The latest news on NHRA Drag Racing s Super Team DON SCHUMACHER RACING FRIDAY, SEPT. 14, 2012 BROWNSBURG, INDIANA Sarge wins 9th U.S. Nationals Brown, Capps lead six DSR drivers to Countdown by earning top seeds for opener at zmax Dragway CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 14, 2012) Don Schumacher Racing is at Charlotte Motor Speedway s zmax Dragway to start the 18th NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event and the first of the Countdown to the Championship. It took two weekends to complete the 58th annual U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis, but it was worth the wait for Don Schumacher Racing s Tony Sarge Schumacher, who won the Top Fuel Dragster title for a record ninth time on Sunday. Although DSR Top Fuel teammate Antron Brown was unable to repeat as event champion, he and DSR Funny Car driver Ron Capps finished atop their respective points standings to earn No. 1 seeds heading to this weekend s opening race of the six-event NHRA Countdown for the Championship at zmax Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C. Joining Matco Tool s Brown and Schumacher, who is ranked third in Top Fuel, is Spencer Massey, who lost in the final round at Indy in the FRAM/Prestone dragster and is sitting in the No. 2 spot when qualifying begins Friday afternoon. Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T will start the Countdown ranked first, which will be the second time for Capps. Valvoline NextGen s Jack Beckman will start third and Service Central s Johnny Gray is fifth in the Tire Kingdom Dodge. Reigning Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan and the Mopar/Aaron s Dream Machine team missed qualifying for the Countdown by a mere seven points but is focused on winning a share of the remaining six event titles. BIG DADDY CONGRATULATES SARGE Big Daddy Don Garlits, who helped make the U.S. Nationals the biggest event in drag racing, missed the event so he could be with his ill wife, Pat, at Ocala, Fla. They have been married 59 years. Mike Lewis, DSR s senior vice president, sent Garlits an email to let him know all at DSR were thinking of the couple and wished they could have been at Indy when Tony Schumacher broke his tie with the legend for most Top Fuel titles at Indy. It only took a day for Garlits to respond by email: Thank you so much! I was watching on TV and I felt like I was riding in there with Tony, the car is so beautiful and you know the old saying; If it looks right, it probably is right! That is the comment that Connie Swingle made when we rolled the first modern RE (rear-engine) car out of the garage in Seffner (Fla.) in October 1970! That is my comment for the DSR T/F car that Tony drove to victory and a new Indy Top Fuel win record. My sincere congratulations to DSR, Tony's team and Tony for a superb job of driving. He nailed his competitor to the starting line and never looked back! Swamp Rat XXX is housed in Smithsonian's National Museum of American History where it is one of only three racecars on display.
Lewis recalled that Garlits last U.S. Nationals title in 1986 was in Swamp Rat XXX, which featured a cockpit canopy, and noted that it was appropriate the first modern era win by a canopy car in Top Fuel would be Schumacher s ninth win at in Indy. UNDERSTANDING THE COUNTDOWN The fields are set for each of the four Full Throttle professional categories heading to the six-event Countdown to the Championship. The points will be reset at 10-point increments for the Countdown contestants and the points leaders after Indy, which was the 17th event of the year, getting 20-point bonus so they will start the Countdown with 30-point leads in Top Fuel (Antron Brown), Funny Car (Ron Capps), Pro Stock (Allen Johnson) and Pro Stock Motorcycle (Eddie Krawiec). Only the top-10 drivers can contend for season championships but all drivers entered in the last six events will contend with Countdown drivers for event points and titles. The best season finish for non-countdown driver can be 11th. DSR s 2012 Countdown for the Championship drivers T/F No. 1 Antron Brown T/F No. 2 Spencer Massey T/F No. 3 Tony Schumacher F/C No. 1 Ron Capps F/C No. 3 Jack Beckman F/C No. 5 Johnny Gray HAGAN S NEW MISSION Matt Hagan didn t qualify for the Countdown after winning the Funny Car world championship last season. But that doesn t mean the season is over for Hagan and the Mopar/Aaron s Dream Machine team.
