Schumacher wins at Thunder Valley

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tony Schumacher raced to his third Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday, beating Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Schumacher crossed the finish line in 3.857 seconds at 310.91 mph to edge Kalitta, whose dragster trailed at 3.879 at 303.43. It was Schumacher’s third victory at the Tennessee drag strip and the 59th of his career.

"To be back in the points lead is outstanding," said Schumacher, who now leads Antron Brown by 45 points. "We started this year with everyone telling us we’d probably never win another race. To be sitting here now with three wins in the first eight races is very satisfying, I’m not going to lie. Our team is working so well right now. I don’t think there’s a guy on this team that would rather be somewhere else. It’s a group that wants to get up in the morning and go racing."

Del Worsham and Mike Edwards also won their divisions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

In Funny Car, Worsham claimed his second consecutive victory and 24th of his career, powering his Toyota Solara past Tony Pedregon’s Chevy Impala in the final. Worsham posted the quickest run of the weekend in the category to get the win, a 4.075-second run at 304.67 mph, while Pedregon finished in 4.152 at 293.22.

Edwards claimed his second win of the season and 17th of his career in Pro Stock, beating Greg Anderson with a track-record time of 6.633 at 207.72 in a Pontiac GXP. Anderson’s GXP trailed Edwards with a performance of 6.658 at 207.94.