Bristol: Tony Schumacher Saturday report

DEFENDING BRISTOL EVENT CHAMP STAYS SIXTH

BRISTOL, Tenn., June 19, 2010 - Two-time Bristol event winner, Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, will start sixth in Sunday's Thunder Valley Nationals here at Bristol Dragway. Fighting a challenging, slick track for the second consecutive day, the driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster could not improve upon his Friday qualifying performance and as a result matched his starting position from a week ago in Englishtown, N.J.

"Man, it was just too hot today," said the Chicago-area resident. "When the track gets over 130 degrees, you just can't put the power down like you normally would. However, we did get some good information for tomorrow."

Schumacher will face off with 11th-place qualifier, Doug Herbert, in the first round of final eliminations beginning at 12 noon ET.

"The weather is expected to be exactly the same on Sunday, so you may just see a lot of races decided by the driver," said Schumacher. "We will all have to be on our toes in case our cars react adversely to the track. We'll have to be ready for anything."

As he attempts to capture his third straight Thunder Valley Nationals title, Schumacher will also be trying to cut into Larry Dixon's point lead.

"We have an opportunity to get a lot accomplished if we can run the table tomorrow," he added. "We have the car and the team to take care of business. Of course, our only concern right now is Doug Herbert."

While Schumacher solidified his position in the final race day order, so did his U.S. Army Racing teammate, Antron Brown.

Using his Friday evening run of 3.856-seconds at 314.24 mph, the driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster secured his fourth pole of the year and the 25th of his career. His opponent in the opening round of eliminations will be 16th-place qualifier, Doug Kalitta, who he beat in the semifinals last weekend.

"They're a great team over there so we better be prepared," said Brown. "They may have struggled a bit in qualifying, but they can turn it around with the snap of a finger. We're going to have to be Army Strong to advance."

-source: dsr