Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, Greg Anderson Grab Glory At Winternationals

[PressRoom-GFN]

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2008) -- Five-time NHRA POWERade champion Tony Schumacher moved into second-place on the all-time NHRA Top Fuel wins list Sunday with a victory in the season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals.

Funny Car star Robert Hight and Pro Stock front-runner Greg Anderson joined Schumacher in the winner's circle at historic Auto Club Raceway as the trio kicked off the year with a thrilling final round.

Schumacher beat teammate Cory McClenathan with a 4.49-second pass at 331 mph to claim his second Winternationals victory and his sixth ever at the facility. Overall, he now has 42 Top Fuel victories, 10 behind the legendary Joe Amato, the current class leader.

Hight was the best of the four John Force Racing Mustangs to qualify for the event, taking his ninth career win over Cruz Pedregon by 0.01 second. Anderson matched reigning champion Jeg Coughlin at the starting line and went on to win his 52nd national event by a comfortable 0.02-second margin.

Still bubbling with excitement from his title-clinching run at Pomona in November, Schumacher simply picked up where he left off in his U.S. Army dragster. He posted the quickest elapsed time of every session, including a 4.499 at 331.28 mph against McClenathan's 4.536 at 329.26 mph in the final.

"The car was so consistent in qualifying and I was kind of glad to start the day against a guy like Doug Kalitta, because it really forced the team to focus from the start," Schumacher said. "It seems like we're at our best when we have a challenge. We were on it from the start today and we needed to be because we haven't quite figured out the 90-percent nitro deal yet.

"This trophy is going to Doug Herbert. I've been praying for him and his family every day. It was tough racing him in the second round, but if he had won that race, I would've been so happy for him and I would have backed him to win the race. I hope he enjoys it and it helps him in some way."

If consistency wins championships, then Schumacher is off to a tremendous start. In eight runs down the quarter-mile his range of elapsed times went from 4.499 to 4.533 seconds.

McClenathan fell to 29-22 in final rounds. Even though his qualifying effort resulted in a mid-pack eighth-place slotting, he looked sharp on race day, plowing past Brandon Bernstein, low qualifier Antron Brown, and Morgan Lucas.

Like Schumacher, Hight continued his love affair with Pomona's pavement, winning his second straight race and third overall at his hometown facility. This time it was Pedregon on the losing end in the final, as Hight's 4.861 at a blower-belt-tossing 284.39 mph in his Ford Mustang defeated Pedregon's 4.879 at 322.50 mph in his Chevrolet Impala SS.

"After the first two rounds I didn't give us a chance," said Hight, who opened the day with a 5.52 and a 5.29. "We didn't do well in qualifying and we didn't get to test in the off-season because we got these cars so late. Jimmy [Prock, crew chief] told me earlier this weekend that we're still testing to a large extent and that's what it was like.

"I can see so well in this car. I had to pedal in the first two rounds and I was able to see where I was and when I could get back on it so much quicker. I'm giving this trophy to Niranjan Singh, the Ford engineer who worked night and day to build this new car. He came over from Formula One and he's been relentless working on this thing to get it ready in time."

Three of the four Team Force Mustangs made it to the semifinals with Pedregon the lone interloper. On one side of the ladder, Hight beat John Force with a 4.842 when Force went up in smoke, while Pedregon and Ashley Force raced hard to the 1,000-foot marker before her engine went silent. This was Pedregon's 56th career final. He has 23 victories.

It was a classic battle of three-time NHRA champions in the Pro Stock final with Anderson edging Coughlin by 0.02-second. Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP was the quickest of every round and he saved the best pass for the final where his 6.616 at 209.23 mph eliminated Coughlin's 6.638 at 208.42 mph in his Jegs.com Cobalt.

"Jeg's wore me out on the starting line, so I knew I needed to be sharp to have a chance and we ended up leaving together," Anderson said. "After that you just make sure you execute the run properly because I know the KB Racing horsepower is going to be there.

"We're going to try to win every single race this year. We got off of that last year and I paid dearly for it in the end. We thought we could pull back and test some things after we built up such a big lead, but we found out you can't just turn it on and off like that. It was a lesson learned, for sure, and I won't make that mistake again. This will be the toughest year ever in this class and we won't give an inch if we can help it."

With Anderson entering the final with a slightly quicker car and lane choice, Coughlin knew he needed a quick start to have a chance. However, Anderson almost matched Coughlin's 0.025-second launch with a 0.027-second reaction time of his own and ended up leading the race at every incremental timer.

This was Anderson's 52nd national event victory. That placed him ninth on the all-time list. Defending series champion Coughlin has 38 Pro Stock wins in 61 final-round appearances.

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Courtesy of NHRA