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ENNIS, Tex. -- U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher will come out of the third starting spot here Sunday in the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Having to deal with a hot track surface during final qualifying, Schumacher was unable to improve upon his Friday effort of 3.860-seconds and thus settled for a top three position in the race day order. For the second time in three races, Schumacher will square off with fellow Chicago-area resident T.J. Zizzo in the opening round of final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. CT. He beat Zizzo in the first round of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. "Let's go racing," said Schumacher after his final Saturday run. "We performed well today despite a sizzling track (the track surface was more than 120 degrees at one point). It seems like our hot weather tune up is clicking." The Sunday forecast for the Dallas metro area calls for even hotter weather - sunny skies and 95 degrees. "It's going to be a challenge tomorrow for all of the crew chiefs," added the six-time world champion. "I really thought summer was over. How wrong was I?" By day's end, Schumacher will be hoping to slide past his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Cory McClenathan, in the Top Fuel standings. He arrived in Texas tied for second and 10 points in back of McClenathan. After collecting four bonus points during qualifying to McClenathan's two points, Schumacher will actually go into race day trailing by just eight points. "Man, we'd love to get that points lead," he said. "It's been a while since we were number one (Schumacher last led the points after the ninth race in Topeka). We have our work cut out for us, but my U.S. Army team is up for the mission."
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