Deep in the heart of Texas was a racetrack this past weekend that threw blistering heat, then cooler temperatures, then rain and San Francisco-like fog, and finally some normal conditions at NHRA racers during the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals.
 
But deep in the heart of Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher was a conviction that he was capable of seizing the monumental weekend he needed to throw points leader Larry Dixon off-balance as the six-race Countdown marked its halfway point at the Texas Motorplex.
 
Schumacher warmed up Sunday against Mike Strasburg, then Steve Torrence. Then he blasted past dogged Don Schumacher Racing teammate Cory McClenathan and finally Shawn Langdon to serve notice that if he yields the crown he has worn for the past six seasons and for seven overall, it won't be without a Texas-sized fight.
 
He donned a cowboy hat following his fifth victory in seven final-round appearances this season, the 66th of his career, and the Top Fuel-leading fifth at this facility that was celebrating its 25 birthday. But another Full Throttle Drag Racing Series crown is what he pictured himself wearing.

Deep in the heart of Texas was a racetrack this past weekend that threw blistering heat, then cooler temperatures, then rain and San Francisco-like fog, and finally some normal conditions at NHRA racers during the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals.
 
But deep in the heart of Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher was a conviction that he was capable of seizing the monumental weekend he needed to throw points leader Larry Dixon off-balance as the six-race Countdown marked its halfway point at the Texas Motorplex.
 
Schumacher warmed up Sunday against Mike Strasburg, then Steve Torrence. Then he blasted past dogged Don Schumacher Racing teammate Cory McClenathan and finally Shawn Langdon to serve notice that if he yields the crown he has worn for the past six seasons and for seven overall, it won't be without a Texas-sized fight.
 
He donned a cowboy hat following his fifth victory in seven final-round appearances this season, the 66th of his career, and the Top Fuel-leading fifth at this facility that was celebrating its 25 birthday. But another Full Throttle Drag Racing Series crown is what he pictured himself wearing.
 
Mike Green, crew chief for Schumacher's U.S. Army Dragster, reassured him, "We've got a handle on this car. We really understand this car. It's going to go fast, and it’s going to start winning races."
 
Schumacher said the Dallas-area race is the perfect place to start his comeback with three races -- at Reading, Pa., Las Vegas, and Pomona, Calif. -- remaining. After all, this is where Schumacher won last Sept. 27 to begin his march that rolled over Dixon and his own former crew by two points at the end of 2009.  
 
In his best showing in five races, since a final-round loss to Dixon July 18 at Sonoma, Calif. -- one that has run his round-win record so far to 42-15 -- Schumacher beat Shawn Langdon in the final round. Schumacher posted a 3.838-second elapsed time at 320.43 mph to Langdon's 3.908 / 298.67 in the Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster.
 
For the first time in four races and only the third time in the past eight, points leader Dixon was not a factor by the final round. And Schumacher made the most of it, appreciating Langdon for his holeshot victory that beat Dixon in the quarterfinals by about five feet (.0097 of a second) but showing the sophomore dragster driver no mercy in the final.
 
"Langdon's a great kid," Schumacher said. "I told him, 'I'm going to try to kick your butt -- but if you beat me, I want you to know I'm going to be proud to be in the other lane.' It's a fact. There are certain guys you don't like very much, but he's one of the good ones. He's going to be a great driver, and he's going to win some races.
 
"But when a guy like Dixon, who has won so many races, loses, you absolutely have to rise to the occasion," Schumacher said. "You have to win, gain those points, put pressure back on them. They were walking away with it."  
 
Langdon, who had fallen three positions in the standings at the previous race (at Charlotte) with a first-round exit,  found a positive spin to his runner-up finish.
 
"Today showed the potential of this team," he said, after being denied his career-first victory at the site where Schumacher recorded the first of his 66 triumphs. "We can beat these guys. We can run with them. We can win these races. It just wasn't meant to be today, unfortunately. Hopefully we'll get it by the end of the year.
 
"It's what the Countdown is all about – bringing out the best in your team, yourself, and your car. I think we showed a little bit of that today."
 
"It was a great day for the team, a real confidence booster going into Reading, knowing we can run with these guys," Langdon said. "We found some problems that have been plaguing us and have been keeping us from performing to our expectations."
 
Schumacher began to show again he can meet his own expectations. The semifinal match-up against McClenathan "was an absolutely brutal race," the U.S. Army driver said. "We're here to take every win we can take and leave nothing -- not even scraps -- on the table. When the car starts it's game on. Cory understands that. We're here to dominate."
 
He acknowledged that he and his team haven't had that kind of a season,that Dixon can make that claim instead. But he said Dallas is the place to start causing a commotion.
 
"I feel like we just rustled one up," Schumacher said from underneath his Stetson Sunday.  

His victory, coupled with Matt Hagan's triumph over John Force in the Funny Car final, gave DSR its 23rd double-up weekend.

{source}
<div style="float:left; padding:5px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
sr_adspace_id = 2000000613807;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=2000000613807">
</script></div>

<div style="padding:5px;"><script type="text/javascript">
google_ad_client = "pub-8044869477733334";
/* 300x250, created 4/3/09 */
google_ad_slot = "2028912167";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
</script>
<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>{/source}