Tony Schumacher continued Sunday to thumb his nose at National Hot Rod Ass'n. observers who said he couldn't survive without Alan Johnson.
The defiant U.S. Army dragster driver put new crew chief Mike Green's tune-up against that of Johnson in Sunday's Top Fuel final round at the O'Reilly Super Star Batteries Fall Nationals and won.
On what he called "just a massive day," Schumacher beat No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon, Johnson's current driver, in the Texas Motorplex lane in which few drivers could win all day long. And he seized the points lead with just four more races remaining in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series' Countdown to the Championship.