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NORWALK, Ohio, June 26 - U.S. Army NHRA pilots, Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown, all hope a change of scenery produces positive results here this weekend as the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series invades Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park for the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.The NHRA tour will be making its first appearance at the track located about an hour west of Cleveland.
Brown is coming off a solid semifinal round advancement last weekend in Englishtown, N.J., while Sampey and Schumacher will be attempting to rebound from second round and first round losses, respectively.
Top Fuel
Schumacher, who has won the last three world championships, is still trying to establish some consistency 10 races into 2007.
"That's for certain," said the Chicago native. "We haven't had a real good weekend, overall, since we won the race in Gainesville (Fla.) back in March."
Last Sunday at the ProCare RX Supernationals, Schumacher posted his sixth first round loss. That's the same number of first round losses that he totaled in '06.
"It's hard to believe," he added. "But, with all of the adversity that we've had, we're still very much in the hunt for another title. In the end, that's what counts the most. Like our soldiers, we're not quitters. We're going to keep plugging away until things turn around."
Schumacher presently holds fifth-place in the standings. The top eight in points qualify for the NHRA's new Countdown to the Championship which begins at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend.
"Our goal is to be in the line up come Indy and then we can go out and play," he said.
Pro Stock Motorcycles
When she arrives at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Sampey would like nothing better than to pick up right where she left off in New Jersey.
Despite posting a disappointing red light foul in a second round loss, the three-time world champion feels she may now have the motorcycle to beat each and every race. In qualifying last Saturday, she set the national record for elapsed time with a blistering 6.871-second pass.
"Right now, I definitely have one fast U.S. Army Suzuki," she offered. "I just have to do a better job at the starting line and we'll be fine. I have to stop beating myself."
For Brown, continued improvement will be the objective out in the Buckeye State. He's now in serious contention for the final spot in the Countdown to the Championship.
"We're in ninth-place, but only we're only four points out of the critical eighth position," he said. "If we can keep performing the way we did at Englishtown, we should keep moving up in the points. Rest assured that I want to be fighting for my first world championship by the time we get to Indianapolis."
U.S. ARMY TEAM EYES BIG PRIZE AT NEW VENUE
NORWALK, Ohio, June 26 - U.S. Army NHRA pilots, Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown, all hope a change of scenery produces positive results here this weekend as the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series invades Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park for the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.The NHRA tour will be making its first appearance at the track located about an hour west of Cleveland.
Brown is coming off a solid semifinal round advancement last weekend in Englishtown, N.J., while Sampey and Schumacher will be attempting to rebound from second round and first round losses, respectively.
Top Fuel
Schumacher, who has won the last three world championships, is still trying to establish some consistency 10 races into 2007.
"That's for certain," said the Chicago native. "We haven't had a real good weekend, overall, since we won the race in Gainesville (Fla.) back in March."
Last Sunday at the ProCare RX Supernationals, Schumacher posted his sixth first round loss. That's the same number of first round losses that he totaled in '06.
"It's hard to believe," he added. "But, with all of the adversity that we've had, we're still very much in the hunt for another title. In the end, that's what counts the most. Like our soldiers, we're not quitters. We're going to keep plugging away until things turn around."
Schumacher presently holds fifth-place in the standings. The top eight in points qualify for the NHRA's new Countdown to the Championship which begins at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend.
"Our goal is to be in the line up come Indy and then we can go out and play," he said.
Pro Stock Motorcycles
When she arrives at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Sampey would like nothing better than to pick up right where she left off in New Jersey.
Despite posting a disappointing red light foul in a second round loss, the three-time world champion feels she may now have the motorcycle to beat each and every race. In qualifying last Saturday, she set the national record for elapsed time with a blistering 6.871-second pass.
"Right now, I definitely have one fast U.S. Army Suzuki," she offered. "I just have to do a better job at the starting line and we'll be fine. I have to stop beating myself."
For Brown, continued improvement will be the objective out in the Buckeye State. He's now in serious contention for the final spot in the Countdown to the Championship.
"We're in ninth-place, but only we're only four points out of the critical eighth position," he said. "If we can keep performing the way we did at Englishtown, we should keep moving up in the points. Rest assured that I want to be fighting for my first world championship by the time we get to Indianapolis."
