It has certainly taken time for Tony Schumacher’s JCM Top Fuel dragster to find its footing. Try three years.
However, the team’s perseverance is now being rewarded.
The eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion, now piloting JCM’s Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. entry, captured the title at the AAA Midwest Nationals Sunday near St. Louis.
In the finals, Schumacher clocked a 3.718-second elapsed time at 329.42 mph to defeat Steve Torrence’s 3.763 lap at 316.90.
This was Schumacher’s 88th career NHRA national event triumph – a Top Fuel record – and his second this season. He was the winner June 9 at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.
His victory march consisted of wins over Julie Nataas, the 2023 Top Alcohol Dragster champ who was making her Top Fuel debut, followed by Antron Brown, Shawn Reed, and then Torrence.
“It was a great day,” Schumacher said. “Obviously, they made us a marquee match-up in the first round with Julie [Nataas], and it’s great to see where people come from because most of us came from alcohol cars, worked our way up. And she’s a good driver. We all watch, and we’re out there finding prospective drivers and she’s a great driver. It wasn’t like we didn’t go up first round and think, ‘This is a good, easy run.’ We thought, ‘World champ, good car, Salinas’ car.’ And went out and shook and it was violent. We got done with that run and I went back, and we said, ‘Everybody look at this car. It’s broken.’ It shook as hard as I’ve shaken in a long time.
“And it’s one of those things where Mike [crew chief Neff], he goes back with Phil Shuler, they go back, they look at it, they evaluate it. We made the changes. We just … great race. When you are running Antron second round, he’s the points leader at the time and you got to go after it. We lost in Reading and that hurt us badly and I think that’s kind of a key thing. You go off, you take people, you don’t take them lightly, but you look at the situation, you go, ‘We’re racing not only the racetrack but …’ And you get beat and you look back on moments like that. We could be in the lead, we could be up front.”
This was Schumacher’s third career win in St. Louis to go with those he collected in 2006 and 2010.
“We made the choice to go after this stuff and to run well. I’m proud of the guys. It was a miraculous day,” Schumacher said. “Wish my wife was here, obviously. She stayed home because of possible rain. I understand wanting to stay in Austin, Texas, in 90-degree, perfect sunny weather, but what a day to miss. …
“I’m proud of my guys, just standing here hot, covered in champagne, which is the ultimate smell at the end of the day. They offer champagne. We never drink it, they just pour it on us. We have bourbon. I mean, if we were going to have something, it’d be Leatherwood.”
Schumacher was at his peak when he won championships in 1999, 2004-09, and 2014. Sunday’s win at World Wide Technology Raceway was his first during the six-race Countdown to the Championship since 2014, when he won at Charlotte, Dallas, and Reading. With the win, he is sixth in the standings, 103 behind first-place Antron Brown, with three races remaining.
“I haven’t looked at the points. I don’t know how far back we are. We hurt ourselves early on, but at the end of the day it’s racing,” Schumacher said. “We won the race; we did a great job. We get points. We’re closer than we were the moment we started this morning. And whether we win a championship or not, we did a heck of a job going out there. And we have struggled. Let’s face it, we didn’t have a great car for three years.
“We tried to find our problem. We found it in Brainerd, and I’ve said it several times before, but it wasn’t the right problem. This was the one that mattered. When you find something like that, because we hire a guy like Zippy, Mike Neff, and he’s great at what he does. He can tune a car, but he’s really good at the last minute, five seconds before twisting the knob, and we just couldn’t get it to go down the track. And then here a couple races ago, he goes, ‘Got it.’ And we’re watching it and everyone’s asking. They’re like, ‘You seriously found it? You’re getting better, quicker, better, quicker?’ Is there time to win a championship? I don’t know. Is there time to win a few more races and be great and do what we’re expected to do by our sponsors? I think definitely.”
After seeing Steve Torrence, Antron Brown, Brittany Force and others hoard the limelight in Top Fuel over the past decade, Schumacher has learned to appreciate the days when he earns a Wally more than ever.
“It’s better. When I started … brand new in ’96, I thought I was a good driver. And looking back, I did okay, but learning through being able to work with Alan Johnson and Mike Green and Zippy and guys like that … Dan Olson … working with those guys over the years and two ears, one mouth. I say it all the time, ‘Listen more than you speak.’ It’s taught me a lot.
“Phil Shuler, I’ll tell you right now, that dude will just speak his mind. So, you got to sit back and listen. And sometimes he says really smart things, and I think as a driver you listen. You just listen and you go, ‘Okay, I get it.’ And a lot of the guys over the last few races have said the same thing. ‘Remember when it was fun?’ ‘Yeah, I do.’ ‘Well, why does it work now?’ It’s not work. It’s fun.’ And you get in the car and you drive like it’s fun, it’s a little bit easier. You start putting the pressure on yourself, you can do OK but make it fun. This is a great sport. I think it’s the greatest sport in the world. Drag racing to me is the coolest sport in the world, and every fan gets a pit pass. We bring people out, they pay money, they leave, and they say, ‘We owe more money. It was the greatest day of our life. First time my kids have seen it.’ All the great things that we bring to it, whether we win or lose, a good smile for a kid, it just means a lot.”
Tony won all his Top Fuel world championships competing for his dad’s Don Schumacher Racing team. Don passed away Dec. 20, 2023, at age 79.
So, when Tony continues to win races, the victories mean even more.
“Well, I’m a God-believer in Jesus Christ, and I think he’s following me everywhere and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. It’s so cool. My dad looking down to us, just an angel driving with us. Yeah, we’re close to home; lot of friends and family here. And what a day. I love it here. Had great moments here, been frozen out here, been rained out here, been heated out here, but whatever. I’ve had cars fly over me. They were inverted, but it was cool. I’ve had cars do all kinds of things, but this, at this moment, at this time was needed.
