Tony Schumacher has a message to the media, “Get off the fact the points reset and I got the lead after Indy.”

 

That was his response when asked Saturday during the post-qualifying press conference in Richmond, if he was focused on battling with Fuller for the top spot in Top Fuel pointsenabling Larry Dixon to pass them both.

 

Schumacher praised Dixon’s efforts but wasn’t as complimentary towards Fuller.

 

“I think one of Hot Rod’s primary defects as a driver is that he’s so focused on our car,” Schumacher said. “You hear him and all he says is, ‘We have to get around Schumacher.’

 

“There are a lot of great cars out here. Forget it. How about trying to win a championship? I wasn’t surprised that Dixon drove around us. He is a great driver and that’s a great car. I didn’t get passed because I was focused on Hot Rod. We got passed because we broke first round. He went a few more rounds and that’s how drag racing goes.

Tony Schumacher has a message to the media, “Get off the fact the points reset and I got the lead after Indy.”

 

That was his response when asked Saturday during the post-qualifying press conference in Richmond, if he was focused on battling with Fuller for the top spot in Top Fuel pointsenabling Larry Dixon to pass them both.

 

Schumacher praised Dixon’s efforts but wasn’t as complimentary towards Fuller.

 

“I think one of Hot Rod’s primary defects as a driver is that he’s so focused on our car,” Schumacher said. “You hear him and all he says is, ‘We have to get around Schumacher.’

 

“There are a lot of great cars out here. Forget it. How about trying to win a championship? I wasn’t surprised that Dixon drove around us. He is a great driver and that’s a great car. I didn’t get passed because I was focused on Hot Rod. We got passed because we broke first round. He went a few more rounds and that’s how drag racing goes.

 

“We want to win this race and quite frankly I am tired of hearing the media say that they took away Hot Rod’s points.

 

“If we pull off this championship, it won’t be because they took away his points but because we read the rule book better. We tested when we could and as much as we could. That’s the facts.”

 

NO MORE MULLIGANS 

 

Schumacher just can’t get a break when it comes to the first round from the top qualifying position. He lost five times in the opening round as the top speed.
 
Schumacher figures it was another mechanical malfunction that led to today’s shortcoming.
 
“Something went wrong on the car or maybe we are just dragging that number one qualifying anchor,” Schumacher said. “It left soft, dropped holes, and I’m guessing it lost a coil. It spun the teeth right out of the belt.”
 
Schumacher said there is no longer a margin for error.
 
“All year long was the time to lose a race,” Schumacher said. “So now is not the time to lose a race. We have four rounds remaining. That is not the time to lose. There are no mulligans left at this point in the game.”