Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, aboard his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, will come out of the second
starting position here Monday in the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
Schumacher, who has qualified in the top half of the field in 17 of 18 races, will face
off with 15th-place qualifier, T.J. Zizzo, in the first round of eliminations beginning at 11 a.m.
ET.
"It's time to put our game faces on," said the six-time world champion. "We're going to
go get a good night's sleep and be ready to roll come tomorrow."
On Labor Day, Schumacher will be seeking a record-tying eighth U.S. Nationals Top Fuel
victory. Don Garlits presently sits atop the class leader board.
"We'd love to be the last one standing tomorrow afternoon," he added. "We're certainly
aware of possibly matching Garlits' record. We definitely have a good enough car to get the job
done."
After struggling in the opening two rounds of qualifying, Schumacher's U.S. Army car
clearly found a second wind in the final two rounds (the fifth round was cancelled due to weather
delays).
During Sunday afternoon's run, Schumacher stopped the clock at 3.836-seconds which was only
one-thousandth of a second slower than pole sitter Antron Brown.
"We were that close to being number one," said the Chicago-area resident. "The bottom
line is the car is performing quite well right now."
Schumacher is eager to leave Indy carrying a boat load of momentum in preparation for
the NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoffs which begins in Charlotte, September 17-21.
"It's all about getting four win lights tomorrow," he offered.
