U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher will come out of the 10th starting spot here
Sunday in the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.
Schumacher's first round opponent on race day will be seventh-place qualifier, Morgan
Lucas, who he has faced twice this year in final eliminations.
Fighting hot track temperatures for the second straight day, Schumacher was unable to
improve upon his Friday time of 3.979-seconds and thus ended up in the bottom half of the field for
the first time this season.
"It was challenging today for everyone," said the defending world champion. "The track
was very greasy and it was difficult to get the car hooked up for a full pass. With the weather
forecast similar for tomorrow, we'll have to make some adjustments to get down the track."
Despite recording second round wins over Lucas in Houston and Bristol earlier this
year, Schumacher knows he'll be in for a tight battle tomorrow.
"No question about it," he said. "Morgan and his team have been improving with every
race, so we'll have to be on our game to advance. As always, I have all the faith in the world in
my U.S. Army team."
While Schumacher's priority is to get by Lucas, he'll also have an eye on point leader
Antron Brown. He began the weekend trailing his former U.S. Army Racing teammate by 34 points in
the standings.
"To be honest, we need to take care of our own business and not worry about things that
are out of our control," said the Chicago-area resident. "As usual, our goal will be to get four
win lights tomorrow. If that happens, the points will take care of themselves."
Final eliminations on Sunday will begin at 11 a.m. EDT. ESPN2 is scheduled to provide
three hours of tape-delayed coverage starting at 7 p.m. EDT.
