NHRA POWERade Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher pushed his weekend take to $590,000 with a big win Sunday at the fifth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. It is the largest amount earned in a single weekend in the history of drag racing. Schumacher clinched his third NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series title Friday, which was worth $400,000, returned Saturday to capture the Budweiser Shootout special event for $100,000 more, scored another $40,000 for Sunday's race win, and another $50,000 "double-up" bonus for winning both races this weekend.

There were no NHRA POWERade championship checks handed out in Funny Car. In fact, Ron Capps' win over teammate and fellow contender and new points leader Gary Scelzi, combined with John Force's first-round loss, put the three title hopefuls within 28 points of one another heading into the season finale. Kurt Johnson got one of his hardest wins against Greg Anderson, who celebrated his third straight title Saturday, while Chip Ellis beat Angelle Sampey to earn the Pro Stock Motorcycle trophy.

Tony Schumacher

By the time Schumacher adds in the contingency money he'll earn for Sunday's victory, this weekend could be worth upwards of $600,000 for his team. After struggling with the racetrack all day, Schumacher Racing crew chief Alan Johnson finally found the right combination in the final round against Dave Grubnic. The multiple championship-winning tuner dialed in the weekend's best pass, a 4.486, to allow Schumacher to win going away. Grubnic's 4.587 at 324.28 mph was more than a car length behind.

By winning four events in a row, Schumacher added his name to another piece of drag racing history by tying Scott Kalitta (1994) and Cory McClenathan (1997) for most successive wins in the Top Fuel class. This was Schumacher's eighth win of the year and his 29th overall.

"Getting four wins in a row, winning the Bud Shootout, all the other stuff, it starts to blow you away," Schumacher said. "A season is defined by little moments and we had our struggles early on. From Denver on we really turned a corner. It's all credit to Alan. He's so good and people ask him all the time what it is and I doubt he even knows. It's like a great running back; they just do what they do and some are way better than others. Alan is exceptional

"Today was such a cool day. I would race and then run back down to halftrack every round to watch my teammates in Funny Car. That race is going down to the final pairing of the year, I bet, and I hope our two guys are 1-2 when it's done. Every round was so close today it was great to be a fan."

After their 4.50-second first round win over Clay Millican, Schumacher and the U.S. Army dragster team looked vulnerable with a pair of tire-smoking wins over big guns Brandon Bernstein and Doug Herbert. This was Schumacher's 11th final of the year and 55th of his career.

Grubnic worked his way to his 10th career final by beating Cory McClenathan, low qualifier Morgan Lucas, and teammate Scott Kalitta. Like Schumacher, Grubnic fought tire slippage in two of his early-round wins.

Ron Capps

Capps' win over Scelzi moved him to within two points of the championship lead, which is once again held by Scelzi. Proving they don't play favorites at DSR, Scelzi blistered Capps at the Tree with a .042- to .071-second starting line advantage only to watch his teammate inch by at the top end for a thrilling one-hundredth of a second win.

After one event in the points lead, Force fell back to third Sunday when he lost to Del Worsham on a holeshot in Round 1. Scelzi and Capps took full advantage of the miscue, with Scelzi regaining the lead he held for three races and Capps moving back into second place. Currently, Scelzi leads Capps by two points, while Force is 28 points out of the lead.

"I'm still in awe," Capps said. "I wanted to stage the car as soon as I got in it. We ended up sitting there for a minute and the nerves were building. I know how close Zippy and Ace [crew chiefs Mike Neff and Ed McCulloch] are and how much information they share. The cars are different but they're constantly talking. I knew both guys were going to give Gary and I the best racecars they could and our team owner Don Schumacher is true to his word and letting us race. It's such an enjoyable ride.

"I've come to grips with the fact [my nerves] are just going to be there all the time. It's just part of it. We saw Scelzi red-light in Dallas. I talked to Force about that gutache he gets. We're all there. It's just getting more and more intense and I don't think the fans realize how hard it is on all of us right now. But, don't get me wrong, it's also a lot of fun."

"Let's not forget about Force," Scelzi added. "I know he's stewing and I know he's pissed off. It's gonna be such an exciting finish and all three of us want it really bad. When I red-lit at the last race Force called me three times and told me I'd better not get down on myself. We all want to beat each other but we all love each other, too. That's what makes it special."

