Schumacher Powers to Runner-Up Finish in Brainerd (1 Viewer)

[4onthefl4]

NHRA Nationals
Event 15 of 22
Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd, Minn.
Aug. 19-21, 2022​

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Schumacher Powers to Runner-Up Finish in Brainerd

Qualified: No. 7 (3.716 E.T. at 325.92 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.940 E.T. at 292.27 MPH defeated Doug Kalitta 5.349 E.T. at 118.13 MPH
E2: 4.227 E.T. at 201.16 MPH defeated Josh Hart 10.848 E.T. at 78.57 MPH
E3: 4.336 E.T. at 226.32 MPH defeated Justin Ashley 4.936 E.T. at 292.71 MPH
E4: 3.942 E.T. at 286.50 MPH defeated by Steve Torrence 3.866 E.T. at 322.04 MPH
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BRAINERD, Minn. (August 21, 2022) – For the second time in three events, Tony Schumacher and the Okuma Top Fuel team advanced to the final round, having recorded a runner-up finish on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals.
Following his NHRA Northwest Nationals victory in Seattle earlier this month, and a quarterfinal finish in Topeka, Kansas last weekend, Schumacher and the Maynard Family Racing team have been steadily making their way back into the 2022 NHRA Top Fuel title conversation. With Sunday’s final round appearance, Schumacher moved up one spot in the standings to eighth with only one event remaining before Countdown starting positions are set.
Schumacher qualified his DSR Performance-powered Okuma dragster seventh to start race day, and eliminated Doug Kalitta, Josh Hart, and Justin Ashley to reach his 156th final round, but it wasn’t without some drama, and the round wins were hard-fought. Schumacher pedaled to an ugly win over Kalitta as the two Top Fuel titans smoked their way down the track. While getting the car prepped for their round two contest versus Hart, the team encountered a mechanical issue which caused them to be delayed heading to the starting line. Without the opportunity to warm up, the team raced to the starting line with moments to spare before crew chiefs were instructed to fire up their machines. Despite the hiccup in the pit and a loss of traction during his race, Schumacher powered to the win over Hart’s immediate tire-smoker.
The semifinals featured another pedalfest between Schumacher and Ashley, with the 86-time winner relying on his two-plus decades of driving experience to set off the win light once more and earn a bid into the final round.
“Pedaling the car every single run, until the final round, it just kicks your butt,” said Schumacher, a three-time Brainerd event champion. “These cars are beautiful machines, but violent as the day is long, and it was epic. Second round, we couldn’t even get our car to start. We didn’t even fire the thing up on nitromethane before we went up against Josh Hart. I thank him for waiting, he’s a class act. It was one of those things today where you pretty much knew you and whoever you’re racing, you’re both going to smoke the tires so you’ve got to focus on what you’ve got to do; the track was so bald. Situational awareness is important. Understanding who you’re racing, understanding what the track is going to do, and what the car is more than likely going to provide for you, and being able to react to it is key to going rounds and reaching the finals on a day like today.”
In the final round showdown, fans were treated to a race between the winningest Top Fuel driver in the history of the sport, and the reigning four-time series champ, Steve Torrence. Against Torrence, Schumacher moved first and was charging hard but his machine started to haze the tires near the eighth-mile mark and Torrence was able to pull ahead for the win.
“By the time we got to the final round I thought, man, if we can get down this track, we’re going to win it,” Schumacher explained while debriefing after eliminations had wrapped. “I swore at halftrack, I thought we had it won. We were so far out and it started spinning the tires and I still thought, no way two of us are going down this race track; it’s too hot, too slippery. But, at the end of the day, we got some good points this weekend, and had a good run; we’re happy. I’m proud of my guys, they work so damn hard, it’s simply insane what they had to go through today.
“We’ve got momentum, we’ve got a good car. We were going to stay and test tomorrow, but instead, we’re going to go back, go through our parts and get everything ready because the sole thing on our mind right now is winning Indy.”
Schumacher will have the opportunity for more points moves at the upcoming NHRA U.S. Nationals, an event that features a unique points-and-a-half format. Schumacher returns to Indianapolis for the final event of the NHRA’s ‘regular’ season as a 10-time event winner, the most of any NHRA Camping World Series competitor.

NHRA Camping World Series Top Fuel Point Standings (unofficial):

1	Brittany Force		1206​
2	Mike Salinas		1112​
3	Steve Torrence		1076​
4	Justin Ashley		1070​
5	Josh Hart		797​
6	Leah Pruett		761​
6	Shawn Langdon		761​
8	Tony Schumacher		703​
9	Doug Kalitta		692​
10	Antron Brown		668​

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About Maynard Family Racing:​

Established in 2022, the Maynard Family Racing organization (JCM) is a single-car NHRA Top Fuel team owned by Joe and Cathi Maynard, along with their partners Eric and Kim Lehman, all of Clarksville, Tenn. The Maynards first became involved in NHRA Drag Racing in 2021 as an associate sponsor of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) before expanding their involvement to an ownership level during the 2022 NHRA season. It was announced in July 2022 that the Maynards and Lehmans had partnered with Don Schumacher to assume a majority ownership stake of the multi-time championship-winning team.
Headlining the Maynard Family Racing team is eight-time world champion and 86-time NHRA national event winner Tony Schumacher, the most decorated Top Fuel driver in the history of the sport. The team competes on the 22-race NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit thanks to the support of Scag Power Equipment and Okuma.
For more information, visit @Maynard_Racing on Twitter, @MaynardFamRacing on Facebook, and @MaynardFamilyRacing on Instagram.

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