Schumacher, Army top-fuel team come up short in Arizona desert

U.S. Army Racing

CHANDLER, Ariz. — U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher was beaten in the quarterfinals of the Arizona Nationals Sunday at Firebird International Raceway.

Schumacher, the defending world champion, banked a quicker elapsed time than Steve Torrence (3.837 seconds to 3.841 seconds), but it was the latter’s reaction time at the starting line that spelled the difference (.056 seconds to Schumacher’s .087 seconds).

It marked the second straight race that Schumacher was taken out by what’s known in the sport as a “holeshot.”

“It’s tough to swallow,” Schumacher said. “I actually had a decent reaction time, but he was on it. You have to give him credit.”

After defeating Andy Carter in the opening round with a 3.824-second run at 317.19 mph, Schumacher was prepared to go deep into the day at Firebird. However, Torrence, a cancer survivor, ended his day in abrupt fashion.

“We have a really good car,” said Schumacher, a seven-time world champion. “We’ve just been involved in some great races here early on and have come up short each time. We’ll get it turned around for our Army Strong Soldiers. They don’t accept defeat, and we won’t, either.”

While his early round loss was clearly disappointing, Schumacher’s afternoon was a lot easier to handle than that of Antron Brown. The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster was involved in a spectacular crash during a first-round race against Troy Buff.

Brown was initially released by the track medical staff, but then decided to go to Chandler Regional Hospital for further tests. He returned to the track later in the day complaining only of soreness.

“I’m OK,” Brown said. “It all happened so quickly, and I want to thank the NHRA Safety Safari and the track safety team for tending to me so fast.”

Schumacher and Brown will now have two weeks off before traveling to the famed Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, March 11-14.

On the U.S. Army NASCAR Racing side, Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Haas Automation/U.S. Army Chevrolet, finished 36th in Sunday’s Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Newman completed only 148 of 250 laps after suffering a blown engine.

Newman’s teammate and co-car owner, Tony Stewart, finished ninth.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Shelby American 427.