Local favorite Johnson, Pedregon and Smith also earn victories at Brainerd International Raceway
 
Tony Schumacher raced to his fourth consecutive victory and ninth of the season Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, and moved within two of all-time Top Fuel wins leader Joe Amato's longstanding record of 52 victories.
 
Tony Pedregon, Kurt Johnson and Matt Smith also earned victories in their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event, the 16th of 18 events in the Countdown to 10, NHRA's regular season. The Countdown to 1, NHRA's six-race championship playoffs, begins Sept. 11-14 at zMax Dragway at Concord, near Charlotte, N.C.

 
Local favorite Johnson, Pedregon and Smith also earn victories at Brainerd International Raceway
 
Tony Schumacher raced to his fourth consecutive victory and ninth of the season Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, and moved within two of all-time Top Fuel wins leader Joe Amato's longstanding record of 52 victories.
 
Tony Pedregon, Kurt Johnson and Matt Smith also earned victories in their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event, the 16th of 18 events in the Countdown to 10, NHRA's regular season. The Countdown to 1, NHRA's six-race championship playoffs, begins Sept. 11-14 at zMax Dragway at Concord, near Charlotte, N.C.
 
Schumacher powered his U.S. Army dragster to a performance of 3.865 seconds at 310.05 mph to outrun Cory McClenathan's FRAM dragster, which trailed at 3.900 at 306.74 in the final round. Schumacher earned his third win at the scenic Minnesota dragstrip by defeating Rod Fuller and Doug Kalitta in the early rounds.
 
"These guys are amazing and this is the best team I've ever seen together, just like (John) Force and Amato's teams in their time," Schumacher said of his 50th career victory. "It's unbelievable. Not only have we won a lot of races, but we've won some of the most difficult races with so much pressure. And for whatever reason, I feel like I am driving my best right now. We've got a great team and a great car and the whole package has come together. I don't want to be the weak link in our team so I am working harder than ever. When you have the car that's supposed to win, that's a lot of pressure. I was even nervous in the first round today even though it was a bye run. Now we head to Reading (Pa.) and the pressure will be even bigger, with people asking how we are going to win five in a row."
 
Pedregon took his fourth Funny Car win of the season at the starting line in his Q-Horsepower Chevy Impala when final round opponent Jack Beckman fouled in his Valvoline/MTS Dodge Stratus. Pedregon's 40th career victory and first-ever at BIR moved him into second place in the season point standings, 141 behind series leader Tim Wilkerson.
 
"This is the toughest Funny Car era to be racing in, so bad luck on my part," said Pedregon, who beat veteran Jim Head, Melanie Troxel and 14-time world champ Force to advance to the final. "This is my first win at Brainerd and I'm really happy to win here. Every round today was a big challenge to me and the toughest was racing John Force. He's a great competitor and it was a tough race like I thought. There's never a dull moment racing him. Our car preformed well today and we had great conditions. I'm just happy to win a race here today and give great entertainment to all these great fans."
 
Local favorite Johnson, a native of Virginia, Minn., earned his third Pro Stock victory of the season and 39th of his career with a win over Dave Connolly. Johnson's ACDelco Chevy Cobalt ran 6.671 at 207.05 in the final to hold off Connolly's Charter Communications Cobalt, which clocked a 6.696 at 206.29. It was Johnson's fourth victory at BIR in front of his hometown fans. He in the first three rounds he beat Jim Yates, Mike Edwards and Jeg Coughlin to advance to the final.
 
"This was a super-great day today," said Johnson, who lived in Minnesota for 18 years before relocating to the Atlanta area. "We were a little behind at first and kept working on it and the car kept getting faster and faster. We had to make some small changes today but overall our Chevrolet was pretty flawless. We get pumped up to race here with all of our friends and family that come out and it does add some pressure, but you just have to perform. Once I get inside the car it's really easy to focus."
 
With the victory, Johnson moved within 56 of leader Greg Anderson, also a Minnesota native and the event's top qualifier who lost in the second round to Connolly.
 
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Smith overcame a bout with Kidney Stones to claim his third win of the season and ninth of his career. He rode his NitroFish Wear Buell to a 6.973 at 188.60 in the final, but ran unopposed as Angelle Sampey's Rush Racing Products Buell broke on the starting line.
 
"To win the race was amazing," said Smith, who beat Jim Underdahl, Craig Treble and David Hope in earlier rounds. "We debuted a brand new bike this weekend and it ran great. To be the No. 1 qualifier and win the race, that says it all. It was a really fast bike. We'll get these kidney stones cleared up and be ready for Reading."
 
Three drivers clinched their positions in the Countdown to 1, including Cruz Pedregon in Funny Car, Allen Johnson in Pro Stock and Chip Ellis in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
 
The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series continues with the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, Aug. 14-17 at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa.