Less than a week ago, the Camping World Drag Racing Series received startling news that Don Schumacher has relinquished his control of his 19-championship, 366-victory team that had shrunk from seven cars to one in the past two years. 

On the other side of the ledger, Joe and Cathi Maynard stepped to the forefront and assumed command of the organization in a collaborative effort with Don Schumacher. And Tony Schumacher, the eight-time champion who has struggled through the past three years, said Friday at the Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals at Seattle’s Pacific Raceways that he’s not only all right with the new arrangement and that the rebranded team (Maynard Family Racing/Don Schumacher Racing team, or JCM/DSR) has rejuvenated him. 

“I love working with my dad. We’ve worked together since the beginning. We're both here because of each other,” the drivers aid. “But the Maynards were real clear, like, ‘We want to buy this team.’ I told my dad, ‘I've never seen excitement like it. You all figure it out,’ and I left it at that. My dad, he's been here forever. Whatever they worked out, I don't know all the details, nor do I care. They're both still involved. 

“We got some new excitement. I'm kind of jacked up,” Tony Schumacher said. “When you watch someone come in and they sponsor a car, then they move over to your car and they pay a lot more, and they go, ‘I like this so much that we want to own it.’ And then you get fans going, ‘Oh, where's the sport going?’ It's not going in a bad direction if you've got people that are successful in business wanting to buy in. 

“It started, I think, with my dad at the very beginning, saying, ‘Well, shoot, if you just pay this much, it's yours,’” he said. “And they're like, ‘We can't.’ Then as the year went on, they were like, ‘We want this.’ I thought it was odd, because we're getting our ass whooped. I'm like, ‘Shoot, how many people will be trying to buy the team if we can’t win again?’ But we're going to, and I think that's what made it exciting. They went, ‘Boy, we see a light at the end of the tunnel. We see the fire here. We want to be here when it's right.’ It makes me excited. I haven't sat down and said, ‘What the hell happened?’ because I don't really care. This is the same place. My dad still is one of the owners. Let me race my car. They're all friends. They get along good. 

“So I'm happy. The team's going to be happy. Joe Maynard and Cathi Maynard are awesome people. My dad's still involved. And if you're out there on the outside, there ain’t nothing that's going to change. I bet his name [Joe Maynard’s] gets smaller, because if you're not the sponsor, we'll sell the sponsorship. We got a happy guy here at the races. You remember for years, my dad sat down there with a big old smile on his face. I felt like he was not as happy the last couple of years. I wasn't racing, so he was like, ‘I'm out with these other people.’ So I just think it's a good deal. I think it worked out well,” Schumacher said.

“Joe's a great dude. Cathi’s amazing,” he said. “When I met them, they were both Army, and they said, ‘We just want to own this.’” 

AT the moment, Schumacher is hoping to channel some of his previous magic at Pacific Raceways in this 525th career race to get his team headed in the right direction and to give the new majority team owners an outstanding debut. The eight-time champion uncharacteristically is not in the top 10 and is coming off five consecutive Round-1 losses. 

However, he knows the quick way down this dragstrip. He won four straight trophies here (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008), was runner-up on three other occasions (2005, 2009, 2011), and was No. 1 qualifier four times (2004, 2008, 2014, 2016). 

This is his first trip here since 2018, and he’s eager to make the most of it in the Okuma Dragster. 

“It’s no secret that we’re struggling on the track, but we hope the fans understand that we’re working every day and every week to make it right. Our stats are fantastic in Seattle: I’ve won it four times and have performed extremely well there,” Schumacher said. “But these are different circumstances. We’ve got to get the car running right. Know that we’re putting in every single bit of effort to do that. Drag racing is one of those sports of ebbs and flows, and I’ve been on both sides of that many times. Parts change, pieces change, and we have to figure it out.” 

He said, “This isn’t the first time I’ve been frustrated. I’ve stood out here with Alan Johnson tuning this car and we couldn’t get past first round in ’06. And it led to the greatest single run in the history of this sport. One thing I know is the struggles are real out here. Every time I’ve ever been in a predicament, the team has worked hard enough to figure out how to make a way. It’s never let me down. I look forward to the fight just as much as I look forward to the next trophy. These guys are fighting dudes. They’re young, and they’re awesome. And they’re having a good time. Some of these guys have never held a Wally before. I’ve always said I love the winning but I love the game itself. These guys are really good in battle. I’m probably the right guy for them.”

Schumacher had prided himself on not blaming his crew when things aren’t going as planned. He never yells. He never points fingers. 

Schumacher said, “I’ve pointed them at me sometimes.” 

He said, “I can see when they make a mistake that they’re frustrated and kicking themselves, and that is not the time you kick someone, when they’re down. Build ’em back up. Let ’em do their jobs. They’ve got to get through the mistakes. There are things on these cars they’ve never seen happen until they do it – and that’s OK. It’s a learning experience. I was talking to Capps’ guys and Force’s guys the other night, and I said, ‘I can’t believe any one of these machines gets from Point A to Point B. It’s almost physically impossible what we’re asking them to do, and they do it anyway. For these guys who are young to be out here, kicking butt like this, it’s just cool to watch. I’m sincere about that.   

“I don’t think anyone learns from a line of bulls---. I just don’t think you can learn from it. If there’s some way that I can help you, I’d rather give you the truth and help you than lie to you and carry on whatever’s been going on. And I mean when a crew chief comes over and they look at what I’m doing. If they’ve got a way to help me, I’ve got two ears and one mouth. Speak to me, you know?” he said. 

“This will be our first race competing under the Maynard Family banner, and we want to start this new chapter off on a strong note. We so desperately want this to be our get-healthy weekend, and we’re working extremely hard at doing whatever we can to get our performance up to the level it needs to be.”