The Sarge makes a statement with win at Bristol Dragway (2024)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Sarge was back in charge at Bristol Dragway on Sunday.

With a mix of power and savvy, eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher collected his first win in 37 races at the 23rd annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

“When you have a year like we had last year, a lot of things are like, ‘Oh we figured it out, but it doesn’t seem to progress into anything,” Schumacher said. “We didn’t qualify great this weekend. But from the first round on, I knew we had a racecar.”

Schumacher culminated his breakthrough by defeating defending Top Fuel champ Doug Kalitta in the finals. Schumacher pedaled to a run of 4.236-seconds at 259.41 mph in his Waltrip Brewing Co./Leatherwood Distillery dragster.

How big was was the 87th career win for Schumacher?

It was his first victory since July of 2022 and seventh career win at Bristol, which ties him with Ron Capps for the most Nitro wins in track history.

Kalitta defeated Schumacher last weekend in the finals at New England Dragway, but his dragster lost traction midway down the track Sunday.

“The fans always win when there’s a Kalitta-Schumacher final,” Schumacher said. “I hit the gas and Kalitta double stepped. I didn’t drive great that round, but it turned the win light on and that was what mattered.”

Schumacher, who drives for Tennessee-based owner Joe Maynard, became the first driver to win at Bristol after being inducted into the track’s Legends of Thunder Valley.

Former NASCAR champion and crowd favorite Tony Stewart smoked the tires on his dragster in the opening round of eliminations and lost to Doug Foley.

Funny car

It was a perfect weekend for Austin Prock.

The points leader and first-year Funny Car regular won his second race of the season after qualifying first and capturing the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.

“It was just an outstanding job by my team,” Prock said. “Every time we went up to the starting line, we had a car to contend with. None of these guys are easy anymore, but we ended up getting it done.”

Prock sealed his first career triumph at Bristol by executing a run of 3.989 at 312.42 in the finals to defeat J.R. Todd.

The semifinal opponent for Prock was Christiansburg’s Matt Hagan.

“Facing Hagan is absolutely brutal and you have to bring your A-game against him,” Prock said. “We were victorious this time and ended up racing J.R. We ended up getting by him and walking out of here with some gold. I’m super proud of that.

Hagan credited his experienced crew chief Dickie Venables for his advancement to the semifinals.

“It was a tricky weekend with a tricky racetrack. To see Dickie navigate it the way he did, I was pretty impressed,” Hagan said. “Obviously, lane choice was a big thing out there and we didn’t have it in the semifinals. Overall, I feel we had a pretty good weekend with a tricky track.”

With clouds moving in and out, crew chiefs and tuners were challenged throughout the day.

Pro stock

The final round featured a matchup of former world champions and superpower teams.

With a run of 6.707 at 204.94, Elite Motorsports driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. emerged with career win No. 67 by defeating Greg Anderson from the KB Titan operation.

“It was quite a team battle as we started the day off,” Coughlin said. “Pro Stock in today’s day and age reminds me a lot of the late 90s and early 2000s where fields are separated just by a couple hundredths of a second.

“When the field is that tight, it put a lot on the driver’s shoulders to get a good start, bang through the gears efficiently and not make any mistakes.”

Anderson and Coughlin have combined for 324 final-round appearances, including 22 matchups in the final-round.

Pro stock motocycle

On weekdays, Gaige Herrera works as a pipe fitter.

On weekends, the California resident is one of the most dominant riders in class history.

Consider the achievements of Herrera on Sunday.

With a final round victory against Jianna Evaristo, the Vance & Hines Suzuki rider earned his ninth straight victory and pushed his round win streak to 35.

Herrera passed the great Dave Schultz for the most consecutive wins in Pro Stock Motorcycle history and his 35 consecutive round wins ties legendary Pro Stock racer Bob Glidden for the most in NHRA history.