Tony Schumacher’s Hitting His Stride Heading To Stampede Of Speed & Texas NHRA FallNationals

Story By: NHRA – ENNIS, TX – Eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher is back in the world title hunt and heading to one of his favorite tracks on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, a combination that could bode well for the longtime Top Fuel star.

Fresh off his victory in St. Louis, Schumacher is ready to roll at this weekend’s 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at legendary Texas Motorplex, an event that caps off the Stampede of Speed.

Now living in Texas, Schumacher plans to take in all of what the spectacular 10-day event has to offer and he hopes to close it out with a second straight victory in his 11,000-horsepower Leatherwood Distillery/Waltrip Brewing Co. dragster for JCM Racing.

Schumacher is sixth in the Top Fuel points after his first victory in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs since 2014, sitting 103 points back of first as he seeks his seventh career victory at Texas Motorplex. No other Top Fuel driver has more than three, meaning the facility, which also is the site of his first career Top Fuel victory, has treated Schumacher very well over the years.

“I love that place. It’s where I won my first race and one of the places where it set us up for our first championship (in 1999),” Schumacher said. “There will be tons of friends and family there, and it’s going to be a great time. We’ve won there before and I love going to that race. The Meyer family are just great and it’s a really cool place. We’ll be there for a couple weeks and we’ll be prepared, that’s for sure.”

Last season, Leah Pruett (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all collected NHRA wins in Dallas and this year’s race will again be broadcast on FS1, with elimination coverage airing at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday Oct. 13. It is the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship and the 18th of 20 races during the 2024 season.

A Texas-sized playoff showdown starts with “Friday Night Live,” which offers more than $40,000 in bonus money to the stars in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The low qualifier under the lights on Friday night will net Top Fuel and Funny Car stars $15,000 each in bonus money, with $7,500 going to the quickest qualifier in Pro Stock and $5,000 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. That leads into final qualifying on Saturday and race day Sunday, where Schumacher looks to continue his momentum from St. Louis.

The team appears to have solved the issues that have plagued them in recent seasons and Schumacher, who has 88 career Top Fuel wins, is ready to pounce. But he’ll need an impressive late-season run if a ninth title is in the cards. Antron Brown is the current points leader, while other top contenders in the top five include Justin Ashley, Shawn Langdon, reigning world champion Doug Kalitta and Texan Steve Torrence.

“I’m really proud of my guys. We hurt ourselves early on (in the Countdown), but we’re closer than we were when we started St. Louis,” Schumacher said. “It’s been fantastic. Let’s face it, we struggled, and we didn’t have a great car and for three years we tried to find our problem. We found it in Brainerd.

“I had said we found it several times before, but it wasn’t the right problem. We found it and I’m so proud of the guys. We just couldn’t get it to go down the track and a couple of races ago, (Neff) found it. They’ve sucked it up and figured it out, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

Hagan is the reigning Funny Car champion, and his 2023 Texas NHRA FallNationals was a major reason he grabbed his fourth title. If he wants to go back-to-back in Dallas, he’ll need to get by Funny Car points leader and class newcomer Austin Prock, Bob Tasca III, J.R. Todd, Ron Capps and Jack Beckman, who is driving for John Force.

Enders, a Texas native, has three wins at the Texas Motorplex. She’s looking for her first win since the season-opener while trying to track down points leader Dallas Glenn, who has back-to-back wins, teammate Aaron Stanfield and longtime rival Greg Anderson.

Herrera won the Texas NHRA FallNationals, setting class records in the process, en route to the world title. He’s back in the points lead after his St. Louis win. The six-time champ Matt Smith is in second, while others to watch include John Hall, Angie Smith, 2023 NHRA Rookie of the Year Chase Van Sant, Richard Gadson and Jianna Evaristo.

The Texas NHRA FallNationals also will feature thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, which includes some of the sport’s top drivers and begins racing on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The weekend will include the exciting new Holley EFI Factory X category and the Jr. Dragster Shootout, as well as a jet dragster exhibition after nitro qualifying on Friday.

Fans will also be treated to the JEG’s Allstar event, which pits sportsman racers from across the country against each other for the ultimate drag racing battle. After a successful first year at the famed Texas Motorplex in 2023, the unique specialty race is back as a major highlight of the 2024 Stampede of Speed as one of most highly-anticipated sportsman events of the year.

Fans will be invited all weekend long to the Nitro Alley Stage, which is the main entertainment hub in the pits, hosting Nitro School, meet and greets, music and much more. Race fans at Texas Motorplex can enjoy the special pre-race ceremonies that introduce and celebrate each of the drivers racing for the prestigious Wally on Sunday and includes the fan favorite SealMaster Track Walk. The final can’t-miss experience of any NHRA event is the winner’s circle celebration on Sunday after racing concludes, where fans are invited to congratulate the Texas NHRA FallNationals event winners.

