Tony Schumacher inducted into Bristol Dragway ’ s prestigious hall of fame By Rob King

“ The Sarge ” won six of his record 86 career Top Fuel victories at Bristol Dragway during his distinguished career . The eight-time NHRA world champion now drives JCM Racing ’ s SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster .

Schumacher , 53 , is the 20th inductee in the prestigious Legends of Thunder Valley and joins his father , 2014 honoree Don Schumacher , in the exclusive club . Schumacher is also only the second member to be inducted while he is still an active racer , joining 2016 inductee John Force , who continues to compete in the NHRA Funny Car category .

“ To join John Force , the only active driver to be inducted , and be a part of it with my dad , I ’ m just super honored ,” Schumacher said . “ I ’ ve been a part of different awards ceremonies , and different hall of fame things before , but Bristol , their hall of fame , is an awesome thing . The track does a great job . You look at the list of names up there on the grandstands , and it ’ s just a great group of people , and I feel very honored to be included with that group . I ’ ve been blessed to race with a lot of great people over the years , and blessed to

have had all of the success that we ’ ve had .”

Schumacher , a Chicago native who currently resides in Austin , Texas , dominated NHRA ’ s Top Fuel category in the 2000s . He won six consecutive world championship titles from 2004-2009 . His incredible 2008 season , where he was named Driver of the Year for all of motorsports , was perhaps his best ever , where he won 15 races in 18 final rounds , posted nine No . 1 qualifying awards , and never lost a first-round pairing that season .

He also claimed NHRA Top Fuel world championship titles in 1999 , driving the Exide Batteries dragster to one victory in five final-round appearances , and in 2014 , where he won five times in six final rounds .

Schumacher had an amazing love affair with the sport ’ s most prestigious race , the NHRA U . S . Nationals in Indianapolis . He has won that race 10 times during his career , a record for all NHRA professional categories .

He also had a similar affection for beautiful Thunder Valley , where he reached eight final rounds and was able to cash in on six of them , including wins in 2004 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2012 and 2018 . He posted runner-up finishes at Bristol in 2001 and 2016 . He claimed three consecutive Bristol Dragway wins from his epic ‘ 08 season through 2010 . He also claimed four No . 1 qualifying positions at Bristol , in 2004 , 2006 , 2007 , and 2008 .

This year ’ s running of the Thunder Valley Nationals also included the completion of the NHRA New England Nationals , which was rained out a week earlier at New England Dragway in Epping , New Hampshire . Schumacher ended up losing a side-by-side final round to new JCM Racing teammate Justin Ashley , who then went on to win the Thunder Valley Nationals for a rare double-up . Schumacher went out in the second round of the Bristol race , but he still counted the weekend as a win .

“ It was an epic weekend , just a heck of a time ,” Schumacher said . “ Being inducted into their hall of fame and the Legends deal was great . It ’ s a big honor for me to be on the wall with the rest of those great names . I love this place .

“ I think we learned a lot ,” he added . “ I think we finally got some rounds in and we ’ re just a few points out of the top 10 . So , we ’ ve got a car that we needed all year long . It ’ s getting better every run and we ’ ll get it done .” DI

PHOTOGRAPHS BY NHRA