When Joe and Cathi Maynard entered the NHRA’s Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series, their first move, after being an associate partner for Leah Pruett, was to take over the running of Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel rail. As Tony’s father, Don Schumacher released his huge hold on NHRA’s pair of nitro categories, Top Fuel and Funny Car, Joe and Cathi stepped in to take over at least one of his multitude of teams.
The balance of Don Schumacher Racing went elsewhere: both Antron Brown and Ron Capps started their own Top Fuel and Funny Car teams, respectively, while Leah Pruett and Matt Hagan went to Tony Stewart Racing’s brand new start-up. Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Beckman, the latter NHRA’s 2012 Funny Car titleholder, stepped away from the sport, hopefully temporarily.
Over the past winter, JCM Racing expanded their reach, taking on affiliations with Tim Wilkerson’s Funny Car team and Justin Ashley’s Top Fuel squad. For the 2024, the Maynard family is scaling back its external focuses and putting its emphasis on Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel titleholder now attempting a ninth championship, for the first time without his late father at the helm. They’ll also back Finnish racer and European FIA Top Fuel titleholder Ida Zetterstrom, set to make her American debut in late spring as she attempts to earn NHRA Rookie of the Year honors. Her goal is to race a full 2025 season as she adapts to American nitro drag racing.
Thus far in their short tenure as team owners, the JCM Racing organization has secured seven national event wins. Campaigning in 2024 as a two-car Top Fuel team, their squads will be led by crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer, the duo retaining primary responsibility for Schumacher’s hot rod. Both Schumacher and Zetterstrom will represent Okuma, the Japan-based maker of fine machine tools, together with Leatherwood Distillery, which came onboard for the team in the latter stages of the 2023 campaign. Additional partners will be announced at a later date, JCM Racing said.
Those two cars are not the sole entries for JCM Racing in 2024. The family team is turning inward for its next thrusts, as Joe and Cathi’s son, Joe C. Maynard is making his debut in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series’ Top Alcohol Dragster ranks. He intends to compete on a full-time basis, with several divisional events scheduled that would make him eligible to contend for the national championship in this class. He licensed in A/Fuel Dragster after the 2023 NHRA Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas, with Tony Schumacher signing off on his license after lending support and guidance during Joe C.’s licensing phase.
Joe C. Maynard’s son, Shelby is also preparing to compete in NHRA drag racing for the 2024 season. The youngest drag racing Maynard begins his career in Jr. Dragster, competing in the NHRA’s Division 2 ranks.
“We’re excited for the 2024 season,” Joe Maynard stated. “We’re going into this next year with a streamlined approach, and it feels like we’re returning to our roots. When my wife Cathi and I first started this, we began as associate partners of Leah Pruett’s car, because Cathi was impressed with how Leah represented women in what is otherwise considered a predominantly male industry. At the time, Tony Schumacher wasn’t racing, and in addition to supporting Leah, Cathi was adamant about bringing Tony back.
“Everyone that knew Cathi,” he explained, “knew that Tony was ‘her driver.’ When working through our organizational restructure this off-season, it was important to me that Tony continue to race as a member of JCM in Cathi’s honor, and now, with the recent passing of Don Schumacher, we want to be sure we carry on his legacy as well. Between Tony competing for a [ninth] championship, and Ida racing for the Rookie of the Year award, I know we’ll make them proud.”
JCM Racing has been adamant in its desire to accelerate the appeal of straight-line racing and, with two generations of Maynards driving in NHRA competition, “We’ve always been clear about our intentions to grow the sport. Part of that is supporting the up-and-coming drivers, whether it’s through our JCM Racing driver development program, campaigning cars in the non-professional ranks, or introducing a new driver to the series, like Ida. I feel like we’re checking all of the boxes next year, and returning to the things that are most important to us,” Joe Maynard stated. “With Joe C. and Shelby representing us in the Sportsman ranks, and Tony and Ida in Top Fuel, I couldn’t think of a better line-up for our JCM Racing organization heading into 2024.”
While the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season doesn’t get underway until the second weekend of March, at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla., Tony Schumacher will be in action during the inaugural PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Fla. That event is set for February 8-10.
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