This Winter Solstice is darker, more dank and sad. The racing world – the world itself – has lost a man of generosity, kindness and speed. Don Schumacher, 79, driver of the Wonder Wagon and Stardust Funny Cars during the 1960s and 1970s, NHRA impresario, mega-team owner and 2019 inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, lost his fight with lung cancer on December 20.
Schumacher’s death is a loss for the sport of straight-line racing and for anyone who relishes a competitive spirit in a human body. After leaving the cockpit of a race car, Don Schumacher became a team owner whose primary objective was to make the sport of straight-line racing in all forms safer for everyone involved.
As his multitude of Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle teams combined to produce 367 NHRA national event Wally-trophied victories (including his five as a driver) and to earn 19 NHRA World Championships, Don Schumacher Racing ruled the sport for more than 20 years. His successes in appealing to new sponsors and keeping those he had is nearly as legendary as the accomplishments of his teams and drivers.
More than 25 drivers and riders worked under the Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) umbrella; his is the sole NHRA team to earn victories in all four NHRA professional classes and he was also successful in NHRA’s Factory Stock Showdown series, winning the 2018 title with Leah Pruett in only his second year campaigning Stellantis cars in that category.
As a driver, Don Schumacher contributed to safety innovations in the sport, including a roof-mounted escape hatch for Funny Cars that allowed quick exit for drivers when fires occurred, at that time with great frequency. He mounted the lever that activated fire suppression systems in his Funny Car’s brake handle, so he – and any other driver – could apply both the brake and fire suppression system while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.
As a team owner, he funded and spearheaded the project to develope a protective, enclosed canopy for Top Fuel dragsters, an innovation that was both panned and accepted by a variety of teams and drivers. The dragster canopy, derided by many art first, has been accepted and adopted by a number of NHRA Top Fuel teams over the years.
Don Schumacher and his eponymous race teams have annually raised both funds and awareness of a number of charities, both local to his Chicago home and his team’s Brownsburg, IN headquarters. Ahead of each year’s U.S. Nationals, held within hailing distance of his shops, DSR has hosted an event to benefit Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. This event is widely attended by racers and fans, as aficionados of the sport bring their machines to Brownsburg so that others can enjoy them.
For seven seasons Schumacher, together with Terry and Doug Chandler, campaigned “giving cars,” a program that enabled non-profits, including the Infinite Hero Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Houston, Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center to be recognized through dedicated tribute livery at no cost to the organization. The impact to these charities is undeniable; they became recognized household names because of Schumacher and the Chandler family.
In more recent times, Schumacher turned his focus to Don Schumacher Motorsports, more commonly known as DSM Precision Manufacturing and DSR Performance. The latter firm is considered one of the sport’s leading race engineering and aftermarket parts brands, while DSM is a successful precision manufacturing supplier for such diverse industries as motorsports, defense and aerospace. As these firms continue, they’ll honor Schumacher’s business legacy.
Don Schumacher cherished his team, but he relished times with his children and grandchildren. He was quite the aficionado of golfing and fishing. As his golfing buddy, Elite Motorsports’ marketing maven Scott “Woody” Woodruff put it, “He was one of the most driven people I have ever known, on and off the track. Don was also a great friend and I always enjoyed playing golf with him.”
Cold Hard Art’s Tom Michael Patsis, who started his motorsports career at DSR on the Pro Stock Motorcycle team noted, “Without him Cold Hard Art wouldn’t exist. Working at DSR for 11 years definitely impacted my family’s life; the loss of him to drag racing will definitely have an impact on all the people who have worked at DSR at some point,” he said.
“This is a huge loss for the sport,” noted Steve Gibbs, whose massive contributions to the sport of drag racing continue with his Nitro Revival festival each year. “Don’s presence and impact within the spot cannot be overstated,” he remarked. “Don was an iconic pillar in the NHRA and motorsports community,” said former DSR marketing man Ted Yerzyk, “whose vision and lessons will carry on for decades. Will miss the customary red shirt at the starting line. Godspeed, Don.”
Richard Shute, who photographed drag racing for more than 50 years was “at a loss for words. Truly a good friend and mentor has passed,” he said. “He could appear gruff and he could be gruff,” Shute said of Schumacher. “He demanded from those around him to put in the same effort as he would. He always gave 100 percent. I was blessed with the fact that he entrusted me with providing the images of his DSR empire for over 20 years. I both feared and admired him. R.I.P. Don Schumacher.”
Arrangements, including a celebration of life ceremony will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation in the name of Don Schumacher to MD Anderson Cancer Center.
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