NHRA: Two titanic Top Fuel talents on Matco Tools team

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (May 14) -- With an eye on the future of NHRA drag
racing, Matco Tools has corralled two of the most promising young guns
of the Top Fuel class to be a part of its race team. Decorated pilots
Darrell Russell and Tony Schumacher both proudly display the Matco Tools
logo on their 330-mph dragsters, routinely carrying the Matco Tools
“Iron Eagle” down the quarter-mile in a jaw-dropping 4.5 seconds.
They’ll battle this weekend for the title of the 33rd annual Matco Tools
SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions at Old Bridge Township
Raceway Park.

The 33-year-old Russell carries on a long-standing relationship between
Matco Tools and team owner Joe Amato, who retired after the 2000 season.
A five-time series champion and the all-time wins leader in Top Fuel
history with 52 national event titles to his credit, Amato put Matco
Tools in the winner’s circle of this event six times (1983, ’88, ’92,
’96, ’98-’99), making him the most prolific winner in the 33-year
history of the Matco Tools SuperNationals and Old Bridge Township
Raceway Park.

Now Russell has taken over for the legendary Amato and has successfully
kept his Bilstein Engine Flush System/Matco Tools dragster in its
rightful place among the class leaders. Matching a feat accomplished
only two times in the 51-year history of the NHRA, Russell won his first
event as a professional driver and carried the momentum of that win to
an impressive first year that ended with him receiving the coveted title
of 2001 NHRA Rookie of the Year.

Russell and Amato now enter the 2002 Matco Tools SuperNationals
presented by Racing Champions intent on continuing Team Amato’s winning
tradition at this historic race track. With crew chief Wayne Dupuy
calling the shots, Russell’s rocketship is definitely one to keep an eye
on throughout the weekend.

“Every race is important,” Russell said. “But considering Joe lives near
here in Northeast Pennsylvania and his well-chronicled history at this
track plus the fact it’s a Matco Tools event, we plan to go all out to
put this Bilstein Engine Flush System/Matco Tools dragster on the podium
come Sunday.”

Vying for the same position will be the charismatic driver of the U.S.
Army/Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster, Tony Schumacher. The son of Funny
Car pioneer Don Schumacher, the 32-year-old Tony is racing in his
seventh season of professional competition. In his short tenure, the
popular pro already has a world championship to his credit (1999) and
has taken home the hardware from a national event six different times,
including the 2002 Phoenix event.

Aside from his prowess when the race’s title is on the line, Schumacher
has gained worldwide recognition for being the fastest pilot on the
planet. He first assumed that mantle in 1999 when he rocked the world
with an unbelievable pass of 330.23 mph, which made him the first driver
to eclipse the 330-mph barrier. A few years later he did it again in
Reading, Pa., guiding the U.S. Army/Matco Tools Top Fuel rail through a
333.08-mph excursion to reset the NHRA’s all-time speed mark – a record
that still stands to this day.

“When you have a fast race car and you’re running strong you love coming
to your sponsor’s race,” Schumacher said. “Not to mention we’re at
Englishtown, which can be one of the best tracks we race on. I love this
facility and because it’s a Matco Tools race I feel like we have an
edge. The way the Matco Tools people make us feel like a part of their
family, it’s like a home-track advantage for us.

“I hope we win but if it’s not us, I hope Darrell wins. We’re good
friends and we talk all the time about how much fun it would be to go
head-to-head every weekend. It’s time for some new blood fighting for
supremacy in the Top Fuel class and Darrell and I would love to take
Matco Tools with us to the top.”