TRADOC Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones shares Tony Shumachers's moment of triumph after clinching the Top Fuel Championship at the Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. Sgt. 1st Class Antony M.C. Joseph
READING, Pa. (Army News Service, Oct. 13, 2004) -- Drag racing superstar and U. S. Army car driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher swept aside all challengers to win the National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel Championship Nov. 10 at the Maple Grove Raceway in Reading.
Adding to the successful day for the Army team were NHRA Pro Stock Bike Racers Angelle Savoie and Antron Brown and who managed to finish one and two respectively in their event.
During qualifying, Brown set a track record of 7.05 seconds, which was beaten by Savoie during the final stages when she set a time of 7.03 seconds, .02 seconds outside the world record.
Although Schumacher only managed to qualify in fourth place, he was able to see off his closest challenger, Doug Kallita, in the quarterfinals stage. Kallita, who qualified in first place, was not able to maintain his form on race day under intense pressure from Schumacher.
The Sarge went into this makeup event (original race cancelled due to Hurricane Ivan) in first place in the standings, 4 points ahead of Kallita. Though Kallita had a mathematical chance of overhauling Schumacher’s lead, it was the Army driver’s race to lose. Before the race Mike Lewis, executive vice president of the race team, said “Tony would basically have to stay at home and Doug win all his races for there to be a change at the top of the standings.”
Schumacher, jubilant after clinching the championship, correlated his team’s efforts to those of the Army where teamwork is key to success, “the win was a culmination of the teams dedication to duty. Just like soldiers, who this team is very proud to represent, we work together to achieve our goal, and the concerted effort is a key reason for us winning this championship.
The Army’s successful Auto racing weekend was capped off by Joe Nemechek winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup race ahead of the Air Force and the National Guard cars, which finished second and third respectively.
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