Weather an ally for Schumacher

Friday, April 2, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

RACE WEEK SCHEDULE

1:30 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying

2:45 p.m. -- Nitro Harley qualifying

3 p.m. -- Pro Stock qualifying

3:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

4:30 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying

5:45 p.m. -- Nitro Harley qualifying

6 p.m. -- Pro Stock qualifying

6:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

8 a.m. -- Sportsman eliminations

11:30 a.m. -- Pro Stock qualifying

Noon -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

1 p.m. -- Nitro Harley qualifying

1:15 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying

2:30 p.m. -- Pro Stock qualifying

3 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

4 p.m. -- Nitro Harley qualifying

4:15 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car first-round eliminations

5:15 p.m. -- Sportsman eliminations

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

10 a.m. -- Pre-race ceremonies begin

11 a.m. -- Final eliminations

Late last week, when NHRA Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher glanced at the weather report for Las Vegas and saw temperatures in the high 80s, he smiled.

When he was told the forecast for this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway called for temperatures in the mid 60s to mid 70s, he remained pleased.

"Fifty (degrees) is perfect, 90 is perfect," Schumacher said. "If it's cool out, we've got a great chance of winning because we've got a great car but there are three or four teams that can run 4.40. If it's hot out, there are only a couple of guys who know how to slide a car down the racetrack.

"The in-between tracks, where it's just a nice day, there are a lot of cars that can run pretty good. If we're trying to set the world record, obviously we need cool air. If we're trying to go out there and just win a race, either cold or hot is fine with us."

Schumacher was one of several Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers who said they believe fans may see speed records set in the nitro categories because of the cooler temperatures. Pro qualifying -- weather permitting -- for the $1.8 million event will be held today and Saturday. Sunday's final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m.

Schumacher, who comes into the fifth annual SummitRacing.com Nationals with two victories in three races and the Top Fuel points lead, said he and his U.S. Army dragster team have spent a lot of time working on their warm-weather setup.

"We spent a lot of time last year, after Chicago, testing in the hot weather," he said. "We're going to come into the hot season real soon, it's going to be awful tough and, in my opinion, that's going to decide the championship.

"We know that (Doug) Kalitta and (Larry) Dixon and (Brandon) Bernstein are going to run good when it's cool out, but are they going to be able to do it when it's hot -- that's the question. We can run good when it's cool just like everyone else but when it's hot and slippery, that's when we really need to make sure we can slide that car down the racetracks."

Schumacher, who won four races last season and finished third in points for the second year in a row, opened the 2004 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series season with a victory in Pomona, Calif., and earned his second victory of the season two weeks ago at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Schumacher credits his team's resurgence over the past year to the addition of veteran crew chief Alan Johnson, who joined the team last May and helped the team to three victories in the final seven races of 2003.

"He has added everything from the motivation of the team to the (performance)," Schumacher said of Johnson, who guided Gary Scelzi to three Top Fuel championships in 1997, 1998 and 2000. "He also came to a team that he could trust and it's a lot easier to make your tuneup work with a team you know is not going to mistakes."

Schumacher already has twice as many victories this year as he did in his 1999 championship season, which gives him reason to be optimistic about the possibility of ending Dixon's two-year run as the Top Fuel champion.

"This year has a better feel (than 1999) -- I've already won twice the races I won that year," said Schumacher, who has won five of the past 10 Top Fuel races, dating back to last year. "That year was so stressful. We went to Indy with seven races left and there were 10 cars that could still leave with the points lead. We didn't win until there was like four or five races to go.

"Now we're three races into this season and we have two wins -- and they weren't lucky ones either; they were good ones."

Although Schumacher said there were more cars capable of winning the championship in 1999, he said the racing in the category is much closer this season.

"There were 10 cars with seven races to go that could leave with the lead -- that was tight," Schumacher said. "There were a lot of consistent cars. Now, there are probably five or six that are going to run for a championship ... and a couple more that will win some races.

"But, to me, it's going to be closer racing. In '99, one car would blow the tires off it and the other would win. This year, the last six races, some of the races have been won or lost by less than a few thousandths of a second -- now that's tight. It's incredible; it makes you wake up in the morning. You may have the dominant car but having the dominant car means that you're only a few thousandths faster. It's just intense."