{"id":29977,"date":"2016-09-06T10:14:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T17:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=29977"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:36:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:36:13","slug":"schumacher-takes-10th-nhra-chevy-performance-nats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/schumacher-takes-10th-nhra-chevy-performance-nats\/","title":{"rendered":"Schumacher Takes 10th NHRA Chevy Performance Nats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"332-WinnersCircle-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

Photos:<\/strong> Courtesy of NHRA<\/p>\n

In Indianapolis, Labor Day means only one thing, and that\u2019s the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.\u00a0 It\u2019s the one drag race that can change a career and make a season, and for 62 years it has been NHRA\u2019s most prestigious race; with the biggest purse and points and a half, there’s a reason it\u2019s called \u2018The Big Go\u2019.\u00a0 Everyone wants to win it.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel\u2019s Tony Schumacher set the record, making 10 wins at the Nationals in a career that began on the same track 20 years earlier to the day. Matt Hagan just beat down his Funny Car opponents on the starting line and on the track with runs that no other team could match.<\/p>\n

Chris McGaha made his Pro Stock debut five years ago at Indy, and now he\u2019s a U.S. Nationals champion and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner. Andrew Hines rode his Harley to victory for his second Indy win.<\/p>\n

TOP FUEL<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"10th<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army Top Fuel team of Tony Schumacher came into Indy\u2019s U.S. Nationals on a mission to win it all, and that’s exactly what they did.\u00a0 On Saturday, Schumacher defeated his teammate Leah Pritchett to win the Traxxas Shootout for $100,000, and on Monday he riddled the field, taking down Tripp Tatum, Antron Brown, and J.R. Todd. In the finals he slipped by on a small holeshot over three-time consecutive runner up at the Nationals, Steve Torrence.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Schumacher\u2019s team, led by Mike Green, put down a couple of great 3.70\u2019s – and in the heat of the day, with a track temperature of 126 degrees.\u00a0 He left first to run a time of 3.806 seconds, 317.64 mph to Torrence\u2019s slightly quicker time of 3.803 seconds, 325.06 mph in taking his category leading 82nd<\/sup> career Top Fuel win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see (Steve Torrence) for one second, but I heard him,\u201d said Schumacher.\u00a0 \u201cIt was a great final round, live on FOX and I had my chance to win my 10th at Indy, separated by inches. \u00a0The fans got a close race.\u00a0 It\u2019s been such a great career and it\u2019s been so much fun. \u00a0I\u2019ve had great teams, one after another, and it\u2019s a blessing to be a part of this and have a chance.\u00a0 I love my job and I love drag racing cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"324-TonySchumacher-Monday-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

In another record, his 10th<\/sup> career Indy victory broke the tie with Pro Stock\u2019s Bob Glidden of nearby Whiteland, Indiana. He is now the winningest driver at the Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis out right.<\/p>\n

“What a special moment.\u00a0 What a magical place,” said Schumacher, who was runner-up at Indy in his first NHRA race in 1996.\u00a0 “You don’t want to leave anything on the table, and we didn’t.\u00a0 In 30 years, when I’m thinking about a great moment, that’d be it.”<\/p>\n

It was Torrence\u2019s third straight U.S. Nationals finals without a win and again will leave Indy shaking his head, wondering what else he needs to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tough one to take,\u201d acknowledged the man who will start the NHRA\u2019s Countdown to the Mello Yello Championship from the No. 3 position.\u00a0 \u201cMy guys worked so hard and gave me such a good race car \u2013 plus we really wanted to win it for A.J. (tuning consultant Alan Johnson, whose brother Blaine was killed in a qualifying accident at the Nationals 20 years ago).<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to take anything away from Schumacher and that team.\u00a0 Their record speaks for itself.\u00a0 But to be that close to winning at Indy for the third time in four years and not get it done is just hard to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the Countdown starts in two weeks in Charlotte.\u00a0 Leah Pritchett qualified for Monday’s championship eliminations in the 10th spot to earn two bonus points, while McMillen was 16th and only earned one point.\u00a0 Both lost the first round, locking her into the Countdown, much to her relief.<\/p>\n

Antron Brown will have the 30-point lead over Doug Kalitta with Steve Torrence, Schumacher, and Brittany Force making up the Top 5.<\/p>\n

FUNNY CAR<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"327-MattHagan-MondayReax-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

Last week at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, Matt Hagan\u2019s crew chief Dickie Venables unloaded a new Dodge Charger R\/T Funny Car chassis at the NHRA test. After only a couple of laps down the track he felt they were good to go, and packed it up to head back to Don Schumacher Racing headquarters right down the street.<\/p>\n

Venables entered Monday\u2019s U.S. Nationals tuning Hagan to his first U.S. Nationals title with four sub-4-second runs in the hottest conditions of the weekend after securing the No. 1 qualifying spot on Friday night, clinching his 21st<\/sup> Funny Car national event win on Monday.<\/p>\n

“It’s just incredible,” said Hagan, who is the No. 3 seed in the Countdown to the Championship.\u00a0 “This is something that we’ve been trying to accomplish for a long time.\u00a0 My crew chief Dickie Venables \u2013 that guy put a hot rod under me all weekend long.\u00a0 The guys do their job, and I’m just proud to be part of it, proud to be part of Don Schumacher Racing, and proud to have good sponsors in Mopar.\u00a0 The fans got what they paid for today.\u00a0 It’s really something to come out here and know that you have a great car and you have to dig deep to get it done for your team, but that’s why they put you in the seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"326-MattHagan-Monday-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

