Mercifully, Tony Schumacher moved his foot.

“I threw a dart the other day. And if I didn’t move my toe, the dart would have landed on it. It went exactly to the end of my foot. There’s just no forward motion,” he said of his strength and mobility in his right arm at the moment.

Because of bothersome ligament / muscle / nerve pain and swelling that has lingered since July, Tony Schumacher has his right arm in a brace. He said the condition is “the same,” but it hasn’t stopped him from signing likely more autographs than any other driver. Physical therapy and electronic stimulation haven’t eased the pain yet, but he said, “I’ll work on it next week.” Schumacher said he thinks the problem came from a change in his workout and weightlifting routine.

“I firmly believe it’s because I lift weights every day, then I listed my house [which sold quickly], went on vacation, didn’t come home for three weeks, and didn’t lift for a few days. I think I lacked on working out for too long. And things just kind of shrank up. I didn’t take care of my right arm. When you lift, you’re also stretching. And I think I let it get a little too far into the pain zone. Once it does, it starts to numb itself. Now I’m paying for that.

“It’s OK. It is what it is. I’ve driven with a broken leg before,” Schumacher said. He gamely competed just a few short weeks after a nasty crash at Memphis left him with multiple fractures of his left leg, three dislocated fingers in his right hand, a chip in his right ankle, four cracked teeth, one bruised and swollen eye, and banged-up ribs.

His primary sponsor, the U.S. Army, announced in early July that it would not renew its marketing partnership with Don Schumacher Racing and the NHRA at the end of this season. Rumors circulated that DSR would make an announcement at this race regarding sponsorship for 2019 and beyond.

“My dad would know,” Schumacher said. “He’ll announce it before he tells me. If he’s working on something – and I know we are – I know in no way, shape, or form could imagine we could announce anything because I haven’t been told or even asked what I thought about it. After this race, things will start to [come together]. This is where we put our focus right now.”