Two hundred victories. That’s an amazing number, and Don Schumacher Racing has Top Fuel champion Antron Brown and Funny Car winner Johnny Gray to thank for the record. The duo brought home the first Wallys of the season this past Sunday at the National Hot Rod Association’s Amalie Oil Gatornationals. E3 Spark Plugs – the official spark plug of the NHRA – celebrated the record with DSR, who now only trails behind John Force Racing and their 218 wins.
On a temperate Gainesville, Florida, afternoon, Brown chewed up the Auto-Plus Raceway 1,000-foot stretch at a scorching 3.761-second elapsed time at 318.77mph. That pass put Brown over the top, earning him the points lead with his 22nd victory in Top Fuel – his 38th overall – and a first at Gainesville.
When hearing the news, an elated Don Schumacher called the feat “a tremendous reward” and continued on to say, “My family, and I are thrilled and pleased.” According to Competition Plus’ Bobby Bennett and Susan Wade, Schumacher’s “voice broke as he recalled that his team won both nitro-class championships with Brown in Top Fuel and Jack Beckman in Funny Car but he had no time to enjoy that moment because his mother passed away the day after the race. I haven’t had joy, really, since then. Today brings a special meaning to all of my efforts out here for all these years, from the mid-60s to today.”
When approached for a comment, Brown relayed, “Our Matco Tools-Toyota guys were in the zone all day. We had to execute because Top Fuel is, by far, the toughest it has ever been. You can’t take any of these guys lightly, because if you do, you’re going home. To win now, you have to have every piece of the pie. You can’t have three-quarters of it and expect to win anymore. We have so many great teams at DSR that pull together. When you have a great group of people digging in like that, those kind of numbers pop up on the board. It was all of us together. It wasn’t just my team. It was all of us together.”
Backed by a five year, 100,000-mile warranty, E3 Spark Plugs, with it’s DiamondFIRE side-wire electrode, projects the combustion spark in a way that more quickly ignites the air/fuel mixture thereby creating a significantly faster and larger flame kernel. In effect, this burns more of the available fuel, resulting in increased combustion efficiency for improved power and fuel economy with reduced emissions. E3 Spark Plugs are now available for most automotive, small engine and powersports applications at automotive and home improvement retail stores nationwide. E3 Glow Plugs are being introduced at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week. Formore information and complete test results, visit www.e3sparkplugs.com
Images courtesy of Competition Plus/Roger Richards
