SCHUMACHER DROPS FINAL ROUND RACE TO DIXON |
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Topics: Tony Schumacher, Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals
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U.S. Army Racing
July 18, 2010
SONOMA, Calif., July 18, 2010 - U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher lost a final round encounter to Larry Dixon here Sunday in the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
Schumacher laid down a 4.006-second pass at 300.73 mph against Dixon, but the latter recorded a quicker 3.879-second run at 317.12 mph to claim his eighth win of the year.
"You have to give it to Larry and his team - they had a great car all day long," said Schumacher, a seven-time world champion. "We also had a great car leading up to the finals, but it just wasn't very happy when we tried to step the power up."
Schumacher left the starting line before Dixon, but the U.S. Army dragster began to spin the tires around 330 feet which allowed the points leader to move on by.
"Like our Army Strong Soldiers do every day, we gave it our best effort," said Schumacher. "We left it all out there today. That's all you can ask of the guys."
On the way to his meeting with Dixon, Schumacher took out Morgan Lucas, Terry McMillen and Brandon Bernstein. The win over Bernstein coupled with Cory McClenathan's loss to Dixon in the semifinals allowed Schumacher to re-claim second-place in the standings.
"That's nice to know," added the Chicago-area resident. "Short of catching Dixon, that's where we will want to be once the Countdown to 1 begins (at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis during Labor Day weekend). We have a couple more races to try and solidify our position."
While Schumacher was enjoying another trip to the finals (it was his sixth of the season and the 101st of his career), his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Racing teammate, Antron Brown, was not as fortunate.
After qualifying second, Brown was upset in the opening round by 15th-place qualifier, Terry McMillen. He will leave Wine Country still holding fourth-place in the standings.
Schumacher and Brown will now travel to Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver next weekend for the MOPAR Mile-High Nationals. It will be the final stop of the NHRA's annual three-race Western Swing.
"We want to close the deal down there next Sunday," said Schumacher. "I really can't wait to get going. I wish we were racing tomorrow."
After taking a weekend off, U.S. Army NASCAR Racing driver Ryan Newman will return to action next Sunday in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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