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Schumacher, Hight, Anderson, Smith claim Mac Tools U.S. Nationals wins

By Rob Geiger

Three-time POWERade Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher drew within 54 points of the championship lead with his fifth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory since 2000. Schumacher's 4.505- to 4.602-second win over Brandon Bernstein put him alongside fellow Indy champs Robert Hight (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle). Like Schumacher, Anderson's win was his fifth here, including the last four in a row.

Schumacher immediately dedicated his win to crew chief Alan Johnson's brother, Blaine, who lost his life in a freak accident 10 years ago at this event. Hight and runner-up Whit Bazemore staged an epic final-round battle in which Hight squeaked out a two-hundredths-of-a-second win. Anderson won for the first time in 17 races by taking out starting-line specialist Dave Connolly, who red-lighted, and Smith avenged his Indy experience from one year ago when he lost the trophy after video replay by dismissing Angelle Sampey.

O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis continues to be a magical place for Schumacher, who trails only "Big Daddy" Don Garlits' eight wins at this event with his fifth overall. Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster was the quickest of every round as he rolled past J.R. Todd, Dave Grubnic, "Hot Rod" Fuller, and Bernstein for his third win of the year and 33rd of his career.

"There are a lot of reasons to win races -- the fans, your sponsors, the championship chase, whatever -- but today we raced for Blaine," Schumacher said. "My first Indy race was 10 years ago, and I would've raced him in the first round if he hadn't died. To come back now and win with Alan as my crew chief, it was meant to be. This trophy is going on the Johnson family mantel. That's where it belongs.

"I was praying to God before every round to help me drive this car. It was too big for me to do it on my own. It was a chance to do great things, but it was also a chance to crack up and lose it. Thank God, we were able to deliver this win to that family.

"It was certainly a huge gain in the points for us. I saw Doug [Kalitta] go out in the first round, and that just doesn't happen very often. You can gain points in a hurry out here, but you can give them up just as fast. We gave some up in Memphis, so it was good to get 'em back and more this weekend."

Schumacher's chase of the points lead, which began when he was more than 300 points back in eighth place in early June, continues after a one-race hiccup. In one day, he trimmed his deficit to points leader Kalitta from 136 to 54 points by virtue of his win and Kalitta's huge holeshot upset loss to David Baca in the first round.

Hight was a picture of relief and bewilderment after winning the sport's biggest race in just his second appearance here as a driver. He had to work for this one, getting chased by Bazemore all the way down the racetrack, but he reached the stripe first with a 4.737 at 328.38 mph in his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang to Bazemore's 4.756 at 327.82 mph in the Matco Tools Rat Fink Tribute Dodge.

Hight evened his season record in final rounds to 2-2 and his lifetime record to 4-4. Bazemore dropped to 1-2 on the season and 20-26 overall.

"This is unbelievable," Hight said. "I didn't think I'd ever get to drive one of these cars, let alone drive for John Force. To come here, to a race I watched so many times as a fan and as a crew guy for John, and to find a way to win is beyond anything you can dream of. I always wondered what I'd do if I was here in this spot, and now I don't know what to do.

"It's emotional. All three teams came together to help me get here. We broke a motor after the second round and had to swap it out, and the guys went to work to get another one ready in case we needed it. Before the final, Austin Coil leaned in under the car and gave me the thumbs-up. Everyone was together for me to win, and I didn't want to let them down. I couldn't. No way. This win is for all of them."

Bazemore lost a close pedaling contest against Jim Head in the semifinals but got the win when it was determined that Head clipped the top-end timing cone, thereby disqualifying himself.

Force gave the points lead back to Ron Capps after just one race on top by red-lighting against first-round foe Head. Capps, who went to the semifinals, now leads by 19 points.

"I have the best car here, and I failed," Force said. "This is Indy. It's not where you make mistakes. I hate myself, and my sponsors should hate me too. I'm the best there is, and I forgot how to race. If you lose like this at Indy, you deserve to have your ass kicked."

Anderson broke his longest winless streak since his first victory by taking out Connolly, who red-lighted by .017-second. Like Schumacher in Top Fuel, Anderson entered race day as the No. 1 qualifier and posted the quickest pass of every round to win his second race of the season and 41st of his career.

"Man, I needed a win so badly, and what better place to get it than Indy," said Anderson, who joined Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson as the only Pro Stock racers to win four consecutive Indy races. "It's incredible in this day and age to win four in a row at the race where everybody goes all out to win. I know the competition was awesome when Bob and Warren did it, but it's even more brutal now. I feel very humbled and privileged.

