Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Tony Schumacher secured his best qualifying position of the season at the final running of the Menards NHRA Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, clinching the No. 4 seed to start race day. Schumacher, the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history, began the weekend by unloading with a solid baseline pass in the opening qualifying session. Crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer followed that up with another impressive pass in the third round, tuning the SCAG dragster to a 3.801 E.T. at 322.04 MPH to lock in a spot in the quick half of the field.
Schumacher drew Scott Palmer as his first-round opponent on race day, and after a lengthy delay due to persistent rain, the two drivers lined up, ready to battle for the win light. Schumacher was first on the throttle, giving him a slight lead out of the gate but his machine started to lose traction shortly after, and Palmer was able to chase him down for the win.
“That was a terrible race to lose, but again, we’re a great team,” said the 2010 Topeka Top Fuel event champion. “Nobody tries harder than these guys. We’ll get this figured out. It’s a process, and you have to trust the process. I’m not an angry person, I’m not throwing helmets. I understand that these things are difficult. We have found many new ways of not doing things as part of the process. We started with all new parts, all new pieces, all new chassis, and we will succeed. We will get this figured out. It’s painful for me, it’s painful for each guy on this team, but they stick together like a band of brothers I’ve never seen.”
With this year’s Topeka event slated to be the last, Schumacher was hoping to close out his Heartland Motorsports Park career from the winner’s circle. While he won’t leave with the hardware, Schumacher will depart with the consolation prize of knowing he’ll go down in the books as the facility’s track record holder, which he achieved when he clocked a 3.660 E.T. during the 2017 event.
The NHRA moves on to Brainerd, Minn. next for the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, the penultimate event of the Camping World Series ‘regular’ season. Qualifying kicks off on Friday, Aug. 18.
This story was originally published on August 14, 2023. 
