Sun, 20 Sep 2009, 09:46 PM Schumacher Beaten in Semifinals

Courtesy of Chris Dirato

CONCORD, N.C. -- Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, aboard his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, dropped a semifinal round race here Sunday to Shawn Langdon in the second annual Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Schumacher, who was the defending event champion, laid down a respectable 3.865-second pass at 314.31 mph against Langdon, but the latter banked a quicker 3.826-second run at 315.78 mph to gain the victory.

"You have to give them all the credit - they really stepped it up," said Schumacher. "We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We had a good day just the same for our Army Strong Soldiers."

Schumacher's semifinal round advancement placed him in serious contention for the Top Fuel points lead. He will head for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals next weekend outside of Dallas sitting amidst a quartet of drivers at the top of the standings who are separated by just one round of racing.

"Now, that's tight," added the six-time world champion. "But, I didn't expect it would be any different. It's going to be a war right to the final round in Pomona (Calif.). Whoever wins this thing will have earned it big-time."

On the way to his match up with Langdon, Schumacher disposed of Clay Millican and Rod Fuller. The Fuller race was decided by one-thousandth of a second.

"The racing has been close all year long," offered the Chicago-area resident. "I'm confident that won't change any time soon. There are way too many good teams and drivers out here now."

With the tour moving to the Lone Star State, Schumacher will be looking to take over sole possession of first-place with a third straight solid showing. He also captured the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago.

"As always, failure is never an option with us," he said. "We're going to go down to Texas loaded for bear. We've got a real good race car right now."

Following the stop at the Texas Motorplex, the NHRA tour will then move through Memphis and Richmond, Va. on successive weekends.

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