SCHUMACHER RETAINS NUMBER ONE SPOT IN TOP FUEL
INDIANAPOLIS, September 3 - Piloting his black and gold U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher banked his second straight Mac Tools U.S. Nationals pole here Sunday during final qualifying at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
The defending NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champion rode his Saturday pass of 4.475-seconds at 332.59 mph to his ninth pole of the season and the 31st of his career.
Schumacher will square off with 16th-place qualifier, J.R. Todd, in the opening round of final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. EDT.
"I'm ready to get going," said the Chicago native. "As always, we'll take it a round at a time. But, certainly, the plan is to cover a full mile."
With an eye cast towards cutting into the Top Fuel points lead held by Doug Kalitta, Schumacher will also be looking to grab his fifth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals title on Labor Day.
"Without question, it would be nice to get another U.S. Nationals trophy, but the real priority is this championship chase that we're involved with," he added. "We need to do some damage tomorrow."
