SCHUMACHER DROPS OUT IN SEMIFINALS |
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Topics: Tony Schumacher, Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
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U.S. Army Racing
September 6, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS, September 6, 2010 - U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher lost a semifinal round match up to teammate Cory McClenathan here Monday in the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
Schumacher and McClenathan both smoked the tires on a 124 degree track, but the latter was able to “pedal” his way to the finish line just ahead of the seven-time world champion.
“There’s not a lot you can say,” offered Schumacher. “I thought I could get the car hooked up and get past him, but it just wouldn’t go. Of course, I’m disappointed. This is our biggest race of the year and you always want to win this one more than any other one on the schedule.”
Interestingly enough, Schumacher and McClenathan posted identical starting line reaction times, but it was McClenathan’s win light that came on after a 4.342-second run versus Schumacher’s 4.406-second trip.
“It was close, that’s for sure,” added Schumacher. “I feel bad for our Army Strong Soldiers. We really wanted to get another U.S. Nationals trophy for them. With that said, we’re not going to quit and we’ll never accept defeat. We’re going to keep moving forward.”
At the 56th annual U.S. Nationals, Schumacher was attempting to set the record for the most Top Fuel wins – nine. He would have gone around “Big Daddy” Don Garlits on the victory list.
“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” said the Chicago-area resident. “To be honest, I was more concerned with starting the Countdown to 1 on a successful note. We lost some ground today, but we have five more races to get the job done.”
Schumacher will retain third-place in the standings as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series takes a weekend off before heading for zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., September 16-19, for the O’Reilly Nationals.
Antron Brown, who pilots the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster, lost a tough first round race to Shawn Langdon. Despite recording a slower elapsed time, Langdon was still able to take the win based off a better reaction time at the starting line.
With his early departure, Brown will travel to North Carolina in two weeks now holding seventh-place in the points.
Over on the U.S. Army NASCAR Racing side, Ryan Newman directed his No. 39 U.S. Army Reserve Chevrolet to an eighth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last night.
Newman, who is 13th in the points, will next head for Richmond (Va.) International Raceway this Saturday night.
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