When Tony Schumacher becomes a grandfather, he believes it will be the time he truly appreciates the numbers he’s attaining in the present.

On a Father’s Day afternoon in Bristol, Tenn., Schumacher became the first active Top Fuel racer to attain 100 final rounds of competition. He also won his 65th career title by stopping Brandon Bernstein in the final round of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

“That was an amazing deal,” said Schumacher whose win also represented his fourth Bristol Dragway victory. “Me, Dixon, and Amato were all at 99, if I am correct. Only one guy is getting to 100 first. You can go to 130 or 150, I don't care, but nobody had ever gotten there. To be able to be the first to go to 100 finals in Top Fuel, just awesome. It puts so much pressure on you because you want it so bad.”

Then the conversation, most anytime Schumacher speaks, comes back to his rival Larry Dixon. Together the two are creating one of drag racing’s greatest rivalries in the modern era.

When Tony Schumacher becomes a grandfather, he believes it will be the time he truly appreciates the numbers he’s attaining in the present.

On a Father’s Day afternoon in Bristol, Tenn., Schumacher became the first active Top Fuel racer to attain 100 final rounds of competition. He also won his 65th career title by stopping Brandon Bernstein in the final round of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

“That was an amazing deal,” said Schumacher whose win also represented his fourth Bristol Dragway victory. “Me, Dixon, and Amato were all at 99, if I am correct. Only one guy is getting to 100 first. You can go to 130 or 150, I don't care, but nobody had ever gotten there. To be able to be the first to go to 100 finals in Top Fuel, just awesome. It puts so much pressure on you because you want it so bad.”

Then the conversation, most anytime Schumacher speaks, comes back to his rival Larry Dixon. Together the two are creating one of drag racing’s greatest rivalries in the modern era.

“The way Dixon is running you don't have that many shots to get to that thing,” admitted Schumacher. “To get there we had to win a couple races by inches. We're trading places in the finals. It's been a heck of a battle.”

In the first twelve races of 2010, Schumacher and Dixon have won ten of them. The best of those battles have been when the two were paired against each other.

“The wins, when were in the finals together, have been just so close,” Schumacher explained. “They've been amazing. They've been wins and losses for the century. When I retire and watch as a grandfather I will be going, 'that was an inch.' Two guys, what an awesome battle. I was talking outside, Snake and Mongoose had a great rivalry but Snake won everything. Us, this is the best I have ever seen. This is very similar to me and Kalitta when we battled years ago. It's fun to be part of it. I am happy as can be to be in the battle. At the end of the day, one of us may go out and win a championship. Right now we are in the middle of the season, in the middle of the best battle I have ever seen. I'll be happy when they announce the great rivalries they include our names.”

Right now, Dixon is way out in front in the battle for the championship this year, 128 points to be exact. The NHRA championship points for the first phase of the Countdown to 1 will reset headed into the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. If the standings remain the same, Schumacher will only be ten points out of first.

He’ll know exactly how Dixon will feel when the time comes.

“Larry is way out in front,” Schumacher said. “It's nice to make some of those up, but really it's great to pull ahead of the rest of the guys. Even if he finishes number one, they take all the points away. A couple years ago we were 330 points ahead and they just take them away; and they’re gone. It takes a special guy to forget about that.”

And for Schumacher, it takes a special man to understand his limitations in drag racing, especially on a day when you stand in the winner’s circle alongside of John Force, a 130-time winner.

“I was listening to Force talk out there,” explained Schumacher. “He is up to 130 wins. I'm halfway and I feel like we've done so much. I feel like I am never going to catch him. Every time I am on stage, so is he. It's amazing to think what he has accomplished. Mind-boggling.

“My stats won't ever equal that because I won't be racing in ten years. I've got to watch my son play baseball. I'll race for many more years, I don't know if it will be one, five or ten but I won't be out there racing for decades. I'm enjoying every moment. I'm enjoying what I do. I enjoy showing up.”

He also enjoys saving up those memories.