Tony Schumacher and the Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel team were consistent throughout qualifying at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, making three solid passes out of four, but came up short in the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning at Brainerd International Raceway as Schumacher attempted to pick up his second win of the season.
Schumacher and the team unloaded with a good, clean 3.808-second pass on Friday to open the weekend. They missed the mark during the day’s second session but rebounded in a big way on Saturday, clocking 3.782 and 3.790-second runs during the final two field-setting sessions. Schumacher settled into the No. 13 spot on the Top Fuel eliminations ladder and found himself facing NHRA newbie Tony Stewart in the opening round on Sunday morning. In the ‘Tony vs. Tony’ battle, Schumacher moved first in his Leatherwood Distillery rail, but Stewart had the difference made up by the time they cleared the 60-foot mark and never trailed for the win, blocking Schumacher from making a run at a fourth Brainerd trophy. While Schumacher and the team would have preferred a longer race day on Sunday, the eight-time world champion feels hopeful with the amount of progress his team has made as of late.
“Been doing this a long, long time, and I’ve had ups and I’ve had downs, but I’ve always had the faith in the crew that it will come because we hire great people,” shared the veteran racer who has 88 wins over the span of his decades-long career. “We found some issues this weekend and I know I’ve said that before, but we found some things that were truly making it impossible to go fast. For a while, we were going down the track one out of every four or five runs. Now, we’re going down the track more runs than not; mostly every run. So, we’re going to start working towards the power and getting the clutch to do what it’s supposed to do because we have a consistent car. It needs to go consistently faster; we know that. But, my guys are as great as any group out here. We don’t lose faith in these guys. Championships are won through moments like this – standing strong as a team when times are tough, not just being excited when things are great because those times will come too. I’m proud of my guys and I’m excited to go to Indy.”
Schumacher and team will stay behind in Brainerd on Monday to test ahead of the upcoming NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the final event before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin. Schumacher, the winningest driver in U.S. Nationals history with 10 event triumphs, will begin the weekend ranked eighth in the standings.
This story was originally published on August 19, 2024. 
