Once again, Tony Schumacher is heading to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with an opportunity to win a Top Fuel championship. The seven-time world champ has created some magical come-from-behind championship-winning performances throughout the years at the historic dragstrip in Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Valley.
Perhaps his most memorable, “The Run,” took place in 2006, the season before the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship era began. Schumacher trailed leader Doug Kalitta by 45 points heading to the final race. As semifinal loser Kalitta looked on at the top end of the track late Sunday waiting to receive his first championship trophy, Schumacher defied the odds and took the trophy at the last instant with an amazing record-setting, race-winning performance in his U.S. Army dragster.
The following season, Schumacher came to the season-ending race in Pomona in fourth place, 68 points behind leader “Hot Rod” Fuller. After Fuller’s dragster lost traction and was eliminated in the first round, Schumacher put together a string of round-wins under intense pressure and ultimately captured the race victory and the championship title.
Schumacher will try to draw on those two experiences as he enters the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 8-11 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. In second place in the Top Fuel standings, he trails series leader Antron Brown by 65 points at the final race of the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, which will be televised on ESPN2HD.
“This is a pressure cooker,” said Schumacher, the most prolific Top Fuel driver in NHRA history, who has raced to two victories in eight final rounds this season. “This is what it’s all about.”
The territory is nothing new for Schumacher, who has made a career of rising to the occasion during big moments.
“I always wanted the ball in my hands for the last shot, and I always wanted to sit in a seat and have to win to be the champ, not hope someone else loses,” Schumacher said. “And I think Antron is in a really good spot right now. He’s ahead of us, but he’s not that kind of guy. He does not want to have to watch someone lose; he wants to close the deal, just like we do. At the awards banquet, we all want to be on that stage.”
Hot on their trail is FRAM dragster driver Spencer Massey in third place, 70 points behind Brown. Al-Anabi Racing’s Shawn Langdon, at 116 points back in fourth place, is also mathematically still in contention.
Given the incredible competition, Schumacher says this season has been one of the toughest ever.
“It is the best class of cars that has ever been put together,” Schumacher said. “There are more great cars than we’ve ever seen, the great drivers, the teams. There’s nine or 10 cars that are extremely good. The guy that stands on the podium at the end is going to be well-deserving of the Full Throttle championship. That’s it. Because it has been as difficult as anything I’ve ever seen.”
And that’s saying something for the Los Angeles native who now calls Chicago home. In earning seven world championship titles, Schumacher has won in every way imaginable. In addition to the two dramatic comebacks, he has dominated a season (2008), claimed a title by winning only one race (1999), and taken a title that he wasn’t supposed to win after parting ways with noted crew chief Alan Johnson (2009).
“I have lived some great moments,” Schumacher said. “At the end of my career, I will be able to look back and think there have been very few years that haven’t been extremely gratifying. This will be at the top of the list if we can pull this off.”
In Funny Car, points leader Jack Beckman and second-place Ron Capps are separated by only four points at the top of the series standings. While those two racers along with long shot Mike Neff fight for the world championship title, high-profile rookie drivers Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria will continue their season-long battle for bragging rights. Pomona legend John Force, an eight-time winner of this event, will be trying to add to his record 134 victories behind the wheel of his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang.
In Pro Stock, Team Mopar Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson is very close to wrapping up his first world championship title, and in the two-wheel category, Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec needs only a few more points to secure his third Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship title.
In observance of Veterans Day, on Sunday, Nov. 11, active and retired military can save $10 per Sunday ticket by showing military ID. A special Veterans Day Track Walk with Schumacher and Brown will be held on Sunday morning. Free for all Sunday ticket holders, the popular Track Walk gives fans the opportunity to walk down the legendary dragstrip alongside some of NHRA’s biggest stars.
As always, fans will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite drivers as they’re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful motorsports attraction on the planet. While strolling through the pits and the Manufacturers Midway, fans will want to check out NHRA’s Rumble in the Junction Car Corral, featuring dozens of nostalgic dragsters, race cars, and hot rods on display. The Rumble in the Junction also will showcase several NHRA-exclusive Cacklefests throughout the weekend.
As part of the Nitro Generation theme of the season, NHRA is offering free general admission for kids 12 and younger with a paying adult. For tickets, log on to NHRATix.com or call the NHRA Ticket Sales Center, 800-884-NHRA (6472). (NHRA)
