Schumacher on Bad Side of Good Drag Race; Pawuk Advances to Factory Stock Semifinals
NORWALK, Ohio (June 26, 2022) – At the NHRA Norwalk Nationals, Tony Schumacher and the Scag Power Equipment Top Fuel team qualified 14th out of a stacked 21-car field. While they would have preferred a higher starting position, they felt confident going into race day after closing out qualifying with a solid 3.847 E.T. in the final session.
Schumacher drew eventual race winner Mike Salinas as his round-one opponent and his quick reflexes gave him the immediate advantage off of the starting line, but Salinas was able to pull ahead near the eighth-mile marker when Schumacher’s machine pitched a blower belt. He still made a good run, and despite powering to his weekend-best pass of 3.794 seconds, the eight-time Top Fuel world champ found himself on the bad side of a good drag race.
TONY SCHUMACHER: Driver of the Scag Power Equipment Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 14 (3.847 E.T. at 319.37 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.794 E.T. at 294.82 MPH defeated by Mike Salinas 3.758 E.T. at 328.06 MPH
“If I had long enough hair, I’d pull it out, because that run was outstanding,” said a frustrated Schumacher following his round-one contest. “We ran 2.90 to halftrack. We were winning that race until the belt came off. It didn’t have a cylinder out, it was going dead straight, and we had the race won. It’s heartbreak. It’s hard because we really had that one. We did a great job and gave Salinas his money’s worth. We gave him a good, solid race. Unfortunately for us, he made it down the track. There weren’t a lot of side-by-side close races out there like ours in round one today. We’re going to pack it up, front-half the car during this two-week break, and then head to Denver, one of my favorite tracks on the circuit.”Qualified: No. 14 (3.847 E.T. at 319.37 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.794 E.T. at 294.82 MPH defeated by Mike Salinas 3.758 E.T. at 328.06 MPH
In Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series competition, Mark Pawuk kicked off his race weekend by announcing he had reunited with longtime sponsor Summit Racing Equipment, his primary backer during much of his former Pro Stock career.
At his hometown track, Pawuk, a native of Akron, Ohio, defeated Scott Libersher and Jesse Alexandra to advance to the semifinals and move up from 10th to seventh in the point standings. The Factory Stock class rejoins the NHRA tour at the U.S. Nationals during Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.
NHRA Camping World Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Mike Salinas | 821 | |
| 2 | Brittany Force | 809 | |
| 3 | Steve Torrence | 712 | |
| 4 | Justin Ashley | 711 | |
| 5 | Austin Prock | 513 | |
| 6 | Josh Hart | 509 | |
| 7 | Shawn Langdon | 467 | |
| 8 | Clay Millican | 462 | |
| 9 | Doug Kalitta | 459 | |
| 10 | Leah Pruett | 417 | |
| 11 | Antron Brown | 402 | |
| 12 | Tony Schumacher | 391 |
Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series:
DAVID DAVIES: Driver of the D H Davies Racing® /Save our Allies Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 10 (7.884 E.T. at 176.40 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 7.901 E.T. at 178.40 MPH defeated by Ricky Hord 7.882 E.T. at 174.50 MPH
DAVID DAVIES: Driver of the D H Davies Racing® /Save our Allies Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 10 (7.884 E.T. at 176.40 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 7.901 E.T. at 178.40 MPH defeated by Ricky Hord 7.882 E.T. at 174.50 MPH
MARK PAWUK: Driver of the Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 3 (7.836 E.T. at 179.88 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 7.897 E.T. at 175.34 MPH defeated Scott Libersher 7.939 E.T. at 169.34 MPH
E2: 7.909 E.T. at 176.07 MPH defeated Jesse Alexandra 11.037 E.T. at 106.60 MPH
E3: 7.900 E.T. at 177.28 MPH defeated by David Barton 7.870 E.T. at 174.68 MPH
Qualified: No. 3 (7.836 E.T. at 179.88 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 7.897 E.T. at 175.34 MPH defeated Scott Libersher 7.939 E.T. at 169.34 MPH
E2: 7.909 E.T. at 176.07 MPH defeated Jesse Alexandra 11.037 E.T. at 106.60 MPH
E3: 7.900 E.T. at 177.28 MPH defeated by David Barton 7.870 E.T. at 174.68 MPH
WARREN WALCHER: Driver of the Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 12 (7.907 E.T. at 175.71 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 8.233 E.T. at 151.20 MPH defeated by David Janac 7.867 E.T. at 176.21 MPH
Qualified: No. 12 (7.907 E.T. at 175.71 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 8.233 E.T. at 151.20 MPH defeated by David Janac 7.867 E.T. at 176.21 MPH
NHRA Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Series Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Bill Skillman | 435 | |
| 2 | David Barton | 427 | |
| 3 | Lenny Lottig | 301 | |
| 4 | Aaron Stanfield | 258 | |
| 5 | David Janac | 253 | |
| 6 | Stephen Bell | 237 | |
| 7 | Mark Pawuk | 235 | |
| 8 | Dan Condon | 225 | |
| 9 | David Davies III | 224 | |
| 10 | Anthony Troyer | 195 | |
| 11 | Scott Libersher | 188 | |
| 12 | Warren Walcher | 183 |
About Don Schumacher Racing
Established in 1998, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) has grown to become the winningest organization in NHRA Drag Racing history, and further cemented its position as one of motorsports’ elite teams when it surpassed the ‘350 wins’ milestone during the 2020 season. DSR owns 19 world championships in three different NHRA categories, and including hall-of-fame team owner Don Schumacher’s five NHRA Funny Car triumphs from the 1970s, DSR has been successful in capturing 366 national event victories overall.Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR campaigns the Maynard Family/Scag Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series with fan-favorite Tony Schumacher at the helm. As an eight-time world champion and 85-time NHRA national event winner, Schumacher is the most decorated Top Fuel driver of all time.
DSR also campaigns three entries in the Factory Stock Showdown Series. The trio of DSR Dodge Drag Paks is piloted by former Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk, David Davies, who made his NHRA debut with DSR in 2021, and Warren Walcher, who is set to compete in his first full FSS season in 2022.
