Schumacher’s tops in Top Fuel qualifying
Local favorite Tony Schumacher raced to the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel Saturday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
John Force (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Sr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also will lead their respective categories into today’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in Joliet.
Schumacher, a Long Grove resident, powered his famed U.S. Army dragster to a performance of 3.763 seconds at 324.83 mph to claim his second top qualifying position of the season and 69th of his career.
The seven-time world champ moved from ninth to first in the 16-car order. This is his seventh No. 1 qualifying position at Route 66 Raceway. He is a three-time winner at his home track.
Schumacher, who broke a 32-race win drought at Bristol, Tenn. two weeks ago, will face another area driver — T.J. Zizzo — in the opening round as he goes for his second win in a row.
“T.J. is a good friend of mine,” Schumacher said. “His shop is right down the street from me, so we go to lunch quite a bit. I’m sure he’s going to take his best shot at me. Of course, we’re going to give him our best shot as well.”
Friday night qualifying leader Antron Brown dropped to second with his 3.773 at 322.50 in his Matco Tools dragster and Shawn Langdon held on to third with a 3.784 at 322.73 in the Al-Anabi Racing dragster.
In Funny Car, 15-time world champ Force earned his first No. 1 of the season and the 140th of his career with a 4.050 at 310.77 in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang. He will meet Terry Haddock in the first round.
Past Route 66 winner Tim Wilkerson posted the quickest run of the day to move to second in the starting order.
Johnson claimed his fifth No. 1 of the season and 23rd of his career in Pro Stock with a 6.597 at 209.26 in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Arana claimed his third No. 1 of the season and 20th of his career, powering his Lucas Oil Buell to a category-best effort of 6.884 at 195.08. Arana will face veteran rider Michael Phillips in the first round.