Tony Schumacher Drops Close First-Round Match at Las Vegas
Tony Schumacher made his quickest pass of the NHRA Nevada Nationals in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday morning, but it wasn’t quick enough to move on and continue chasing a ninth Top Fuel world championship. Schumacher, the class leader at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in terms of wins and No. 1 qualifier awards, is currently ranked seventh in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points leaving Las Vegas with one race left in the season to cement his final position, although that could change on Monday. After a lengthy track cleanup following the Top Fuel semifinal round, NHRA announced they were postponing the remainder of the race until the following morning. Depending on who wins the final round, Schumacher could potentially drop one spot to eighth.
Schumacher arrived in Las Vegas with the Leatherwood Distillery livery back on his JCM Racing dragster for the final two races of the year. Through Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11), Leatherwood Distillery will donate 50 cents from every bottle sold to benefit both A Soldier’s Child and Brother’s Keeper Veteran Foundation. JCM Racing will present a donation check on behalf of Leatherwood to A Soldier’s Child organization at the upcoming NHRA Finals during pre-race ceremonies. Schumacher’s machine also featured a new event partner, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 357 and the Southern Nevada National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).
Qualifying presented challenges for Schumacher and his Mike Neff-led team. He went up in smoke early in the first three qualifying sessions, leaving him outside the 16-car field going into the final session on Saturday. The 11-time No. 1 qualifier at Las Vegas made a smooth 3.769-second pass at 328.46 mph to move into the field in the No. 13 spot for Sunday eliminations.
In the first round of eliminations, Schumacher grabbed a starting line advantage over fellow multi-time world champion Steve Torrence and led the race until Torrence took over around the half-track mark. Schumacher posted a 3.738 E.T. at 325.61 mph to finish just .012 seconds behind Torrence and his 3.700 E.T.
“That was the wrong end of a great drag race,” said Schumacher, who’s won eight times at The Strip. “Honestly, (Torrence) left the door open. He made a great run. I think he was probably the third quickest of the round. We made a good run, we just needed to go quicker. We got behind the eight ball starting Friday and we never caught back up. We’ll do some testing here on Monday, then it’s on to Pomona to try to win the last race of the year.”
Though he’s realistically out of championship contention, Schumacher will look to improve on his position in the Top Fuel points when the 2024 season concludes at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Nov. 15-17, at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif.
This story was originally published on November 4, 2024.
The post Tony Schumacher Drops Close First-Round Match at Las Vegas first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