Hagan and the Mopar/Aaron s team were knocked out of the top-10 in the Full Throttle Funny Car standings on Sunday in the semifinals of the U.S. Nationals, and that meant they would be deprived of a chance to defend their 2011 NHRA Funny Car world championship. My whole career out here has been pressure-filled drama. Every year it s been about fighting for points, he said. The first year we were close to making the Countdown, and the last two years were championship hunts. No matter what you do and no matter how you look at it, it doesn t soften the shortcomings our team had for the first 13 races this year. We know we re better than that, everybody knows we re better than that. Not the goal is to winning six event titles. Matt Hagan My attitude is I m not going out there to make friends. The gloves are coming off, they ve been off but now I ll do whatever it takes to win. I m going to each race to wreck their day. I don t care. I m going to have fun trying to win races. We didn t do what we needed to do, now maybe we can mess with someone else s day and put a frown on their face. CHEMOTHERAPY: MYTHS OR FACTS Fast Jack Beckman will continue as spokesperson for the Chemotherapy: Myths or Facts program when shares his experiences as a cancer survivor at a special interactive video booth throughout the race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway s zmax Dragway. Chemotherapy: Myths or Facts campaign features a video booth traveling around the country to collect personal stories from patients, survivors and caregivers about their own experiences with cancer. The hope is that these stories will help newly diagnosed patients and their families and friends during their fight with cancer, Beckman says. Visit ChemoMythsOrFacts.com to learn more about the campaign and where the video booth will stop next. SIX IN A ROW Postponement of the U.S. Nationals by one week means the Full Throttle series will now race on six consecutive weekends through the Oct. 4-7 NHRA event at Reading, Pa. beginning next weekend with the first race in the Countdown at zmax Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C. Full Throttle Hardest Working Crew and U.S. Nationals champs
Don Schumacher Racing s U.S. Army team led by crew chief Mike Green and assistant Neal Strasbaugh were rewarded with the Full Throttle Hardest Working Crew award for Top Fuel Sunday after winning the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis. (Photo by AutoImagery.com) VERY SOCIAL MEDIA DSR social media manager Leah Vaughn announced this week that the number of followers for DSR and its drivers has eclipsed 100,000. It has more than doubled since she joined DSR last summer. Let s see how quickly it can grow to 125,000 so tell your friends and enemies to follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing. ANTRON, TOYOTA BUILDING DRAGQUOIA DSR s Antron Brown, Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria and NASCAR s Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer are working with Toyota to create their own unique street-legal Toyota rides in the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge. (ToyotaRacingDreamBuild.com) The builds will be completed next month and will be on display beginning Oct. 30 at the Special Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas. On-line voting will determine the winner who will receive $50,000 for their designated charity. Voting will open on October 20 and will continue through October 29. Fans will be able to vote once per day on Facebook, where they can also enter to win prizes, including a Toyota Racing Dream Trip. A 28-episode online reality series has been developed around the Challenge. Fans can see the progress of the builds at www.toyotaracingdreambuild.com. Brown s Dragquoia merges a Toyota Sequoia with a Top Fuel Dragster. You have to see it to believe it. And make sure you vote for Brown. WE VE GOT STATS 9 It was No. 9 on 9/9 for Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team led by crew chief Mike Green and assistant Neal Strasbaugh when the third-ranked DSR team won the their ninth U.S. Nationals title on Sunday at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis. The victory broke a tie with
