Tony Schumacher tops qualifying in NHRA Gatornationals

Posted March 12, 2015 11:00 pm

The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Defending season champion Tony Schumacher raced to the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday in the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

Schumacher led both sessions, finishing with a 3.796-second run at 323.43 mph in the second session.

"We've got a great car," Schumacher said. "We're not coming off a bad race, either. We won in Phoenix and performed decent in Pomona. I think the changes we made early on, for once, really worked. It's setting a good trend on a tuneup that we needed to find quicker than last year."

Cruz Pedregon led in Funny Car, Chris McGaha in Pro Stock, and Angelle Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Pedregon had a 4.022 at 312.13 in a Toyota Camry, McGaha finished in 6.507 at 212.73, and Sampey had a 6.891 at 192.44 on a Buell.

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