"I feel like I haven't been doing my job to the best of my ability this year, at least in the race car. I know Jason [Line, teammate] and I have the two best cars out here, but we just seem to want to make things hard on ourselves this time through. The crew has stayed with it, and our sponsors' support has been unwavering. It's so awesome to reward everyone with this win."

Red-light aside, Anderson might have been tough to beat as he posted a 6.687 at 206.83 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to Connolly's meaningless 6.725 at 205.38 mph in the Skull Gear Cobalt.

Connolly spooked two opponents into red-lighting against him en route to his 20th final. The other, points leader Line, lost on a holeshot.

Line fell in the quarterfinals with his fourth holeshot loss to Connolly this year. Overall, Line has 12 holeshot losses this season. His lead over Anderson in the championship standings dropped from 121 to 59 points this weekend.

Ron Krisher totaled his Valvoline car in a multiple rollover accident that occurred during his second-round race against V. Gaines. Krisher was conscious and alert when medics transported him to Methodist Hospital for a checkup. He suffered a cracked rib.

One year ago, Smith felt the elation of an Indy win for about a day, only to have it stripped away when ESPN2 replays proved that a timing malfunction had occurred and opponent Steve Johnson had actually won the final. Although Smith agreed with the decision and was gracious in the turn of events, the incident has stayed with him.

On this day, any chance of a repeat performance was extinguished at the starting line when Sampey jumped the green light by .028-second, handing the win to Smith at the starting line. He posted a 7.222 to Sampey's 7.147.

"No one's taking this one away," Smith said as he clutched the trophy at the top end. "I saw her red-light come on, and I was like, 'Thank you, thank you.' I doubt very seriously I made a very good run because I was screaming my head off in my helmet. I don't even remember going through the gears.

"I've tied dad [Pro Stock driver Rickie Smith] now. He has two NHRA wins, and so do I. I told him, 'This one counts, this one counts.' What a deal. We even hurt our motor in round one and it was barely hanging together all day, but it stayed together just long enough for us to get this trophy."

The loss for Sampey was her first this year in four final-round showings. Prior to the red-light in the final, her average reaction time was a stellar .010.

Andrew Hines and Antron Brown remain first and second in the points after a pair of semifinal finishes; Hines is ahead by eight.

Schumacher, Hight, Anderson, Smith claim Mac Tools U.S. Nationals wins

By Rob Geiger

Three-time POWERade Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher drew within 54 points of the championship lead with his fifth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory since 2000. Schumacher's 4.505- to 4.602-second win over Brandon Bernstein put him alongside fellow Indy champs Robert Hight (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle). Like Schumacher, Anderson's win was his fifth here, including the last four in a row.

Schumacher immediately dedicated his win to crew chief Alan Johnson's brother, Blaine, who lost his life in a freak accident 10 years ago at this event. Hight and runner-up Whit Bazemore staged an epic final-round battle in which Hight squeaked out a two-hundredths-of-a-second win. Anderson won for the first time in 17 races by taking out starting-line specialist Dave Connolly, who red-lighted, and Smith avenged his Indy experience from one year ago when he lost the trophy after video replay by dismissing Angelle Sampey.

O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis continues to be a magical place for Schumacher, who trails only "Big Daddy" Don Garlits' eight wins at this event with his fifth overall. Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster was the quickest of every round as he rolled past J.R. Todd, Dave Grubnic, "Hot Rod" Fuller, and Bernstein for his third win of the year and 33rd of his career.

"There are a lot of reasons to win races -- the fans, your sponsors, the championship chase, whatever -- but today we raced for Blaine," Schumacher said. "My first Indy race was 10 years ago, and I would've raced him in the first round if he hadn't died. To come back now and win with Alan as my crew chief, it was meant to be. This trophy is going on the Johnson family mantel. That's where it belongs.

"I was praying to God before every round to help me drive this car. It was too big for me to do it on my own. It was a chance to do great things, but it was also a chance to crack up and lose it. Thank God, we were able to deliver this win to that family.

"It was certainly a huge gain in the points for us. I saw Doug [Kalitta] go out in the first round, and that just doesn't happen very often. You can gain points in a hurry out here, but you can give them up just as fast. We gave some up in Memphis, so it was good to get 'em back and more this weekend."

Schumacher's chase of the points lead, which began when he was more than 300 points back in eighth place in early June, continues after a one-race hiccup. In one day, he trimmed his deficit to points leader Kalitta from 136 to 54 points by virtue of his win and Kalitta's huge holeshot upset loss to David Baca in the first round.

