Schumacher grabs fourth spot in Las Vegas, Brown 13th after first day of qualifying

U.S. Army Accessions Command
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Scott Turner

Date: 03.30.2012
Posted: 04.02.2012 12:44
News ID: 86121

LAS VEGAS — U.S. Army Top Fuel drivers Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher and Antron Brown banked the fourth and 13th starting positions, respectively, following the first day of qualifying for the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Possessing the mental, emotional and physical strength of the Army Strong Soldiers he represents, Schumacher recorded a 3.844-second pass at 318.09 mph in the second qualifying session to fall in behind provisional polesitter Morgan Lucas, Spencer Massey and Clay Millican in the order.

Lucas, who beat Schumacher two weeks ago in the finals of the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, laid down a 3.817-second run at 321.96 mph to rise to the top of pack.

"We had a couple of good runs today," said Schumacher, who came into the weekend holding the points lead. "Once again, it's quite clear we have a fast hot rod. Hopefully, we will be able to finally close the deal come Sunday."

Schumacher is seeking his first win since the 2010 fall Las Vegas race. He's gone winless in 26 starts.

"I won't deny the fact that is a long time to go without a victory," Schumacher added. "But, we will ultimately take care of business. Perhaps, this will be our weekend."

Brown, with a 3.994-second trip at 309.98 mph in the opening qualifying session, was unable to crack the top half of the field.

"What was unfortunate was when the conditions were better for the second session, we didn't get down the track cleanly," Brown said. "We just tried too hard. We were on pace for about what Morgan ran."

Looking for improvement, Schumacher and Brown will have two more qualifying shots on Saturday at noon and 3 p.m. PDT.

"We definitely don't want to stay down there near the bottom," Brown said . "I'm sure we'll be back tomorrow to take another swing for the fences."