The track looks a little different from this angle.  (Mark Rebilas photo)

“You have to give it to Larry and his team – they had a great car all day long,” said Schumacher, a seven-time world champion. “We also had a great car leading up to the finals, but it just wasn’t very happy when we tried to step the power up.”

Schumacher left the starting line before Dixon, but the U.S. Army dragster began to spin the tires around 330 feet which allowed the points leader to move on by.

On the way to his meeting with Dixon, Schumacher took out Morgan Lucas, Terry McMillen and Brandon Bernstein. The win over Bernstein coupled with Cory McClenathan’s loss to Dixon in the semifinals allowed Schumacher to re-claim second-place in the standings.

“That’s nice to know,” added the Chicago-area resident. “Short of catching Dixon, that’s where we will want to be once the Countdown to 1 begins (at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis during Labor Day weekend). We have a couple more races to try and solidify our position.”