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Texas NHRA FallNationals
Event 18 of 20
Countdown Event 4 of 6
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Oct. 11 – 13, 2024
Tony Schumacher Moves Up to Fifth in Top Fuel Standings with Dallas Semifinal Finish
ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 13, 2024) – Eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher’s late-season push in the Okuma/JCM Racing dragster continued Sunday afternoon at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, where he charged to a semifinal finish. The most recent winner on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, Schumacher went into the weekend ranked sixth in the Top Fuel points standings. After his semifinal loss to points leader Justin Ashley, Schumacher is fifth going into the final two races of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Schumacher’s promising performance at Dallas kicked off in the first qualifying session on Friday when he made the third-quickest pass of the round, a 3.762 E.T. at 324.93 mph, to earn one bonus point. He drove into tire smoke in the night session, ending the day in the No. 9 spot. The Austin, Texas, resident came back on Saturday and nearly repeated his Q1 performance with a 3.768 E.T. at 328.83 mph. He was consistent in the final qualifying session, running a 3.782 E.T. at 325.85 mph.
Qualified ninth, Schumacher paired up with teammate Ida Zetterström in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, guaranteeing a JCM Racing entry would advance to the quarterfinals. In a first-time matchup for the eight-time world champion and the Rookie of the Year contender, Schumacher moved first and raced to a 3.801-second pass at 322.27 mph to get the win. Zetterström was on a good run until her machine hazed the tires.
That sent Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in Texas Motorplex history, to a second-round match against two-time world champion and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force. Schumacher left first again and drove the Okuma machine to a 3.797 E.T. to defeat Force and her 3.790 E.T. on a holeshot. He advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time this season, meeting up with Justin Ashley. Schumacher cut his best reaction time of the day, but it wasn’t enough to leave on the notoriously quick Ashley. Schumacher crossed the finish line second with a 3.817 E.T. at 323.93 mph to Ashley’s 3.806 E.T.
“Those are painful ones, man,” said Schumacher, who put himself back in title contention with his recent St. Louis victory. “We should have won that round. We can't let the points leader get extra rounds like that. We had a hell of a race car all day long and it was just getting hot. We were losing power somewhere. We need to find it. We need to find a way to make power in situations like that because that was a damaging run. Hell of a race, though. The fans got to win that one, surely. But I wanted that cowboy hat. I wanted my seventh Dallas win. Love this place. We had all the friends and family here, but we’ve got two races to go. It ain't over yet.”
Schumacher and the JCM Racing team will move on to the penultimate race of the season, the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals, Nov. 1 - 3, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Qualified: No. 9 (3.762 E.T. at 324.93 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.801 E.T. at 322.37 MPH defeated by Tony Schumacher 4.082 E.T. at 222.85 MPH
E2: 3.797 E.T. at 326.16 MPH defeated Brittany Force 3.790 E.T. at 332.27 MPH
E3: 3.817 E.T. at 323.93 MPH defeated by Justin Ashley 3.806 E.T. at 327.51 MPH
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):
1 Justin Ashley 2422
2 Antron Brown 2378
3 Shawn Langdon 2346
4 Steve Torrence 2334
5 Tony Schumacher 2317
6 Clay Millican 2308
7 Doug Kalitta 2289
8 Brittany Force 2232
9 Shawn Reed 2182
10 Tony Stewart 2181
Ida Zetterström Out Early in Dallas
NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Ida Zetterström made some solidly impressive runs in qualifying this weekend at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, landing in the top half of the packed Top Fuel field. But the JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel Dragster team did not have enough to hold off their JCM Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in today’s opening round of eliminations.
Zetterström’s qualifying efforts started off strong when the talented Top Fuel pilot powered her 11,000-horsepower machine to an impressive pass of 3.808 seconds at 324.77 mph during Friday’s opening session. That evening, under the lights of Texas Motorplex, with an additional qualifying bonus on the line, she laid down a blistering run of 3.757 at 323.42 to land her Jon Schaffer-tuned dragster in the No. 8 position on the ladder.
On Sunday, Zetterström met her JCM Racing teammate on the stage during the opening ceremonies, playfully aiming finger guns at the eight-time world champion. This is the first time the two have faced each other in competition. Schumacher held on to his slight starting line advantage to turn on the win light while Zetterström’s dragster hazed the tires early and she was forced to abort the run.
Zetterström will take her powerful JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge back to the race shop in Brownsburg, Ind. before heading west to finish out the season at the final two events of the year, the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, November 1-3, followed by the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, November 15-17.