SCHUMACHER CLAIMS 50TH CAREER VICTORY AND EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO FOUR AT LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS

 
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.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the 27th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International
Raceway, the 16th of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
-

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 1,532; 2. Antron Brown, 1,051; 3. Larry Dixon, 988;
4. Cory McClenathan, 987; 5. Rod Fuller, 958; 6. Brandon Bernstein,
922; 7. Hillary Will, 874; 8. Doug Herbert, 807; 9. Doug Kalitta, 701;
10. David Grubnic, 685.

Sunday's final results from the 27th annual Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. The race is the 16th of 24 in the
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:
 

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.865 seconds, 310.05 mph def. Cory McClenathan,
3.900 seconds, 306.74 mph.

Final round-by-round results from the 27th annual Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, the 16th of 24 events in
the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Rod Fuller, 3.942, 306.46 def.
Brandon Bernstein, foul; Morgan Lucas, 3.926, 298.21 def. Antron Brown,
4.234, 247.47; Doug Kalitta, 3.972, 305.22 def. Doug Herbert, 3.980,
280.66; J.R. Todd, 3.964, 289.07 def. Larry Dixon, 3.970, 304.39; Tony
Schumacher, 3.900, 309.70 was unopposed; Cory McClenathan, 3.897,
309.84 def. Luigi Novelli, 11.368, 84.36; Steve Torrence, 3.887, 307.16
def. Hillary Will, 3.993, 305.56; Bob Vandergriff, 3.910, 310.70 def.
David Grubnic, 3.989, 276.86;

QUARTERFINALS -- Kalitta, 3.968, 303.91 def. Todd, 4.980,
157.74; Schumacher, 3.920, 306.46 def. Fuller, 3.982, 301.07;
McClenathan, 3.939, 304.74 def. Vandergriff, 4.296, 245.40; Torrence,
3.885, 307.72 def. Lucas, 3.925, 302.35;

SEMIFINALS -- Schumacher, 3.885, 310.13 def. Kalitta, 4.222, 229.90; McClenathan, 3.951, 305.36 def. Torrence, 7.992, 78.90;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.865, 310.05 def. McClenathan, 3.900, 306.74.

Ashley Force raced to her second career No. 1 qualifying position in
as many events during the 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at
Brainerd International Raceway and a drag racing fan is really happy
for her.

The 25 year old sophomore driver for John Force Racing
was the quickest of the field and for her efforts Tami Carey of Hugo,
Minn., won a new Whirlpool washer and dryer as part of the BrandSource
“Win with Force” promotion. At sixteen select events during the 2008
POWERade Drag Racing Series when any one of the four John Force Racing
Funny Cars qualifies No 1 at the event one lucky winner wins a
Whirlpool washer and dryer set.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 27th
annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, the
16th of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings
based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below
pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 3.864 seconds, 312.21 mph vs.
Bye; 2. Steve Torrence, 3.869, 308.00 vs. 15. Hillary Will, 4.546,
177.07; 3. Cory McClenathan, 3.877, 311.77 vs. 14. Luigi Novelli,
4.204, 269.13; 4. Larry Dixon, 3.899, 306.88 vs. 13. J.R. Todd, 4.027,
273.11; 5. Doug Herbert, 3.901, 306.60 vs. 12. Doug Kalitta, 4.013,
297.61; 6. David Grubnic, 3.910, 306.19 vs. 11. Bob Vandergriff, 3.988,
290.88; 7. Antron Brown, 3.929, 306.19 vs. 10. Morgan Lucas, 3.984,
300.80; 8. Rod Fuller, 3.933, 308.71 vs. 9. Brandon Bernstein, 3.972,
303.16.

SCHUMACHER SEEKING FOURTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY FROM NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITION AT LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
 
Ashley Force, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith also claim No. 1 qualifying positions at Brainerd International Raceway
 

Tony Schumacher will attempt to win his fourth consecutive race and ninth overall Sunday from the No. 1 qualifying position.

Tony
Schumacher will attempt to win his fourth consecutive race and ninth
overall Sunday from the No. 1 qualifying position at the Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
 
Ashley Force, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith also were No. 1 qualifiers
and will lead their respective categories into Sunday's 11 a.m.
eliminations 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, begin Sept. 11-14 at zMax
Dragway at Concord near Charlotte, N.C.

Pro
Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith didn't feel like doing much after
scoring his third top qualifying effort of the season. The defending
world champion said he wanted to sit in some water, preferably at a
local hospital, and get rid of what he considers to be a kidney stone
ailing him.

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America will
expand its honor roll by seven at its 20th annual Induction Ceremony on
Wednesday, August 13, 2008, at the Fillmore Detroit.

The class of 2008 includes drag racing king John Force (presenter: Tom
Compton), open-wheel racing champion Michael Andretti (presenter: Mario
Andretti), NASCAR great Buddy Baker (presenter: Humpy Wheeler), sports
car champion Richie Ginther (presenter: E. Forbes-Robinson), motorcycle
hero Wayne Rainey (accepting for Mr. Rainey: Roger Edmondson), aerobatic
pilot Betty Skelton (presenter: Patty Wagstaff), and one of America's
most versatile competitors, Paul Goldsmith (presenter: Donald Davidson).

Legendary Indy car team owner Carl Haas will also be recognized as the
ninth recipient of the Bob Russo Heritage Award for his significant
contribution to American motorsports.

At this point in the 2008 championship battle, Del Worsham is open to any and all suggestions, even if they are out of the normal. The latest suggestion no longer has him seeing red, but rather black and white.

Although other teams have recently gone to a bare carbon fiber shell
with minimal vinyl logos in an effort to save weight, Worsham and his
team are taking a different approach and are doing so for a different
reason, and most of them will agree it's simply superstitious.   
Rather than adhere the vinyl panels to a car painted in a base coat of
red, Worsham has devised a new "look" for his car's vinyl that is based
solely on shades of gray, and those sheets of vinyl have then been
applied to the bare shell.  The reason?  The current red and white
design has not won a race since it became the official design for the
team in 2006, yet this particular body has a win under its belt, when
it was covered in K&N Filters colors earlier this season in Houston.