Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway
Top Fuel: Tony Schumacher raced to his fourth straight victory and ninth of the season Sunday, and moved within two Joe Amato's Top Fuel win record of 52. Schumacher powered his dragster to a performance of 3.865 seconds at 310.05 mph to outrun Cory McClenathan (3.900 at 306.74) in the final round. Schumacher has three career wins at the Minnesota dragstrip. “These guys are amazing and this is the best team I've ever seen together, just like (John) Force and Amato's teams in their time,” Schumacher said. “It's unbelievable. Not only have we won a lot of races, but we've won some of the most difficult races with so much pressure. And for whatever reason, I feel like I am driving my best right now. I've got a great team and a great car and the whole package has come together. I don't want to be the weak link in our team, so I am working harder than ever. When you have the car that's supposed to win, that's a lot of pressure.”
Funny Car: Tony Pedregon took his fourth Funny Car win of the season at the starting line in his Chevy Impala when Jack Beckman fouled in his Dodge Stratus. Pedregon's 40th career victory and first at BIR moved him into second place in the season standings.
Pro Stock: Kurt Johnson, a native of Virginia, Minn., earned his third class victory of the season and 39th of his career with a win over Dave Connolly. Johnson's Chevy Cobalt ran 6.671 at 207.05 in the final to hold off Connolly's Cobalt, which clocked a 6.696 at 206.29. It was Johnson's fourth victory at BIR.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Matt Smith overcame kidney stones to claim his third win of the season and ninth of his career. He rode his Buell to a 6.973 at 188.60 in the final, but ran unopposed as opponent Angelle Sampey's Buell broke on the starting line.
The Lucas Oil Nationals were the 16th of 18 events in the Countdown to 10, NHRA’s regular season. The Countdown to 1, NHRA’s six-race championship playoffs, begins Sept. 11-14 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. Sunday's results can be found here. Standings can be found here.
-- The Associated Press
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