As always, fans can get a pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. Fans can see their favorite teams in action and servicing their hot rods between rounds, get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers, and more. They can also visit NHRA’s Manufacturers Midway, where sponsors and race vendors create an exciting atmosphere that includes interactive displays, merchandise, food, and fun.

Leading into the race, fans can take part in several events as part of the 10-day Stampede for Speed festival. That includes the NHRA Divisional race (October 7-8), Stampede of Speed Shootout (October 8), JEGS Allstars qualifying (October 9), Champions’ Dinner (October 9, 6 p.m.) and the NHRA FanFest at Railyard Park in downtown Waxahachie (October 10, 6 p.m.), where fans can meet and get autographs from all the top stars in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and the JEGS Allstars participants.

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:15 and 7:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 11, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 13. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and as well as action from eliminations at 4 p.m.

SERIES SET FOR SECOND HALF OF THRILLING COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Through the first three races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, fans have already witnessed electric moments, huge surprises and major shifts in the points standings as drivers in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series put everything on the line for championship glory.

The second half of the six-race postseason begins this weekend with the main event of Texas Motorplex’s Stampede of Speed, the Texas NHRA FallNationals, starting an epic three-race finish.

Following the annual stop in Dallas, the stars in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle go to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals on Oct. 31-Nov. 3, with all roads leading to Pomona for the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals on Nov. 14-17 at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Here’s how each class stacks up heading to the final three races of the 2024 season.

TOP FUEL

From top to bottom and from the start of the season until now, the level of competition in Top Fuel has been incredible, so it would only make sense for this championship race to come down to the wire for a second straight season. Last year, it was Doug Kalitta taking a winner-take-all final round against Leah Pruett to win his first championship and a similar scenario wouldn’t be surprising in 2024.

There’s a number of different routes the title chase could take as well. Antron Brown, looking for his first championship since 2016, is the current leader after winning the first two playoff races, but he has plenty of company. Justin Ashley, who is after his first world title, is 34 points back, while former world champions Shawn Langdon (-60), Kalitta (-87), Steve Torrence (-88) and Tony Schumacher (-103) are well within striking distance in what could be an epic finish.

Schumacher won in St. Louis – his first playoff win in 10 years – to emphasize there could be several unexpected twists to end the year. Things should become a little clearer after Dallas, but there will likely be a host of contenders fighting for a title down the stretch.

FUNNY CAR

He didn’t win St. Louis, but Austin Prock’s dominant start to the Countdown to the Championship undoubtedly puts his success as the biggest storyline in the class. Before John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman knocked him off in St. Louis, Prock had won 14 straight rounds, winning in both Reading and Charlotte.

The team has been on another level in 2024, with a run of 3.814-seconds in St. Louis – the quickest run in Funny Car since 2017 – further emphasizing that. Is there any hope for a non-JFR team to win a title? For that to happen, Bob Tasca III would need to get hot in a hurry. He’s 159 points back in third and a Dallas win (and probably Las Vegas, too) seems necessary to make life difficult for Prock.

Beckman’s St. Louis win puts him (and John Force) 105 points back of his teammate and there’s the obvious Hollywood ending there. Beckman winning a 17th title for Force in Pomona would be a magical moment, but getting past Prock and his team will be a tall order.

PRO STOCK

The first half of the Countdown to the Championship has featured a distinct theme: Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield, Erica Enders and Greg Anderson have all advanced to the semifinals at the first three playoff races.

The foursome has firmly separated themselves from the rest of the talented class, but Glenn and Stanfield have started to push it to a two-car race the last two events. Glenn has won them both – beating Stanfield in the finals each time – to take back the points lead and inch closer to a first title. He leads Stanfield by 31 points, while Enders and Anderson are now 90 and 116 points back, respectively.

Do the veterans, who have won the last five championships in the class, have enough to rally back over the final three races? Or is this the first year one of the young standouts finally get past two of the most successful Pro Stock drivers in NHRA history? Should Glenn or Stanfield win Dallas, those questions could be answered.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

This title race has certainly had a different tone than last year when Gaige Herrera won the final five races of the season to roll to his first world championship. He didn’t win either of the first two Countdown races, as Hector Arana Jr. and Matt Smith won in Reading and Charlotte, respectively. Herrera bounced back in St. Louis, moving back into the points lead, but at the halfway mark, this race is anything but a sure thing for the reigning world champion.

Herrera now leads Smith by 34 points in what appears to be a three-bike race going down the stretch. Richard Gadson, who has enjoyed a terrific rookie season, is 65 points back after final-round appearances at the first two races. Arana is 137 points back and has recent success in Dallas and Las Vegas, winning both in 2022, but Herrera will look to close strong like he did a year ago to claim a second straight title.