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NORWALK, Ohio, July 1 - U.S. Army Top Fuel driver, Tony "The Sarge"
Schumacher, captured his second victory of the season here Sunday in the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
In Pro Stock Motorcycles, U.S. Army pilots, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown, lost in the semifinals and first round, respectively.
Top Fuel
Schumacher, who came out of the 14th starting spot, took out Rod Fuller in the finals with an impressive 4.537-second pass at 322.04 mph.
"What a day for everyone associated with this U.S. Army team," said the defending NHRA POWERade world champion. "As always, I feel especially happy that we got another win for our hard working soldiers."
The Chicago native came into race day coming off his worst qualifying performance of the year. But, behind the tuning talents of crew chief, Alan Johnson, his fortunes quickly turned.
Schumacher initially disposed of Brandon Bernstein before leveling J.R. Todd and Whit Bazemore prior to his meeting with Fuller, who is the Top Fuel point leader.
"We definitely had a tough road to negotiate before we met up with Fuller," he added. "And, against Fuller, we went out and posted the quickest pass of the day. That was certainly a great way to end the afternoon."
Schumacher will now head for Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway next weekend for the rescheduled O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals. He will enter the race still holding fifth-place in the standings, but is now just 33 points out of second.
"We're all about winning races right now and securing a solid position in the Countdown to the Championship," he said. "We'll worry about the points when the Countdown starts in Indianapolis (over Labor Day weekend)."
Pro Stock Motorcycles
For Sampey, her day abruptly ended due to a late start in her semifinal round match up with Matt Smith.
The three-time world champion recorded a 7.041-second run to Smith's 7.060second trip, but her .128-second start was significantly slower than Smith's .048-second launch.
"It's another case of a lost opportunity," said a dejected Sampey fterwards. "It seems like I'm either too quick or too late these days. I obviously have to find a happy medium if I'm going to contend for the title."
Sampey will retain second-place in the points going into an off weekend for the Pro Stock Motorcycles.
"We'll just have to get back after it out at Denver in two weeks," she added.
Brown had a scary ride during his first round loss to Steve Johnson. After getting to half track before Johnson, Brown's Suzuki started to quickly drift towards the wall while traveling about 170 mph. It ultimately cost him the round.
"That was real wild," said Brown. "I'm not sure why it pushed me over to the wall. I can tell you that I got awfully close to making contact. It really was a miracle that
I was able to hang on to it. I probably should have tried to save it sooner than I did and just shut it down. I guess you live and learn every day in this business."
While Brown dropped from ninth in the standings to 10th, he's still within two rounds of racing (22 points) of the all-important eighth spot for the countdown to the Championship.
"We'll be fine," he offered. "As I've said all weekend, my Suzuki is getting better and better and I feel very confident that we'll move up in the order before too long."
SCHUMACHER WINS SECOND RACE OF THE YEAR
SAMPEY DEPARTS IN SEMIS, BROWN IN FIRST ROUND
NORWALK, Ohio, July 1 - U.S. Army Top Fuel driver, Tony "The Sarge"
Schumacher, captured his second victory of the season here Sunday in the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
In Pro Stock Motorcycles, U.S. Army pilots, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown, lost in the semifinals and first round, respectively.
Top Fuel
Schumacher, who came out of the 14th starting spot, took out Rod Fuller in the finals with an impressive 4.537-second pass at 322.04 mph.
"What a day for everyone associated with this U.S. Army team," said the defending NHRA POWERade world champion. "As always, I feel especially happy that we got another win for our hard working soldiers."
The Chicago native came into race day coming off his worst qualifying performance of the year. But, behind the tuning talents of crew chief, Alan Johnson, his fortunes quickly turned.
Schumacher initially disposed of Brandon Bernstein before leveling J.R. Todd and Whit Bazemore prior to his meeting with Fuller, who is the Top Fuel point leader.
"We definitely had a tough road to negotiate before we met up with Fuller," he added. "And, against Fuller, we went out and posted the quickest pass of the day. That was certainly a great way to end the afternoon."
Schumacher will now head for Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway next weekend for the rescheduled O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals. He will enter the race still holding fifth-place in the standings, but is now just 33 points out of second.
"We're all about winning races right now and securing a solid position in the Countdown to the Championship," he said. "We'll worry about the points when the Countdown starts in Indianapolis (over Labor Day weekend)."
Pro Stock Motorcycles
For Sampey, her day abruptly ended due to a late start in her semifinal round match up with Matt Smith.
The three-time world champion recorded a 7.041-second run to Smith's 7.060second trip, but her .128-second start was significantly slower than Smith's .048-second launch.
"It's another case of a lost opportunity," said a dejected Sampey fterwards. "It seems like I'm either too quick or too late these days. I obviously have to find a happy medium if I'm going to contend for the title."
Sampey will retain second-place in the points going into an off weekend for the Pro Stock Motorcycles.
"We'll just have to get back after it out at Denver in two weeks," she added.
Brown had a scary ride during his first round loss to Steve Johnson. After getting to half track before Johnson, Brown's Suzuki started to quickly drift towards the wall while traveling about 170 mph. It ultimately cost him the round.
"That was real wild," said Brown. "I'm not sure why it pushed me over to the wall. I can tell you that I got awfully close to making contact. It really was a miracle that
I was able to hang on to it. I probably should have tried to save it sooner than I did and just shut it down. I guess you live and learn every day in this business."
While Brown dropped from ninth in the standings to 10th, he's still within two rounds of racing (22 points) of the all-important eighth spot for the countdown to the Championship.
"We'll be fine," he offered. "As I've said all weekend, my Suzuki is getting better and better and I feel very confident that we'll move up in the order before too long."