Big Daddy Don Garlits. Sarge now is tied with Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden for most Big Go titles in any professional category. 150 Jack Beckman competed in the 150th pro race of his career at the U.S. Nationals. 100 Matt Hagan recorded the 100th round-win of his NHRA pro career. 191 When Schumacher won his 69th NHRA title on Sunday it moved DSR s total to 191 since team owner Don Schumacher won the first in 1970 at the U.S. Nationals. 74 The number of Funny Car titles owned by DSR. FULL THROTTLE EVENT SCHEDULE Friday: Qualifying, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday: Qualifying, 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday: Championship eliminations, Noon ON ESPN2 (times are ET) SATURDAY: Qualifying, 10:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Eliminations, 8:30 p.m. WEATHER.COM FORECAST FRIDAY: High 83 degrees; 10 percent chance of rain SATURDAY: High 83 degrees; 0 percent chance of rain SUNDAY: High 79 degrees; 10 percent chance of rain NHRA FULL THROTTLE STANDINGS Countdown to the Championship Official thru Sept. 9, 2012 (Points reset for six-event Countdown; points leaders receive 20-point bonus; DSR drivers CAPS) TOP FUEL 1. ANTRON BROWN, 2,110 2. SPENCER MASSEY, 2,080 3. TONY SCHUMACHER, 2,070 4. Steve Torrence, 2,060 5. Doug Kalitta, 2,050 6. Morgan Lucas, 2,040 7. Shawn Langdon, 2,030 8. Brandon Bernstein, 2,020 9. David Grubnic, 2,010 10. Bob Vandergriff, 2,000 FUNNY CAR 1. RON CAPPS, 2,110 2. Robert Hight, 2,080
3. JACK BECKMAN, 2,070 4. Mike Neff, 2,060 5. JOHNNY GRAY, 2,050 6. Courtney Force, 2,040 7. Cruz Pedregon, 2,030 8. John Force, 2,020 9. Jeff Arend, 2,010 10. Tim Wilkerson, 2,000 Did not qualify: MATT HAGAN Don Schumacher Racing driver statistics TOP FUEL 1. Antron Brown, Aaron s Dream Machine/Matco Tools dragster Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 1 (2011), Runner-up 1 (2008), Poles 0 April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 3, finished third in Four-Wide final September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 5, defeated Spencer Massey in final round 1st 17 4 5 2 0 38-13 256 35* 35 31 2 432-219 (*19 Top Fuel) 2. Spencer Massey, FRAM/Prestone dragster Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Win 1 (2012, 4-Wide), Runner-up 0, Poles 0 April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 6, won Four-Wide title September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 2, lost to Antron Brown in final round 2nd 17 4 3 3 0 35-13 65 10 10 8 2 112-53 3. Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army dragster Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 1 (2008), Runner-up 2 (2008, 2012-Spring), Poles 1 (2011) April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 5, finished runner-up in Four-Wide September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 1, lost to Antron Brown in semifinals 3rd 17 2 4 3 0 31-16 354 69 47 70 8 619-277 FUNNY CAR 1. Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 0, Runner-up 0, Poles 0 April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 2, finished third in Four-Wide final September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 12, lost in first round 1st 17 3 3 2 1 32-13 381 36 39 13 17 457-328
3. Jack Beckman, Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger R/T Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 2 (2008, 2011), Runner-up 1 (2010), Poles 0 April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 5, lost in semifinals of Four-Wide September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 4, lost in final round 3rd 17 2 0 2 1 24-14 150 14 15 6 6 192-130 5. Johnny Gray, Tire Kingdom/Service Central Dodge Charger R/T Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 0, Runner-up 0, Poles 0 April 2012 at CMS: Qualified No. 6, finished third in Four-Wide semifinal September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 6, lost in final round 5th 17 2 1 2 0 23-15 198 3 11 3 40 124-155 11. Matt Hagan, Mopar/Aaron s Dream Machine Dodge Charger R/T Career at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Wins 1 (2011), Runner-up 0, Poles 1 (2011) April 2012 at CMS: Did not qualify September 2011 at CMS: Qualified No. 1 with 3.995-second runs that was first Funny Car time less than 4 seconds; defeated Mike Neff in final round 11th 17 0 2 0 1 14-16 89 5 8 10 4 100-81 About Don Schumacher Racing Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron s Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 191 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships. Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing. - 191 -