Two popular drivers in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series—Tony Schumacher and Ashley Force Hood—are each riding a wave of confidence into this weekend’s SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals (April 2-5) at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Six-time NHRA Top Fuel world champ Schumacher was able to power his U.S. Army dragster to victory behind a crew chief not named Alan Johnson. Schumacher was led by the tuning efforts of new crew chief Mike Green and a stable of new faces turning wrenches in his pit area.
“Everyone knows we don’t have AJ (Alan Johnson) anymore, and people said we couldn’t win without him, so we had to dig deep, and I love ‘suck it up’ moments—bottom of the ninth, bases loaded—and that’s what we had all day,” Schumacher said. “It’s still early, but we want to be up there at the top. I love having everyone chasing us. I can’t wait for next weekend to arrive.”
In Funny Car, Force Hood proved that her win last year in Atlanta was no fluke. At that event she defeated her father—14-time champ John Force—in the final round, raising some speculation that her proud Papa may have made her path to victory a little smoother than perhaps another rival. At Houston last Sunday, there was no doubt as Force Hood defeated her one-time driving coach, Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman, in the final.
“Our first win was against my dad [in the final], and we’ve had some people ask me, ‘Do you think your dad gave it to you?’ and it’s heartbreaking because we know my dad would never give away any round-win,” said Force Hood, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. “So to be able to race against another team’s driver in the final and win it where no one can have any doubt, we’re maybe a bit more cheerful than after that first win. It’s been hanging over our head, and it feels good to get past that.”
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