Championship Drag Racing

Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Denver, Colo.
(July 11-13)

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Driver Profile

Tony Schumacher U.S. Army dragster

Denver, Sunday:  U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, banked his sixth win of the season here Sunday in the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Schumacher took out his former U.S. Army Racing teammate, Antron Brown, in the finals with 4.007-second pass at 304.05 mph.

"What a great day this was for the U.S. Army and our Soldiers," said the five-time NHRA POWERade world champion. "It's always so gratifying to be able to deliver wins to our brave men and women."

The Chicago-area resident disposed of Steve Chrisman, Doug Herbert and Larry Dixon prior to his dismantling of Brown in the final round.

"My car ran flawlessly all day," added Schumacher. "We went straight down a very hot track every time and there wasn't a hint of tire smoke. That's a credit to Alan Johnson (his crew chief) and the entire U.S. Army team. As usual, they rose to the occasion."

This was the first race that the Top Fuel cars ran to the 1,000 foot mark instead of the traditional quarter-mile.

"I certainly didn't view that as an issue all weekend," he said. "In fact, it may have played into our hands a little bit since my car would always hit the rev limiter when we were making full runs. Now, we're not hitting it and putting out cylinders in the process."

With his 47th career win, Schumacher moved to within five wins of tying Joe Amato for the most career victories in Top Fuel. Additionally, he's now 275 points up on Brown in the standings.

"I guess we've managed to put together the best start ever for this team," he said. "It's pretty amazing, to be honest. We just want to ride this wave as long as we can."

Schumacher and his U.S. Army team will now move to Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle next weekend for the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals. It's the second of three tour stops that comprise the NHRA's Western Swing.

"We definitely have some momentum heading out to Seattle," he offered. "Of course, the idea will be to keep the ball rolling. Winning races never gets old, I can guarantee you that."

Schumacher's win at Bandimere Speedway was also the 110th national event win for the Don Schumacher Racing organization.

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