Championship Drag Racing

O`Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
Topeka, KS
(May 25-28)

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Driver Profile

Tony Schumacher U.S. Army dragster

Topeka, Saturday: Battling sunny, hot and windy weather conditions here Saturday, U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher held on to the fourth starting position after the final day of qualifying for tomorrow's O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Schumacher and the rest of the Top Fuel field had to deal with air temperatures in the mid-90's as well as a stiff wind that gusted to 35 mph at times.  As a result, there was little improvement from Friday's qualifying performances.

"It was definitely tough out there today," said Schumacher. "This is the hottest weather we've had so far this year, so all of the crew chiefs really had to dig deep to make sure their cars got down the track."

On Sunday, the defending NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champion will take on 14th-place qualifier, Bob Vandergriff, Jr. in the first round of eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. CDT.

"He's going to be tough," added Schumacher. "From what I understand, he was able to get down the track in most of the four qualifying sessions. Fortunately, we put down a decent lap of our own in that last session to help our frame of mind for tomorrow."

Over the last six races, Schumacher has four first round losses to his credit. He's adamant about that trend stopping this weekend.

"Without question, if we're going to start our climb in the standings, first-round losses have to come to an end right now," he said. "We've got to bear down and find a way to get by Vandergriff. Then, we can go out and do our deal."

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