Six NHRA Top Fuel championships -- maybe seven or more -- will be Tony Schumacher's legacy. By the end of this season, he might be able to claim six in a row.
 
But for those who listen closely to Schumacher when he talks about his titles, his legacy will be that of a warrior, befitting his longstanding U.S. Army sponsorship. Maybe some even will call him a gladiator, an honor he gave posthumously to Scott Kalitta.
 
The fact is that Tony Schumacher loves simply competing as much as he loves winning.
 
The grit, the toughness, the skill to pull off nearly the impossible -- all are traits of Schumacher. Remember that he came back from a breathtakingly frightening accident a Memphis in 2000 -- one that left him with multiple fracture of his left leg, three dislocated fingers in his right hand and cracked teeth. He missed only two races and reached the final round in his comeback at Pomona. It was a person feat that made even Gary Scelzi, his hardcore nemesis at the time, admire him.

Six NHRA Top Fuel championships -- maybe seven or more -- will be Tony Schumacher's legacy. By the end of this season, he might be able to claim six in a row.
 
But for those who listen closely to Schumacher when he talks about his titles, his legacy will be that of a warrior, befitting his longstanding U.S. Army sponsorship. Maybe some even will call him a gladiator, an honor he gave posthumously to Scott Kalitta.
 
The fact is that Tony Schumacher loves simply competing as much as he loves winning.
 
The grit, the toughness, the skill to pull off nearly the impossible -- all are traits of Schumacher. Remember that he came back from a breathtakingly frightening accident a Memphis in 2000 -- one that left him with multiple fracture of his left leg, three dislocated fingers in his right hand and cracked teeth. He missed only two races and reached the final round in his comeback at Pomona. It was a person feat that made even Gary Scelzi, his hardcore nemesis at the time, admire him.
 
So what's a mass exodus of a crew chief and an entire crew? It's just another bump in the road for Schumacher, it seems.
 
He's third in the points heading into the Countdown, thanks to the tuning skills of Mike Green and what Schumacher called the inspiration of a completely new set of crew members. Moreover, he has the momentum from a class record-tying eighth victory at the U.S. Nationals.
 
While many predicted that Schumacher's winning ways would fade away like nitromethane fumes, he quietly has remained a force, right in the thick of the championship chase with points leader Antron Brown and second-place Larry Dixon (who drives for Alan Johnson, Schumacher's former crew chief).
 
"It's not just AJ., amazing crew chief that he is. The whole team went over there and kind of wrote us off like they will never win another race. We have been able to go out and beat them, and we beat them three out of the four races we've run them," he said. "And that just goes to show that Mike did a great job stepping up.
 
"We hired great people and we are in the middle of a phenomenal battle that at the end of the year, whoever wins the championship is going to be able to stand there with a trophy and know that they earned it, because it is truly going to be a battle and it will be fun," Schumacher said.
 
As for a championship with a third crew chief (after Dan Olson in 1999 and Johnson from 2004-2008), Schumacher said, "You know what? Whether you get it or not, it's just so darned cool to be in the battle.
 
"You know, the five that we (he and Johnson) won, they came pretty hard. Last year, we won a lot of races but the two before, we were down to the last run of the year. They were not gimmies in any way, shape or form. It was not what we expected and not what we saw last year," he said.
 
"This year, just to be in the middle after reading all that stuff and hearing about it, it just goes to show you that as great of a crew chief as Alan is, there are other great guys out there and there are other great teams."
 
He said no one can feel cheated when it come to performance this season -- from any racer.
 
"I don't think there's been a race for any fan in any given time in any one of those NHRA races who could walk away and didn't feel like they got their money's worth," Schumacher said. "It's great to come out on the winning end, no doubt. But I've been beaten four-thousandths by Antron, seven-thousandths by (Doug) Kalitta and eight-thousandths by Antron again. Cars that fast, there are a lot of people running good."
 
The proof is in the performance, certainly. But for Schumacher, it's also in the passion. 

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