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This is a little late but how incredable is that 6 T/F tiltles and 5 in a row. Looks Like John Force all over but there is a catch no more Allen J.
so next year should be interesting in the NHRA. Congrats to Tony
Here is the story
After two straight white-knuckle finishes in which Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team needed a clutch performance in the season's final round of racing to win the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world championship, the reigning champs made it look easy this year, clinching the title – their fifth straight and sixth overall – more than a race ahead of recent schedule.
By merely qualifying at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson clinched the championship, but as has been the case this entire season, they were not content to merely get there – they did it in style, qualifying No. 1 for the eighth time this season.
It has been a season of amazing dominance and history for the team, which, with two race days remaining, already had won 14 of 22 events and accumulated a class-record 71 round-wins. In the process, Schumacher also surpassed legendary Top Fuel pilot Joe Amato's 52 wins to become the class' most prolific winner, capturing his 55th title three weeks ago in Richmond.
Schumacher never spent a day out of first place, kicking off the season by winning in Pomona with a final-round conquest of Doug Kalitta that began one of the most amazing seasons in NHRA history.
"We've always been known as a pressure team, and to come out with no pressure on and win the first race of the year against Doug Kalitta, I said, 'That's going to set the tone for the year,' and we came out swinging and haven't let our guard down," said Schumacher. "The six championships were all done in different ways; my first championship, back in 1999, was done by winning one race at the end of the year, and this year was just sheer domination.
"We pulled out some incredibly close races where we didn't have a car that was a tenth of a second ahead of everyone else; they were just close. That made it real gratifying for a team that won championships on the last run of the year the last two years in a row."
The Schumacher team added wins in Gainesville, Atlanta, Bristol, Chicago, and Englishtown, and, after a second-round stumble in Norwalk, went on one of the all-time great winning streaks beginning in Denver, where NHRA first limited racing to 1,000 feet.
Schumacher and Johnson went unbeaten for the next 31 rounds, winning a record seven straight times – including his seventh Mac Tools U.S. Nationals title -- before being beaten in the final in Dallas. The team tossed off that setback by winning the next two events, in Memphis and Richmond.
At the U.S. Nationals, the Schumacher camp learned for certain that Johnson would be leaving the team at season's end to begin his own operation yet kept the focus as the Countdown to the Championship playoff began.
Recalled Schumacher, "We are great at those moments. At Indy, when I heard that news, I said, 'We only have so many races left with this team, and it's like the '80 Olympic [hockey] team: We may never see each other again or work together again, but let's leave nothing on the table. Let's keep it focused and be a machine,' and we've done a great job of that."
With a victory this weekend in Las Vegas, Schumacher could match Pro Stock racer Greg Anderson's NHRA record of 15 wins in a season and has the potential to break it – as well as Anderson's record of 75 round-wins -- if he closes out with wins at the season's final two events, achievements that would be a fitting coda to one of the most amazing seasons in the record books.
so next year should be interesting in the NHRA. Congrats to Tony
Here is the story
After two straight white-knuckle finishes in which Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team needed a clutch performance in the season's final round of racing to win the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world championship, the reigning champs made it look easy this year, clinching the title – their fifth straight and sixth overall – more than a race ahead of recent schedule.
By merely qualifying at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson clinched the championship, but as has been the case this entire season, they were not content to merely get there – they did it in style, qualifying No. 1 for the eighth time this season.
It has been a season of amazing dominance and history for the team, which, with two race days remaining, already had won 14 of 22 events and accumulated a class-record 71 round-wins. In the process, Schumacher also surpassed legendary Top Fuel pilot Joe Amato's 52 wins to become the class' most prolific winner, capturing his 55th title three weeks ago in Richmond.
Schumacher never spent a day out of first place, kicking off the season by winning in Pomona with a final-round conquest of Doug Kalitta that began one of the most amazing seasons in NHRA history.
"We've always been known as a pressure team, and to come out with no pressure on and win the first race of the year against Doug Kalitta, I said, 'That's going to set the tone for the year,' and we came out swinging and haven't let our guard down," said Schumacher. "The six championships were all done in different ways; my first championship, back in 1999, was done by winning one race at the end of the year, and this year was just sheer domination.
"We pulled out some incredibly close races where we didn't have a car that was a tenth of a second ahead of everyone else; they were just close. That made it real gratifying for a team that won championships on the last run of the year the last two years in a row."
The Schumacher team added wins in Gainesville, Atlanta, Bristol, Chicago, and Englishtown, and, after a second-round stumble in Norwalk, went on one of the all-time great winning streaks beginning in Denver, where NHRA first limited racing to 1,000 feet.
Schumacher and Johnson went unbeaten for the next 31 rounds, winning a record seven straight times – including his seventh Mac Tools U.S. Nationals title -- before being beaten in the final in Dallas. The team tossed off that setback by winning the next two events, in Memphis and Richmond.
At the U.S. Nationals, the Schumacher camp learned for certain that Johnson would be leaving the team at season's end to begin his own operation yet kept the focus as the Countdown to the Championship playoff began.
Recalled Schumacher, "We are great at those moments. At Indy, when I heard that news, I said, 'We only have so many races left with this team, and it's like the '80 Olympic [hockey] team: We may never see each other again or work together again, but let's leave nothing on the table. Let's keep it focused and be a machine,' and we've done a great job of that."
With a victory this weekend in Las Vegas, Schumacher could match Pro Stock racer Greg Anderson's NHRA record of 15 wins in a season and has the potential to break it – as well as Anderson's record of 75 round-wins -- if he closes out with wins at the season's final two events, achievements that would be a fitting coda to one of the most amazing seasons in the record books.
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