Schumacher to start third in Denver

07/11/2009

U.S. Army Top Fuel pilot Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher will come out of the third starting position here Sunday in the MOPAR Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Schumacher slightly improved via the clock during final qualifying on Saturday after a 3.895-second pass at 308.99 mph, but was unable to challenge eventual pole sitter Antron Brown.

The defending MOPAR Mile-High Nationals champion will square off with 14th-place qualifier, Todd Simpson, in the opening round of eliminations beginning at 12 noon MT.

In their only match up of the season to date, Schumacher posted a first round victory over Simpson at Gateway International Raceway in May.

“It’s good to qualify near the top again,” said the six-time world champion. “But, that part of the weekend is over and now it’s time to turn our attention to race day. We have to be ready for whatever Todd Simpson and his team will throw at us.”

Schumacher will be looking for his fourth win of the year, while gaining valuable ground in the standings.

“We want to get back to victory lane real bad,” he added. “Of course, we also want to slice into Antron’s points lead. Perhaps, we can even leave here as the leader.”

Should Schumacher bag his third career win at Bandimere Speedway, it would position him for another shot at sweeping the Western Swing.

“That would be great,” he said. “Like I said before we got here, we need to start building some momentum for the Countdown to 1.”