He sailed through eliminations, defeating John Bojec, Robert Hight, his DSR teammate, Tommy Johnson, Jr. and in the finals, defending Funny Car champion, Del Worsham.<\/p>\n

Hagan had low elapsed time in each of the first three rounds, but in the final, it was a mind-blowing .039-second reaction time that did the trick.\u00a0 Del Worsham’s quicker time of 3.958 seconds, 324.20 mph wasn’t quite enough for Hagan’s pass of 3.964 seconds, 327.43 mph.<\/p>\n

“I’m just tickled to death to be out here right now,\u201d said Hagan, a two-time Funny Car champion.\u00a0 \u201cThis is something I’ve been wanting to check off the list for a long time. \u00a0We came out here with a brand new race car, we qualified No. 1, and the car was just on kill the whole weekend. \u00a0Being able to have that confidence and see that in Dickie and this whole Mopar team, it’s been great. \u00a0That’s what it takes to win races and to win the championship. \u00a0I really feel like this car is starting to peak at the right time.”<\/p>\n

Heading into the Countdown, Ron Capps will lead the way with a 30-point advantage over Del Worsham, Hagan, Courtney Force and Jack Beckman.\u00a0 Alexis DeJoria sealed her deal holding onto 10th<\/sup> place after Chad Head was defeated in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

In the NHRA Traxxas Shootout on Sunday, it found Courtney Force winning her first special event race and $100,000 from her own sponsor of her John Force Racing Chevrolet, defeating her teammate Robert Hight in the finals.<\/p>\n

PRO STOCK<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"329-ChrisMcGaha-MondayReax-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

What an incredible weekend for Pro Stock driver Chris McGaha. He raced his way straight to the winner circle at Indy, defeating Matt Hartford, Curt Steinbach, Vincent Nobile and Allen Johnson on race day.<\/p>\n

As the tree came down, McGaha let off the clutch with a .020-second reaction time \u2013 giving him .024-second advantage over Johnson, who came into this round with lane choice.<\/p>\n

McGaha hit every shift as he traveled down Lucas Oil Raceway and as they reached the finish line, McGaha could see the front end of his Chevrolet Camaro was ahead of Johnson.\u00a0 McGaha clocked in with a time of 6.688 seconds, 207.15 mph and edged out Johnson\u2019s 6.715, 207.08 to take the win.<\/p>\n

\"328-ChrisMcgaha-Monday-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

McGaha came into this weekend with no round wins at Indy and on his fifth anniversary, he did what every racer in the NHRA dreams of doing; winning the Big Go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to keep up what we did today in the Countdown,\u201d said McGaha, now a four-time Pro Stock winner. \u00a0\u201cIf we do, we definitely have a shot at winning the Championship. \u00a0We botched a lot of runs along the way this season and we shouldn\u2019t be entering the Countdown in seventh but this win is a huge confidence booster. \u00a0We just have to keep winning and we might just have a chance at the Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Line leads Greg Anderson, Bo Butner, Allen Johnson and a red-hot Vincent Nobile into the Pro Stock Countdown that starts in two weeks at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.<\/p>\n

In the makeup rain delayed August Pro Stock finals from Seattle, it took Vincent Nobile just a thousandth (.001) of a second to red light, giving Aaron Strong his first ever Pro Stock victory.<\/p>\n

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"331-AndrewHines-MondayReax-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

Andrew Hines took over the Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead by riding his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.682-second pass at 194.63 mph in the final round to beat Hector Arana Jr., who red lighted on his Buell. \u00a0He earned his 47th career win, fifth of the 2016 season and second at Lucas Oil Raceway with the effort.\u00a0 The winningest Pro Stock Motorcycle racer in NHRA history beat rookie Melissa Surber, alligator farmer Jerry Savoie and Sonoma winner LE Tonglet in the earlier rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a good motorcycle as of late, but it hasn\u2019t been qualifying well,\u201d said Hines, a five-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion.\u00a0 \u201cI knew the potential of my Harley.\u00a0 I knew I had a bike that could go rounds and we just had to pick on it here and there.\u00a0 We\u2019re getting closer to something that will work for us in the heat.\u00a0 We got to the final round and figured out the tune-up that needed to be in there.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy I made my best run of the weekend in the final round.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"330-AndrewHines-Monday-Indy[1]\"<\/p>\n

Following the leader Hines is his Harley teammate, Eddie Krawiec, Angelle Sampey, Jerry Savoie and LE Tonglet rounding out the top five in the two-wheel Countdown.\u00a0 Tonglet, Chip Ellis, Hector Arana Sr., Matt Smith and Cory Reed all clinched spots into the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.<\/p>\n

The 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will continue with the NHRA Carolina Nationals, Sept. 16-18, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.\u00a0 The event is the first race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Schumacher wins record-breaking 10th Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":29989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,4802,3470,16,3399],"tags":[3815,906,4841,1974,2,296,128,41,7,4801,1632,575],"class_list":["post-29977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-motorcycles-and-powersports","category-news","category-pro-stock","category-nhra","tag-2016-nhra-mello-yello-drag-racing-series","tag-andrew-hines","tag-chevy-performance-nationals","tag-chris-mcgaha","tag-drag-racing","tag-indianapolis","tag-matt-hagan","tag-news","tag-nhra","tag-pro-stock","tag-racing","tag-tony-schumacher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/feature-3.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-7Nv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29977"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29993,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29977\/revisions\/29993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}