Hight was a picture of relief and bewilderment after winning the sport's biggest race in just his second appearance here as a driver. He had to work for this one, getting chased by Bazemore all the way down the racetrack, but he reached the stripe first with a 4.737 at 328.38 mph in his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang to Bazemore's 4.756 at 327.82 mph in the Matco Tools Rat Fink Tribute Dodge.

Hight evened his season record in final rounds to 2-2 and his lifetime record to 4-4. Bazemore dropped to 1-2 on the season and 20-26 overall. "This is unbelievable," Hight said. "I didn't think I'd ever get to drive one of these cars, let alone drive for John Force. To come here, to a race I watched so many times as a fan and as a crew guy for John, and to find a way to win is beyond anything you can dream of. I always wondered what I'd do if I was here in this spot, and now I don't know what to do.

"It's emotional. All three teams came together to help me get here. We broke a motor after the second round and had to swap it out, and the guys went to work to get another one ready in case we needed it. Before the final, Austin Coil leaned in under the car and gave me the thumbs-up. Everyone was together for me to win, and I didn't want to let them down. I couldn't. No way. This win is for all of them."

Bazemore lost a close pedaling contest against Jim Head in the semifinals but got the win when it was determined that Head clipped the top-end timing cone, thereby disqualifying himself.

Force gave the points lead back to Ron Capps after just one race on top by red-lighting against first-round foe Head. Capps, who went to the semifinals, now leads by 19 points.

"I have the best car here, and I failed," Force said. "This is Indy. It's not where you make mistakes. I hate myself, and my sponsors should hate me too. I'm the best there is, and I forgot how to race. If you lose like this at Indy, you deserve to have your ass kicked."

Anderson broke his longest winless streak since his first victory by taking out Connolly, who red-lighted by .017-second. Like Schumacher in Top Fuel, Anderson entered race day as the No. 1 qualifier and posted the quickest pass of every round to win his second race of the season and 41st of his career.

"Man, I needed a win so badly, and what better place to get it than Indy," said Anderson, who joined Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson as the only Pro Stock racers to win four consecutive Indy races. "It's incredible in this day and age to win four in a row at the race where everybody goes all out to win. I know the competition was awesome when Bob and Warren did it, but it's even more brutal now. I feel very humbled and privileged.

"I feel like I haven't been doing my job to the best of my ability this year, at least in the race car. I know Jason [Line, teammate] and I have the two best cars out here, but we just seem to want to make things hard on ourselves this time through. The crew has stayed with it, and our sponsors' support has been unwavering. It's so awesome to reward everyone with this win."

Red-light aside, Anderson might have been tough to beat as he posted a 6.687 at 206.83 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to Connolly's meaningless 6.725 at 205.38 mph in the Skull Gear Cobalt.

Connolly spooked two opponents into red-lighting against him en route to his 20th final. The other, points leader Line, lost on a holeshot.

Line fell in the quarterfinals with his fourth holeshot loss to Connolly this year. Overall, Line has 12 holeshot losses this season. His lead over Anderson in the championship standings dropped from 121 to 59 points this weekend.

Ron Krisher totaled his Valvoline car in a multiple rollover accident that occurred during his second-round race against V. Gaines. Krisher was conscious and alert when medics transported him to Methodist Hospital for a checkup. He suffered a cracked rib.

One year ago, Smith felt the elation of an Indy win for about a day, only to have it stripped away when ESPN2 replays proved that a timing malfunction had occurred and opponent Steve Johnson had actually won the final. Although Smith agreed with the decision and was gracious in the turn of events, the incident has stayed with him.

On this day, any chance of a repeat performance was extinguished at the starting line when Sampey jumped the green light by .028-second, handing the win to Smith at the starting line. He posted a 7.222 to Sampey's 7.147.

"No one's taking this one away," Smith said as he clutched the trophy at the top end. "I saw her red-light come on, and I was like, 'Thank you, thank you.' I doubt very seriously I made a very good run because I was screaming my head off in my helmet. I don't even remember going through the gears.

"I've tied dad [Pro Stock driver Rickie Smith] now. He has two NHRA wins, and so do I. I told him, 'This one counts, this one counts.' What a deal. We even hurt our motor in round one and it was barely hanging together all day, but it stayed together just long enough for us to get this trophy."

The loss for Sampey was her first this year in four final-round showings. Prior to the red-light in the final, her average reaction time was a stellar .010.

Andrew Hines and Antron Brown remain first and second in the points after a pair of semifinal finishes; Hines is ahead by eight.