In a rematch of the Gatornationals Top Fuel final round two weeks ago, Antron Brown evened the score against Tony Schumacher at Sunday’s Denso NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But Schumacher moved into the points lead as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series moves to Houston. He’ll take a six-point edge over another DSR colleague, Leah Pritchett, into the April 21-23 Springnationals at Baytown’s Royal Purple Raceway. Brown is third in the standings, 25 off Schumacher’s pace.

Even after Sunday’s semifinal, team owner Don Schumacher was assured of his fourth Top Fuel victory in as many races. But after Tommy Johnson Jr.’s Funny Car victory over surging Jonnie Lindberg, Brown gave DSR its 300th overall triumph and 67th double-nitro dominating performance.

Brown blanked in the first three races after qualifying no worse than third. But he qualified eighth, his lowest starting position of the season, and achieved his best result. On the 1,000-foot Las Vegas course, Brown got the jump on Schumacher at the light (.038 seconds to .057) and won in 3.747 seconds at 321.04 mph in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Dragster.

Schumacher, the No. 2 qualifier, ran a 3.809, 325.14. But he couldn’t record back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2014 Charlotte-Dallas races (which actually both came at Ennis, Texas). Neither could he improve his haul at Las Vegas to nine victories. He has reached the semifinals or better at all four events this year.

At Gainesville, Fla., Schumacher defeated Brown, 3.703 seconds to 3.764.

This accomplishment was more than just atonement or revenge. It made Brown the only racer in Top Fuel history to claim at least one Wally trophy in 10 consecutive seasons. He had been tied with Schumacher, who earned at least one event title in nine straight (2002-2010). Sunday’s feat put him at 46 Top Fuel victories, just six behind third-place Joe Amato on the all-time Top Fuel list. He has 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle victories for 62 total.

Brown moved into his 110th career final round and second in four races this season by beating much-improved Scott Palmer, No. 1 qualifier Steve Torrence, and two-time 2017 winner Leah Pritchett.

“It started out as a very challenging weekend,” Brown said, “because we had something that had been plaguing us. [And] this track is hard to race at. You get different climates every day, and it’s really a crew chief race and a team race. But the Matco Tools/U.S. Army boys just went to work.”

But his third victory at Las Vegas didn’t come easy, he said: “Today, it was tough battles. In the second round against Torrence, in the semis against my teammate Leah – those guys and her are doing a phenomenal job this year. And Tony, those Army boys kicked our tails in Gainesville. When you race two of your teammates, you know you’ve got a battle on your hands because we all have the same quality parts and piece that Don provides for us.

 “So when you go up against them, you’ve got to throw everything at it - especially Tony. He hasn’t won eight championships for nothing, believe me. He knows how to race, how to get wins,” Brown said. “But Brian and Mark [co-crew chiefs Corradi and Oswald] and all of our boys, we had to push hard. It’s tough out there this year. We qualified eighth this weekend, and to get that win today was pretty spectacular. I feel like I just won my first race - that’s how tough the competition is this year.”

He said, “When I think about Vegas, it’s like coming home. It has been very good to us. It seems like big things happen here. Vegas has been a crucial turning point at the beginning of the season for us. When we come back for the Toyota Nationals in the fall, the focus is on winning championships, and we’ve been fortunate to clinch here two years in a row.”

 Schumacher advanced past Terry Haddock, Terry McMillen, and Doug Kalitta.

“It’s all good – the Army car is running well, the team is feeling good, at the end of the day, everything is fine,” Schumacher said. “You couldn’t ask for too much more. It was another good day for DSR and the U.S. Army.

“Antron and his team did what they had to do to win the races they had today,” he said. “They put the hammer down on that particular run against us and did a great job. They are a good race team. There is never a time that we can take them lightly.

“We’ve been more consistent to start the season than we have been in a while. The Army car is just great. Everybody on the team has confidence. We dropped a cylinder twice today, but that is going to happen. We got away with it in the second round today but not in the final. It happens; it’s OK,” Schumacher said.

“I’m just happy that our car has been going down the track since the very first run at Pomona. I’m excited because that means we can have a great car all year long and that’s how you win championships. It’ll be good to go to Houston, which is now one of my home races. We won’t go there as the winner of the last race like we did here, but we’re going there as the points leader. That’s a big deal,” Schumacher said.

By advancing to the semifinal, Doug Kalitta tied retired Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden for ninth place on the all-time list for total elimination round-wins. Both are at 597. When Kalitta reaches the 600-mark plateau, he’ll become only the ninth driver in NHRA history to do so. The Mac Tools/Toyota Dragster driver, ranked fourth in the Top Fuel standings, is inching toward the 1,000-round milestone. He has raced in 992 rounds.