weekend.

Tony Schumacher

Schumacher rode a great car to the final and then let his driving do the talking, recording a giant holeshot victory over a much quicker Brandon Bernstein to win his third race of the year. Schumacher blazed from the gates with a .047-second reaction time to Bernstein's .100 start and held on to win by less than two feet, 4.607, 307.79 to 4.558, 328.86.

"Now that was exciting," Schumacher said. "The car was running so good all day, but something went wrong down at the other end and she was hurtin'. I would guess it was mixing up the cylinders pretty good. I couldn't wait for the finish line to get there. I went to the final round knowing that it was a real tough run that would come down to inches. Whoever left first was going to win. Then our car broke at the top end, and we were real lucky he didn’t come around us.

"This Countdown deal … it's as if the NHRA made it with us in mind. This team always comes alive in the second half of the season, and I look down the schedule and see a bunch of tracks where we've always done well in the past. Anything can happen at the end, and it would suck to lose because a stupid part breaks, but the format of this deal is perfect for us.

“I’m just happy we won. It was a fun race, a fun day. There was no way we were supposed to race today; there was a 100-percent chance of rain. It blows my mind that we’re done. Unbelievable.”

Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster was rock-solid in carrying him to his 67th final. He posted a 4.53 versus Alan Bradshaw, a 4.51 against Whit Bazemore, and a 4.52 opposite J.R. Todd to advance to the final.

Bernstein was up to the challenge on his side of the ladder, driving the Budweiser rail to a pair of 4.54s and a 4.53 in dispatching Doug Kalitta, Larry Dixon, and Fuller. He falls to 4-2 in finals this year and 16-6 in his career.

Fuller is the first Top Fuel pro to earn a spot in the eight-car Countdown to the Championship field. He currently leads the POWERade standings by 134 points. Bernstein moved back around Dixon for second place.

Jack Beckman

Drag racing instructor Beckman won his second Funny Car race in a row and the third of his career in grand fashion, removing 14-time world champion Force from the equation with a 4.82, 320.97. Force's Castrol Ford encountered engine trouble in the final and ended up engulfed in flames. He was uninjured.

Once everyone realized that Force was okay, the celebration ensued in the Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T lane.

"We waited 13 races to get back to the final, and now we've made it two in a row," Beckman said. "I get the win and John blows up and gets all the TV. I stopped my car and ran over to help him, at least that's what it looked like, but I really wanted to get on TV. Seriously, beating them was special, and I'm glad he's okay.

"I've been saying for a while that we have a bad hot rod. I know Robert Hight's car is good too, but we're right there in my opinion. Before the final, I wrote the entire crew’s names plus the names of others who were here with us and our sponsors on an envelope to put in my firesuit. Then I thought, ‘That’s really presumptuous. John Force is in the other lane, and we might not win this thing.’ He’s the best there is. He has 123 victories, which puts him one-hundred and … something [laughs] ahead of me.”

Three races ago, Force was 15th in the points with just two round-wins on his ledger. A win, a runner-up, and a semifinal appearance later, he has pushed his way into the Countdown to the Championship field in the eighth slot.

Force's daughter Ashley Force got into a pedaling contest with Kenny Bernstein in round two and crashed head-on into the left retaining wall. She climbed from the car under her own power and was checked and released by track medical personnel.

"I was steering it a little too much, and I got in trouble," Force said. "In testing you don't practice pedaling because you don't want to hurt the car or parts. You just work on going from A to B. But the best drivers are the ones that can pedal; that's why my dad's won so many championships, and I don't have that experience yet."

Funny Car points leader Capps lost to Ashley Force in the first round but clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship field, the first in his class to do so.

Dave Connolly

In the Pro Stock final, Johnson left first in his quest for back-to-back wins, but Connolly had tracked him down by the 60-foot timer and won with the quickest pass of the event, a 6.649 at 206.20 mph, to Johnson's 6.682, 206.23.

This was Connolly's third win of the year and 12th of his career. Coming off his win last Sunday in Denver, Johnson drops to 1-2 for the year and 5-7 for his career.

"We needed every bit of that run because I missed the Tree a little there," Connolly said. "The car saved me that time. What a perfect time for [crew chief] Tommy Utt to put that tune-up in there. It was a long day but definitely worth the wait.

"Sitting around all day takes a toll on you. Watching it rain all day is not fun, but for us it was well worth the wait. To end the day with the Wally is awesome. The ladder shook down exactly the way it should with the 1 and 2 qualifiers in the final, and it worked out for us."

The top two qualifiers at the event, Johnson and Connolly were quick all day. Johnson's J&J Racing Dodge Stratus posted two 6.67s and a 6.66 in carrying him to his 12th final. Connolly's Torco/Seelye Wright Chevrolet Cobalt posted a 6.69, a 6.66, and a 6.67 en route to his 24th final.

Currently third in the POWERade Pro Stock points, Connolly joins Greg Anderson and Jeg Coughlin in the field for the Countdown to the Championship, leaving just five spots open.

“We’re shining a little yellow [at Team Summit], that’s for sure," added Connolly. "Other than in Denver, we’ve been in like the last seven finals of our last eight races, so I’m kinda keeping track of that and just doing the best we can and take it one race at a time and kind of see what happens in Indy, and maybe we’ll win, but we’ll really have to step up if we’re going to try to get into the top four.

“We’ve just got to continue what we have done all year and we’ve been the top three cars since the season started, so if we can perform and continue on the path we are, we should be fine.”

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