Schumacher ended up winning the event eight of 10 years in the 2000s — 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 — and beat Dixon in the final of four of them (’02, ’05, ’07, and ’09), and you can attribute much of that to a new crew chief. You have a chance to win more than Bob Glidden and you're 1,000 foot away from the finish line, you're running Steve Torrence in the finals. The win put Force in contention for the season championship. Jack Beckman won in Funny Car, Erica Enders in Pro Stock, and Scotty Pollacheck in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Legal Statement. Dale Adams was our crew chief, but he also had another full-time job, Mike and Greg Peek loved he sport — I’d kill to have them back out here — but we had a rough year. Gary Scelzi and Alan Johnson and me and Dan Olson were really back and forth kicking each other’s butts that year, and for Dan Olson to step up and beat them, that was pretty impressive.”. He spent part of his time doing some announcing with the NHRA on Fox TV crew. Follow, 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 test drive, 2021 Ford F-150 sets tow rating record at 14,000 pounds, Colorado police stop 10 speeding Porsche drivers, GM stops sales of Chevy Corvette, 5 other models due to brake issue, Tesla Model Y owners can make their cars quicker with $2,000 download. Indy Eleven. For all of the Indy wins, Schumacher also has had five first-round losses at his favorite race – including four in his last eight tries — and he tries his best — visibly at least — to take them in stride. “There are people who rise and get better when their heart rate’s up and there are people who choke, so I'm extremely thankful that during the big moments, we performed better because you could be the guy that wins the other stuff but has a hard time under the bigger circumstance. You hate being that guy that's excited about someone else's misfortune, but I was. These and baddest dudes in the world driving cars, but I have a chance to put everything on the table and leave no doubt and, if I can make it 11, how insane would that be?”, Phil Burgess can be reached at [email protected], Hundreds of more articles like this can be found in the DRAGSTER INSIDER COLUMN ARCHIVE. Six years after Garlits’ eighth and final Indy win in 1989, along came Tony Schumacher, the son of 1970s Indy Funny Car winner Don Schumacher and over the next two decades smashed all of “Large Father’s” Indy marks to become Top Fuel’s greatest winner at its grandest event and, following this week’s announcement, the sometimes sidelined superhero will be back this year to try to win Indy for the 11th time and tie the all-time event mark held by Top Alcohol Funny Car great Frank Manzo. It hurts because it means you have to wait another year to try to win it again.