Schumacher beats teammate Brown for Top Fuel title while Hagan advances to Vegas semis to lead Funny Cars

Schumacher beats teammate Brown for Top Fuel title   while Hagan advances to Vegas semis to lead Funny Cars

LAS VEGAS - RIS - Antron Brown slipped past U.S. Army and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher by two points to earn the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series championship in Top Fuel last season.

Brown started Sunday's championship elimination round with a six-point lead over Schumacher in the SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It looks like the two-man battle in Top Fuel has no end in sight.

Schumacher, a seven-time world champion, beat Brown and the Matco Tools team, the reigning champion, in the final round that enabled Schumacher to move around Brown for the points lead after four of 24 events.

Schumacher has won two of the last three titles that sandwich around Brown's win three weeks ago at Gainesville, Fla. It is the 71st title for Schumacher.

Spencer Massey, who drives the DSR Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher, advanced to the semifinals and moved up to third in points.

In Funny Car, the DSR event winning streak stops at two after Matt Hagan was the only DSR Dodge Charger R/T to advance past the second round and he lost in the semifinals to Courtney Force after losing traction and smoking the tires.

Johnny Gray, who lost in the second round, dropped to second in points to Las Vegas runner-up Courtney Force.

The following are event results and other notes:

TOP FUEL
Event winner: Tony Schumacher/Don Schumacher Racing No. 1 qualifier: Antron Brown/DSR, 3.780 sec., 325.06 mph (Friday night)

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army
Qualifying position: No. 3
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: SCHUMACHER (3.853 sec., 321.88 mph) def. Troy Buff (6.442, 90.81)
Second round: SCHUMACHER (3.851, 322.50) def. Brittany Force (9.210, 65.96)
Semifinals: SCHUMACHER (3.965, 295.40) def. Spencer Massey (4.672, 180.50)
Final: SCHUMACHER (3.851, 323.27) def. Antron Brown (3.956, 299.60)

Antron Brown, Matco Tools
Qualifying position: No. 1
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: BROWN (3.811 sec., 321.81 mph) def. Brandon Bernstein (5.205, 134.56)
Second round: BROWN (4.476, 245.49) def. Morgan Lucas (4.613, 232.07)
Semifinals: BROWN (3.878, 321.27) def. Terry McMillen (3.898, 323.58)
Final: Tony Schumacher (3.851, 323.27) def. BROWN (3.956, 299.60)

Spencer Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher
Qualifying position: No. 10
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: MASSEY (3.834 sec., 321.8 mph) def. Bob Vandergriff (3.84, 323.74)
Second round: MASSEY (4.609, 246.17) def. Clay Millican (6.475, 103.44)
Semifinals: Tony Schumacher (3.965, 295.40) def. MASSEY (4.672, 180.50)

FUNNY CAR
Event winner: Cruz Pedregon/Cruz Pedregon Racing
No. 1 qualifier: Robert Hight/John Force Racing, 4.053 sec., 315.19 mph (Friday night)

Matt Hagan, Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 6
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: HAGAN (4.246 sec., 292.27 mph) def. Bob Tasca III (7.632, 82.66)
Second round: HAGAN (4.204, 295.14) def. Jack Beckman (7.25, 97.56)
Semifinals: Courtney Force (4.157, 313.58) def. HAGAN (8.950, 77.05)

Jack Beckman, MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors/Valvoline NextGen Dodge
Qualifying position: No. 3
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: BECKMAN (4.189 sec., 286.98 mph) def. Tony Pedregon (4.246, 267.85)
Second round: Matt Hagan (4.204, 295.14) def. BECKMAN (7.25, 97.56)

Johnny Gray, Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 4
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: GRAY (4.163 sec., 298.87, mph) def. Chad Head (4.183, 267.16)
Second round: Cruz Pedregon (4.163, 307.02) def. GRAY (4.451, 28.42)

Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 7
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: Del Worsham (4.149 sec., 302.82 mph) def. CAPPS (4.203, 301.13)

ON ESPN2:
Sunday: Championship eliminations, 11 p.m. (ET)

NEXT MELLO YELLO EVENT: April 19-21, Four-Wide Nationals, Concord, N.C.

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
(Unofficial through Las Vegas event; 4 of 24; DSR drivers in CAPS)

TOP FUEL
1. TONY SCHUMACHER, 386
2. ANTRON BROWN, 372
3. SPENCER MASSEY, 250
4. Shawn Langdon, 244
5 Clay Millican, 225
6. Doug Kalitta, 221
7. Khalid alBalooshi, 217
8. Morgan Lucas, 214
9. David Grubnic, 195
10. Brandon Bernstein, 177
Event winners: Shawn Langdon, TONY SCHUMACHER, ANTRON BROWN, SCHUMACHER.

FUNNY CAR
1. Courtney Force, 315-335
2. JOHNNY GRAY, 301
3. Cruz Pedregon, 298
4. MATT HAGAN, 284
5. RON CAPPS, 277
6. Del Worsham, 223
7. Robert Hight, 220
8. JACK BECKMAN, 206
9. Bob Tasca III, 187
10. Alexis DeJoria, 190
Event winners: Courtney Force, RON CAPPS, JOHNNY GRAY, Cruz Pedregon

About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., starts 2013 with seven professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel world champion Matco Tools dragster driven by Antron Brown and the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher and the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster driven by Spencer Massey; and in Funny Car, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Valvoline/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors Dodge Charger R/T, 2011 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar/Rocky Dodge, the NAPA Filters of Ron Capps and the Pitch Energy Dodge of Johnny Gray.
DSR has won 201 NHRA national event titles and 11 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

- 200 -