Tony Schumacher Rebounds With Historic Win At U.S. Nationals
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Sep 01, 2008
NHRA
Schumacher kept alive his hopes of winning the NHRA’s biggest event for the third year in a row and seventh time overall with two blistering runs that took him from out of the Top Fuel field to sixth for the 16-driver eliminations.
“It’s Indy. You don’t want to not qualify,” said Schumacher, who with a win today would tie Joe Amato’s career record of 52 wins while breaking two class records he already owns and has equaled this season: most wins in a season (10, first set in 2004) and wins in a row (five, 2005).
Force, meanwhile, won’t be competing today at O’Reilly Raceway Park for the second year in a row. The 14-time Funny Car points champion and four-time U.S. Nationals winner reached the semifinals of the U.S. Smokeless Showdown, won by Cruz Pedregon, but his best time in five qualifying rounds left him 20th.
“We got our chance like everyone else and like last year we choked it again,” he said. “I was given every opportunity to come here and race in the greatest show on earth.
“Yeah, it hurts inside.”
We want people to remember (the U.S. Army team) as one of the greatest teams ever,” said Schumacher. “You get to the finals and you’re down to one round, you’re one four-second push of the throttle away from setting all those records, one shot to do it it’s very intense. We had to stay focused. We had to stay a machine.”