While nearly everyone else in the nitro categories fought tire smoke at some point in the day, Don Schumacher Racing teammates Capps and Scelzi remained consistent and quick every round leading into the final. Capps' Brut Dodge posted a 4.79 opposite Tim Wilkerson and two 4.82s against Mike Ashley and Tony Bartone to carry lane choice into the final. Scelzi drove his Oakley/Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T past Gary Densham, Eric Medlen, and Del Worsham with three straight mid-4.8 second runs. His closest race of the day was his opening round win over Densham, which was decided by .005-second.

Kurt Johnson

After not winning a round on a holeshot all year, Johnson got two big holeshot wins Sunday including his 6.839- to 6.821-second final-round upset of newly recrowned three-time champion Greg Anderson. Johnson used a near-perfect .002-second light against Anderson to improve to 2-3 against his former teammate in final rounds. K.J. also used a .007- to .046-second holeshot to beat Erica Enders in the semifinals.

This was Johnson's fourth win of the year and the 32nd of his career. The victory all but secures his fourth runner-up finish in the championship points standings.

"We've been to the finals a few times here and it always seems to be Greg in the other lane," Johnson said. "We always race hard and we go end to end and the race is always decided by a few thousandths. It just seems like he's always on the good end of that. But this is Vegas and your luck is bound to change and today it did.

"You just never know so you have to throw everything at it each round. We made some good runs and some bad run. Erica was quicker than me in the semi’s and I didn't have lane choice. We had to make some major changes to get down the other lane and we ended up making a good run. I feel more lucky today than anything else."

Anderson's championship-winning Summit Racing GTO carried him past Allen Johnson, Mark Pawuk, and Greg Stanfield and into his 57th money round. Johnson rolled past Bob Panella Jr., Jeg Coughlin, and Enders, who reached her third semifinal in a row with the first holeshot win of her rookie season. The ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt racer picked a great race to reach his 61st final round as his title sponsor also backs this event.

Chip Ellis

Ellis successfully defended his title of the October race in Las Vegas with a repeat of last year's victory over Angelle Sampey. This time Sampey gave it up at the start when she jumped the Christmas Tree by five-thousandths of a second and was disqualified. It would have been a good race as Ellis outran the three-time champion by just one hundredth of a second, 7.243 to 7.253.

"I don't know what it is about this track," Ellis said. "I've raced a bunch of different bikes here in different series but I think every time I've come here no matter what I'm riding I either win or runner-up.

"I did see her red-light. I know she was pumped up and ready and I think maybe the shadows got her and she saw the light a little too soon. I felt bad for her because she's probably one of the people I like the most out here. I mean, everybody's cool but the moment I arrived she's been very nice to me and I always remember that."

Racing out of the No. 5 spot, U.S. Army rider Sampey wasn't considered a big favorite at the start of the day but she managed to race through to her 58th career final and third trophy round of the year by beating Joe DeSantis, Steve Johnson, and Craig Treble.

Ellis was quicker than Sampey in the first two rounds when he beat Matt Guidera and Matt Smith with two low 7.2-second runs. But the G-Squared S&S Buell V-Twin rider surrendered lane choice against Sampey after slowing to a 7.30 in the semi’s against Tom Bradford. As it turned out, it didn't matter as he scored his third career win when Sampey red-lighted.

Defending series champion Andrew Hines and his teammate GT Tonglet, who are first and second in the POWERade points, both lost in Round 1. Hines now leads Tonglet by 47 points and Sampey by 92. Ellis' victory lifted him to fourth, 136 back.

In the AMS TLR Pro Modified competition, Josh Hernandez concluded the 12-race 2005 tour with a victory over Jay Payne. Hernandez drove his supercharged 1957 Chevy to low elapsed time with a 6.089, 232.59.

Related article(s):

• Friday: Low qualifier Schumacher clinches; T.J., Anderson, Schnitz also lead fields (10/21/2005)
  
• Saturday: Lucas, Scelzi, and Schnitz grab No. 1s; Anderson clinches title and top spot (10/22/2005)
  

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