U.S. Army NHRA Racing: Inaugural Auto-Plus New England Nationals Final Qualifying Report - Tony Schumacher & Antron Brown

U.S. Army NHRA Racing
Inaugural NHRA New England Nationals Final Qualifying Report

Date: June 22, 2013
Event: Inaugural NHRA New England Nationals (Round 11 of 24)
Series: NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
Location: New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.
Provisional Top Qualifier: Doug Kalitta (3.795 seconds at 323.97 mph)
U.S. Army Racing Lineup: Tony Schumacher 4th (3.817 seconds at 321.73 mph) Antron Brown 10th (3.877 seconds at 310.48 mph)

Tony Schumacher and his U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) clocked the fastest qualifying run of the day while teammate Antron Brown moved up a spot in the final order in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series action Saturday at the inaugural Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.

The effort put forth by the U.S. Army duo was a reflection of the fact the Army is the strength of the Nation, the Soldiers are the strength of its Army, and the Army-NHRA partnership provides Americans a platform to experience the power, speed, teamwork and technology that drives that strength.

Schumacher, the seven-time world champion and the Top Fuel points leader entering the weekend, made it down the 1,000-foot drag strip in 3.877 seconds at 323.35 mph in today's penultimate qualifying session of the weekend. It was .6 of a second behind his best Friday qualifying effort that put him fourth in the order, but was not bested by any other Top Fuel competitors today.

"Seeing just how close we could get to the edge was the order of the day and, safe to say, we found it," said Schumacher, who will meet Brittany Force, the 13th-fastest qualifier, in the first round of eliminations Sunday. "That first run today was pretty stout and I think it bodes well for tomorrow. I'm proud to say it was a total team effort. Each member of our U.S. Army team plays a vital role in the success of the car on the track. Similarly, every Soldier, no matter which of the more than 150 career options he or she chooses in the Army, is vital to the success of the mission. Sunday's mission, as always, will be to go as many rounds as possible with an eye on the final prize. It would be something really special to win the Wally at the very first New England Nationals in front of all these wonderful people who keep packing this place to watch us race. It's going to be a great day, but we'll have to take it one run at a time, as always."

Brown, the defending series champion who had a rough time of it in his two qualifying passes Friday and started today 11th on the timesheets, saw his parachutes deploy just as he launched from the starting line in his opening run today, leading to a 5.187-second run at 126.00 mph. In his fourth and final qualifying run of the weekend, the determined Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster laid down a solid run of 3.877 seconds at 310.48 mph. It elevated him to 10th in the final order and matches him with seventh-fastest Bob Vandergriff in Sunday's first round of eliminations.

"We're working hard, busting our tails, but sometimes you keep working hard and it just throws you curveballs," said Brown, whose chutes also deployed prematurely during his opening qualifying run Friday - that time halfway down the track. "Our boys just stayed and stuck with it and that's a good pass they can work off of for tomorrow. We went A to B and we found some other issues that we were having and got them fixed, and now we have a run to work off of. The car felt great down the track, there wasn't any trouble, so we know we can get after it more tomorrow."

Elimination rounds are set to begin Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT. Tonight's delayed qualifying show has been moved to ESPN beginning at 8:30 p.m. EDT.