The 62nd Annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals came to a conclusion on Monday. The star-studded event is officially over after a fierce afternoon of racing in the the final round of eliminations at Lucas Oil Speedway. Top Fuel dragster Tony Schumacher, Funny Car specialist Matt Hagan and Pro Stock racer Chris McGaha walked away champions.
In addition, the event set the 10 driver field for the playoffs in all three classes. The qualifying speedsters will begin the six race Countdown to the Championship Playoffs on September 16th. The first event will take place at the zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina.
U.S. Army Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher recorded his 10th U.S. Nationals triumph in his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster on Monday. The victory vaulted the veteran driver ahead of Pro Stock legend bob Glidden as the winningest racer in the events history.
Only Top Alcohol Funny Car icon Frank Manzo is the only driver that has more wins at Indianapolis Speedway. Tony Schumacher also won the Traxxas Nitro Shootout on Saturday before the qualifying heats on Sunday.
Tony Schumacher’s win in the U.S. Nationals was as dominating as it gets. First, he dispatched Tripp Tatum in the first round. Antron “Get Down” Brown was the next skilled racer to fall to Tony Schumacher. Highly skilled quarter-miler J.R. Todd was no match for the champion in the third round.
When the smoke cleared, only Steve Torrence stood between Tony Schmucher and his 10th Wally Trophy at Indy. In the final, Schumacher got out of the gate first. His .036 second start was just a hair quicker than Torrence’s .045.
That small difference allowed him to keep his U.S. Army Dragster out in front of Torrence for the remainder of the quarter-mile strip. As a result, Schumacher outpaced his fellow competitor by a thin .006 second margin. Both drivers posted 3.80 second runs, so the advantage off the line was the difference maker.
“The canopy car is a beautiful thing because it isolates some of the sound, but I knew he was there the whole time, and I knew he was going to be,” said Tony Schumacher. “I think in 30 years when I’m thinking of a great moment, that would be it. It was a great final round, live on FOX, Indy, having a chance to win your 10th.
“Furthermore, it was a race decided by inches. That’s what everyone hopes they pay their money to see. At the end of the day, some people are pulling for him and some people are pulling for me, but they all want to see a great race.” said Tony Schumacher.
In the Funny Car finals, Matt Hagan captured his first U.S. Nationals win. The savvy racer reversed the outcome of the final rounds two weeks ago at the Pacific Raceways. This time, Hagan defeated his 2016 nemisis in the final race on a hole-shot.
Matt Hagan showed plenty of speed throughout the racing weekend. He started by qualifying in the first position with a track record 3.858 second run. Furthermore, he continued to impress by running a 3.894 second pass in round one. That was plenty good enough to bury his challenger John Bojec.
The speedster didn’t stop there. Matt Hagan then went on to post wins in the second and third rounds over Robert Hight and Tommy Johnson Jr. Hagan then followed up his teams outstanding performance on his hot-rod with a super performance of his own.
The Funny Car guru jumped out in front with a .039 second twitch of the gas pedal compared to finals competitor Del Worsham’s .073. The quick reaction time allowed Hagan to win the race even though his 3.95 second pass was slower than Worsham’s 3.96.
The Pro Stock division saw Chris McGaha speed to his first ever U.S. Nationals title after five long years of trying. It appeared that McGaha and his team had taken a turn for the worse since an impressive runner-up performance in Phoenix.
Obviously, Chris Mcgaha found a way to right the ship when it mattered the most. The relentless driver was rewarded with his fourth ever Wally Trophy in the Pro stock division.
In his second finals appearance of the 2016 Mello Yellow Drag Racing season, McGaha drove his Harlow Sammons Camaro to a 6.68 second to 6.70 win over Allen Johnson’s Dodge in the final. Surprisingly, McGaha had never won a round at Indy in five attempts but managed to string together four on Monday.
“When I got down there near the finish line, I thought to myself, ‘I’m wining, now please don’t break or do anything crazy,’ ” said McGaha, who made his Pro Stock debut at Indy in 2011 as a member of the Elite Motorsports team. “Everything held together, and here we are. This is crazy because I’ve never won a round here at Indy. I’d also like to lie and say that testing went well for us, but it didn’t. In the end, it all worked out.”
Chris McGaha started the elimination round from the bottom half of the field. He had the the ninth fastest hot-rod when the day began. First, McGaha raced past Matt Hartford the Curt Steinbach in the second round.
Next to fall to his overwhelming power was Seattle runner-up Vincent Nobile. McGaha actually posted his slowest time of 6.705 seconds against Nobile. Fortunately for the eventual winner, Nobile spun the tires hard and nailed his own coffin shut.
The stage was set for his final round duel against fellow speedster Allen Johnson. Chris McGaha was faster out of the gate with a .020 second reaction time, compared to Johnson’s .044.
The eventual 22nd Pro Stock champion of the U.S. Nationals then kept his lead down the track and defeated Allen Johnson by thundering just over 207 miles per hour to the finish line. Chris McGaha was ecstatic about his teams performance on Monday.
“We don’t have a crew chief; we just kind of make the best call we can,” McGaha said. “I’m more of an engine guy, so I always think we need more power. We had some help on our chassis today from [Deric Kramer’s crew]. In qualifying, we went 0-for-3 in the good sessions, and that’s why we were ninth. We should have run about a 6.58 or 6.59 and been in the top half.”
