Tony Schumacher now leads the NHRA POWERade points for the first time this season. He’s ahead of Dixon and previous leader Rod Fuller.

“I’m a fan but at the beginning of the season, I probably wasn’t” Schumacher admitted. “So long as at the end of the year they hand me the trophy because you’ve earned it. I don’t want it to be a gift.

“Today was not a gift. It was a hard-earned victory. The trophy means a lot. No matter at the end of the season, if you pull off the victory, and they hand you the trophy – that’s outstanding.”

Schumacher wouldn’t say his personal experience in Reading was a gift, but clearly the format worked in his favor.

“I got spanked first round, went home to test and gained 180 points and moved up some spots,” Schumacher said. “I don’t get it. It’s a strange deal but I understand it. The fans are going to love it.

“It’s not like I came in a said I had an idea to change the system. We didn’t know what we were going to do. If we would have been 180 points behind on the old system, we might not have been trying new things and getting superchargers ready. We would have been trying to win every race.

“At the end of the season, I hope the person who gets it – earns it.”

We asked him if ego presses a driver to go for the top spot when anywhere in the top eight gets him in the next phase.

“I don’t think so. We’ve talked about it and always want to go in first. That’s especially the case next year. I don’t want to start with a ten-point deficit. I want the ten-point lead. It’s not a game, it is our business. We want to win this championship for the Army and all of the sponsors on that car. We are a great team because we wake up in the morning and it’s not the metal on the shelf, it’s how we get there.

“We understand that. It’s about the pride of earning a championship. That’s why we are going to go out there and give it our best. There are great teams that are going to try and stop us. We wouldn’t want it any other way. We don’t want a give-me. We want it to be hardcore and earned. It will be a great championship trophy.”

 

 

WINNING INDY

Schumacher’s victory represented his sixth Indy win in the last eight years. With today’s triumph, he interestingly moved to tenth on the all-time victories list alongside of Larry Dixon, the driver he beat in the final round.

“I have a great crew chief and teammates that rely on one another,” Schumacher said. “When we get to Indy, there is not fighting or tension. They suck is up when the have to and they get it done.”

Schumacher ran evenly with Dixon until the eighth-mile mark (3.119 to 3.129 elapsed times) before a combination of Alan Johnson horsepower and his opponent’s engine exploded.

 

 

THE A.J. FACTOR 

No one tuner has mastered Indy like Alan Johnson.

“I don’t really think about the importance of Indy,” Johnson said. “I just tune on a race-by-race basis. It’s just a big race to win.”

With all due respect, A.J. cannot expect the readers of Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com to believe this is just another race on the schedule.

“The biggest race is Indy and the more times you win that, the more you prove yourself,” said Johnson. “I guess I do go off to the side when no one is watching and secretly pump my fist and say, ‘Yes!”

Schumacher said he’s amazed with Johnson. He said nothing surprises him any more when it comes to his master tuner.

“He’s unbelievable,” Schumacher said. “He snickers a little bit but he’s very quiet. I know it was serious today for us when he didn’t have golf on the television all day long. He watches that all the time. But with this being Indy, the TV was off. All I could say is ‘wow!”

Schumacher said this event brings out the best in him like Johnson. He said his game plan centers around total focus.

“I had some friends come in and they wanted me to join them downtown for dinner,” Schumacher said. “I took a pass because I’m not here to be a spectator. I am here to win the event.”

Schumacher said at that point, he ate a small meal in his bus and retired for the evening.

“It’s discipline,” Schumacher said. “I just can’t believe it. It’s like betting in Vegas and it keeps on coming up red and sooner or later you know it’s going to be black. But, the red just keep coming. You can’t win this much here. Whatever it is, I wish I could bottle it up and sell it.”

Here’s a tidbit. Either Schumacher or Dixon has won the event for the last eight years.

 

 

Stop us if you’ve heard the story before. Schumacher goes out and struggles in the first part of the season only to come on like gangbusters at the finish.

If you’re wondering what Schumacher’s problem is, he doesn’t have one. He’s following Johnson’s game plan.

“I’d be afraid to see what the points would be if he ran like he knows how to daily,” Schumacher said. “We are always testing stuff. That’s just the way it is. We get down at the end of the year and we use everything we’ve learned in testing. That’s how we do it and it’s a great plan.

“I think if we had one year where we just went out there and raced every race, I don’t know what it would be like. It would be great but the next year would be the tough spot. The key is to stay ahead. The points system – regardless of which format we use, old or new, it’s to your advantage.

“You can win the next season too. We’re not always trying to catch up. We are trying to get ahead for the following year.”

Schumacher said he couldn’t help but notice the new format plays right into the AJ game plan. He even pulled off the feat with the old system in edging Doug Kalitta on the final run.

“I couldn’t have written a better script,” Schumacher said. “It is crunch time and we are good at that.”

“You know this year will be the same. We have proven time and time again that we can work under those conditions. The NHRA has given us those conditions three times in a season. Thank you.”

So what is AJ’s cut-off time?

“It’s different every year,” Schumacher said. “Last year we had a problem with tires. It took us a long time to figure that out. We didn’t have that problem this year. We had other situations we were trying to advance. Every year is different and we have to look at the situation.

“We look at the parts and pieces we are using and what Alan has come up with in developments at his shop. The guy is brilliant. The guys [on the crew] are flawless when they do their job. That makes it easy for Alan to go out and do his job.”