On this Sunday afternoon, Tony Schumacher looked every bit like a battle wearied soldier walking off the battlefield. The newly crowned seven-time NHRA Top Fuel champion fended off the formidable challenge from Larry Dixon and in the end, the two points he gained with Saturday evening’s No. 1 effort made the difference.

“It was probably the toughest [championship] because I had to race a group of guys that I knew how good they were and what they were capable of,” Schumacher admitted. “Larry is a two-time world champion and I know how good he was. He’s an amazing driver and they were an amazing crew. I knew the battle was going to be tough but I also know that we had the right people to pull it off. I knew that before my father or anybody.”

Schumacher was prepared to face Dixon in the final round in a head-to-head battle to determine the championship but rookie racer Spencer Massey beat him to the punch. A pair later Schumacher dropped his second round match opposite of Antron Brown to end the battle.

On this Sunday afternoon, Tony Schumacher looked every bit like a battle wearied soldier walking off the battlefield. The newly crowned seven-time NHRA Top Fuel champion fended off the formidable challenge from Larry Dixon and in the end, the two points he gained with Saturday evening’s No. 1 effort made the difference.

“It was probably the toughest [championship] because I had to race a group of guys that I knew how good they were and what they were capable of,” Schumacher admitted. “Larry is a two-time world champion and I know how good he was. He’s an amazing driver and they were an amazing crew. I knew the battle was going to be tough but I also know that we had the right people to pull it off. I knew that before my father or anybody.”

Schumacher was prepared to face Dixon in the final round in a head-to-head battle to determine the championship but rookie racer Spencer Massey beat him to the punch. A pair later Schumacher dropped his second round match opposite of Antron Brown to end the battle.

Schumacher plans to present his championship trophy to the soldiers at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas. Thirteen soldiers were killed and 30 others were wounded with a gunman went on a rampage on the base.

“I don’t think there’s any real question of where it belongs,” Schumacher said. “To the people, friends and families of those on that base, it will trickle down through the whole Army. When something like that happens we all bond together.”

Schumacher and his team had the foresight to realize they were in store for the battle of the careers before the season began.

His crew chief Alan Johnson had announced plans to start a team last September and when he left, many members of the U.S. Army followed him. Team owner Don Schumacher appointed former Cory McClenathan tuner Mike Green to replace the departed Johnson.

Even thought Schumacher was performing better than Dixon, the team took a step back at the onset of the Western Swing and began working on a tuning game plan to be implemented at this point in the season.

“Come Denver when we began working on this end-of-the-year tune-up, we took a lot of abuse,” Schumacher said. “We discussed it with my dad that we could go out and win races or we could change our direction and win a championship. We came up with a plan to get better and faster. What this team did was exactly what needed to be done.”

Car owner Don Schumacher doesn’t believe this championship was his team’s toughest, but he admits that he learned a lot about the kind of tuner Green is, a man who was expected to fill a large set of shoes at the start of the season.

Some might have considered that as an insurmountable challenge for Green, but the tuner believed he possessed the right stuff to challenge his former teammate.

“I worked with Alan last year, so I kinda got to know him,” Green said. “He showed me a few things but not everything. I learned a lot in racing with him and that helped us this year. When we started the year we considered ourselves even with them. We knew it would be a challenge and a battle all year. We’re happy to come out on top.”

For Schumacher, he’ll wear his championship ring and jacket as a reminder that he survived one of the most challenging battles he’s ever faced.

“It was as gratifying as anything I’ve ever done in life since the birth of my children,” Schumacher said. “I just can’t begin to tell you what it’s like to lose a complete team, have them all leave, and have to rebuild, read the papers about how we’ll never do it,” Schumacher said. “My dad knows how to rebuild. He knows how to let them hire people, motivate and let them buy the right parts and pieces. He gives us a gift of being able to go out and do what we do.”

“In 1999 we won the championship by being consistent and being a machine,” Schumacher said. “The rest of the championships we did amazing things. We had amazing moments and Saturday night was an exact copy of those moments.”

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