Tony Schumacher is an NHRA living legend.

He has seven Top Fuel world championships, but he has never been the No. 1 qualifier at the Mile-High Nationals at Denver.

Schumacher is trying to change that this weekend.

 
Tony Schumacher is an NHRA living legend.

He has seven Top Fuel world championships, but he has never been the No. 1 qualifier at the Mile-High Nationals at Denver.

Schumacher is trying to change that this weekend.

Schumacher grabbed the provisional pole position with a pass of 3.823 seconds at 314.09 mph Friday.

“It is great here,” Schumacher said. “I was hired back here in 1996 and this was the first place I ever sat in a Top Fuel car. I got my license here and then we left for the Big Go. I’ve won here a few times and been in the finals and performed well, but I just haven’t qualified No. 1. You really have to find your niche here. You don’t bring your normal every-other-race combination, you bring something different up here for the mountain.”

Schumacher, who pilots the U.S. Army dragster, was thrilled with his Friday night effort.

“We knew we were making a good amount of horsepower for these conditions,” Schumacher said. “That car was shutoff literally at 930 feet. It had two cylinders out and the blower belt was chewing itself up. So, I was off the throttle and at that point I was 7 mph faster than our first run and really that’s unheard of. We are at a difficult place to race and that was a good qualifying run for anywhere. This is one of my top three or four favorite race tracks and it has always been.”

Schumacher also took a moment to praise John Bandimere, who runs the track.

“How about John Bandimere, who extends the coils on the ground,” Schumacher said. “What a brilliant idea. We are coming here in the middle of the summer and it’s going to be hot. Let’s fix the problem before we have a problem. I tell kids all the time, it’s not a problem if you have smart people. It’s only a problem if you hire your idiot buddy to do the job. Then you have a problem.”

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