Winningest Top Fuel driver of all-time appeals heavy fine, is dealing with affects of nasty black widow spider bite.
- Tony Schumacher awaits verdict of appeal following his hefty $20,000 fine and 50-point penalty from Brainerd, Minn., race.
- With U.S. Nationals and the six-race Countdown looming, the decision affects other drivers, as well.
- What’s more, bites from a black widow spider hiding in Schumacher’s motorcycle helmet send him to hospital during the idle weekend.
The NHRA announced last Friday it had fined Top Fuel racer Tony Schumacher $20,000 and docked him 50 championship points following the most recent Camping World Drag Racing Series race, at Brainerd, Minn.
The fines were divided into two $10,000 penalties—one for “driving a vehicle that had two disabled safety systems” and one for “bypassing a performance restriction device” during the quarterfinals of the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
The points forfeiture affects Countdown to the Championship seeding. The announcement came one week before Friday’s opening of the regular-season finale. The Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis sets the field and order of title-eligible racers.
A 50-point penalty has dropped Tony Schumacher from eighth to 10th in the points standings.
NHRA/National Dragster
The Maynard/Schumacher team is in the process of appealing the decision which, if upheld, drops Schumacher from eighth place to 10th in the points standings. But because of the sanctioning body’s practice of erasing point advantages gained through the first 16 races and separating the Countdown drivers in 10-point increments, Schumacher indicated he isn’t worried about the appeal’s verdict.
“They should fine me a million points. We’d get every news channel in the world: ‘One Team Loses A Million Points,’” he said. “What’s the difference? They take ’em away Monday. Take ’em all away. Put me at 12th. I will win the championship if I’m supposed to. But I’d like to win it from the eighth spot, not the 10th.”
He said, “I understand. I don’t take anything to heart by it. I didn’t do anything wrong. I got in the car and drove it. I don’t believe what we did justifies what they did in any way, shape, or form. It’s why we went and appealed it.
“I don’t understand it, so you’d have to call anybody but me. I’m not the guy,” Schumacher said. “Here’s what I know: I know that I have seven seconds to stage the car after the other guy. I know you’re not supposed to swear on TV. I know you’re not supposed to punch someone at the finish line. I know that when it goes sideways not to hit the gas, because you’re going to hit something. I know simple things.”
As far as the minutiae of the matter, Schumacher said, “I can’t talk about it until after you debate it. It’s under review. We’ll sit down and chat about it. We’ll see what they say. If they want to fine me, let ’em fine me. If they want to take points away, let ’em take points away. If they think I’m wrong, they’ll settle it that way. I never let the small stuff bother me. At the end of the day, I get to drive a race car – going to Indy, man.”
“Don’t even care how it turns out, to be honest. Just doesn’t matter,” he said, although he said, “We’d like to have it done before we leave Indy.”
Whatever happens, he said, he will accept the final decision.
“So many great things happen all the time,” Schumacher said. “Every now and then you get some stupid stuff.”
About That Spider Bite
If that were all that he had to contend with since the previous race, Schumacher might be just fine. But he will show up to “The Big Go” with nasty bites on his forehead and neck from a black widow spider.
He rode his Ducati to a car show near his Austin, Texas, home. The motorcycle had no handlebars on which to hang his helmet, so he laid the helmet in the grass. When he put it back on, he said, “I thought fire ants were hammering me.” A firefighter friend provided oxygen and rushed him to the hospital, and an epinephrine injection neutralized the venom. Based on the appearance of the bites, the doctor concluded the bites were from a black widow spider.
Schumacher has the NHRA record for most U.S. Nationals victories (10) and most Top Fuel trophies (86).