Schumacher Leads Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals

The RacingJunk Editors

1 Aug 2022

NHRA Seattle 2022 Winners — Photo: Courtesy of the NHRA

Schumacher, Hight and Coughlin come out on top in Seattle as the NHRA’s Western Swing wraps up.

Tony Schumacher picked up his first win since 2020 on Sunday, holding off points leader Brittany Force, and bringing his total career victories up to 86 as the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways wrapped up the NHRA Camping World Series Western Swing.

In addition, Robert Hight and Troy Coughlin, Jr. had stellar weekends with strong wins in Funny Car and Pro Stock, respectively.

Schumacher’s victory was also a landmark for new team owners Joe and Cathi Maynard, who became the majority shareholders last week. Going 3.977-seconds at 251.34 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Okuma dragster, Schumacher surpassed Bob Glidden for the fourth-most wins in NHRA history.

“This is fantastic,” Schumacher said. “We were having a tough time this year, but we dug deep, worked hard, and made some big changes. Joe and Cathi are a great group of people and when good stuff happens, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s good for my guys, it’s good for Joe and Cathi and this is cool stuff. You’ve got to perform in this class, and these are not easy to win. To have five here in Seattle is phenomenal and we all felt good coming here this weekend.”

Brittany Force may not have won the Wally, but she did stretch her points lead, beat out Jim Maroney, Josh Hart, and Leah Pruett all while setting the track speed record on Sunday with a run of 332.43.

Hight drove his Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS to a sweet victory over J.R. Todd on Sunday, maintaining his points leadership and highlight a fantastic trip through the west.

“We weren’t the best car in qualifying, but we had to be on our game today,” Hight said. “We had low E.T. every round and that’s big. We’ve been good when the conditions were good, so I’m proud of what these guys did in the heat. It’s amazing to have six wins at this point in the season. I love it here in Seattle and it was great to be back, and we capitalized when we needed to. Everyone is pulling in the same direction on all of our teams and as a driver, that gives you a lot of confidence. We’re very hopeful we can keep this going, but we just have to continue to stay focused and keep working toward our goal.”

Troy Coughlin Jr., who had been struggling early on in the season, rocketed to victory in Pro Stock with a 6.638 at 208.68 pass, beating teammate and points leader Erica Enders.

“All the credit in the world goes to this entire team and everyone at Elite Motorsports,” Coughlin said. “To have that many good runs in the heat is extremely difficult and impressive to do. What an honor to win today and I’m tickled to death. The car is phenomenal and a blast to drive, and I’m the luckiest kid in the pits. When the morale is up the car just starts to work. This team is gaining momentum and I’m excited to get to Topeka.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 12-14 with the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan.

TOP FUEL:

1. Tony Schumacher; 2. Brittany Force; 3. Leah Pruett; 4. Justin Ashley; 5. Shawn Langdon; 6. Doug Kalitta; 7. Josh Hart; 8. Steve Torrence; 9. Clay Millican; 10. Antron Brown; 11. Austin Prock; 12. Alex Laughlin; 13. Jim Maroney; 14. Scott Palmer; 15. Ron Smith; 16. Mike Salinas.

FUNNY CAR:

1. Robert Hight; 2. J.R. Todd; 3. John Force; 4. Tim Wilkerson; 5. Alexis DeJoria; 6. Bob Tasca III; 7. Blake Alexander; 8. Jim Campbell; 9. Cruz Pedregon; 10. Matt Hagan; 11. Ron Capps; 12. Gary Densham.

PRO STOCK:

1. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 2. Erica Enders; 3. Aaron Stanfield; 4. Greg Anderson; 5. Dallas Glenn; 6. Camrie Caruso; 7. Kyle Koretsky; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr.; 9. Cristian Cuadra; 10. Mason McGaha; 11. Matt Hartford; 12. Fernando Cuadra; 13. Deric Kramer; 14. Chris McGaha; 15. Bo Butner.