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Texas NHRA FallNationals
Event 18 of 20
Countdown Event 4 of 6
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Oct. 11 – 13, 2024
Driver Information:
TONY SCHUMACHER
Driver of the Okuma Top Fuel Dragster
Countdown to the Championship Ranking: 6th
Texas NHRA FallNationals Event Highlights:
Six-time event champion (1999, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014)
2008 runner-up
Three-time No. 1 qualifier (2003, 2006, 2011)
2023 Texas NHRA FallNationals Event Recap:
Qualified 12th; First round exit (defeated by Billy Torrence in E1)
Last Event (St. Louis):
Qualified second; Event champion (defeated Julie Nataas in E1, Antron Brown in E2, Shawn Reed in E3, Steve Torrence in E4)
2024 Statistics:
17 races; two wins, two runner-up finishes, one specialty race win
Career Statistics:
572 races; 88 wins, 88 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:
Schumacher placed himself back into the 2024 title conversation after powering to victory in St. Louis, the most recent race on tour
The Midwest Nationals triumph was Schumacher’s first playoff win since 2014, when he won his most recent of eight world championships
With six Texas Motorplex triumphs, Schumacher is the winningest Top Fuel driver in the history of the facility
Schumacher claimed his first NHRA national event win in 1999 at Dallas and went on to win his first championship later that year
At the 2020 event, Schumacher was named a Texas Motorplex Legend and was the second person to be awarded the honor, which was first introduced in 2019
As a resident of Austin, No. 6-ranked Schumacher considers the Texas Motorplex to be his home track
Schumacher will represent the Okuma brand this weekend in Dallas. It is his first time bannering the machine tool manufacturer since he last sported the Okuma colors on his dragster at the two four-wide events earlier this season
Fan Events:
Thursday, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Stampede of Speed Pre-Stage Fanfest, Waxahachie Railyards
Saturday, 10:00 – 10:30 a.m., Mission Foods driver autograph session, Mission Foods midway display
Quotable:
“We have more fire than we’ve had a in a long time. Our car is running well, if not fantastic. As far as the points go, it’s no secret that we are in somewhat of a hole, but it’s totally obtainable. The difficult part is the amount of people ahead of us. Yes, we had a good race and a good points weekend in St. Louis, but we’re still in sixth. Back when it was the days of battling against a (Doug) Kalitta or a ‘Hot’ Rod (Fuller), we only had to pass one person. Now, we have to pass five. We’re going to have to have a great race weekend in Dallas, but what better place to try and do that than a place where I’ve won six times, including my first ever win. I have a good history at the Motorplex. Our car tends to run well there, I’ve locked up championships there. We’ve done some miraculous stuff at this track, and at the same time, the car is running fantastic at the right time. Whatever happens, we’re going to make it a great weekend. We have tons of people coming out and I’m excited as can be. I love what Billy Meyer and his daughter Christie have done with this track. They’ve built a beautiful facility and it’s the closest track to my home near Austin, so I’m pumped for the weekend.”
IDA ZETTERSTRÖM
Driver of the JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel Dragster
Last Event (St. Louis):
Qualified ninth; First round exit (defeated by Steve Torrence in E1)
Fan Events:
Thursday, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Stampede of Speed Pre-Stage Fanfest, Waxahachie Railyards
Quotable:
“Looking forward to getting into the car again and getting to Texas Motorplex. I’ve heard that it’s an all-concrete surface and a really good track, so I’m excited about trying out a new facility that might be a little different from others we’ve raced at this year so far. I also have friends coming over from Sweden that will be there with us this week, which always makes it a little extra special, and of course, we’d love nothing more than to pull off a win with friends in the house.
“St. Louis, that was a tough first-round loss again, which was obviously not great, but I had a good feeling in the car that weekend. A feeling that I've been looking for the last couple of events, which is a confidence booster. St. Louis was obviously a short race with the weather. We definitely wanted those extra runs that we missed on Friday but looking forward to getting back at it this weekend. Losing first round was obviously rough, but it did feel a bit sweeter just because we found an issue when we made that run and we know exactly why it didn't run the numbers we wanted it to and why the car didn’t respond exactly how we wanted. The good thing is, we’re finding the issues which means we can address and fix them. We're not going into this race feeling defeated. We're going into this race very excited to try out the new things that we have made changes to. My spirits are high and like I’ve said before, we're still just testing stuff. But for me, when I see that we continue to keep moving forward from both a car and driver standpoint, it’s very promising. So, I'm keeping that excitement with me going into Texas and these last three events.
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