Tony Schumacher powered to his 86th career victory on Sunday, and Troy Coughlin, Jr. won his very first as a professional, to highlight the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) joined the eight-time Top Fuel world champion in victory lane at the 13th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the final stop during the three-race NHRA Western Swing.
Schumacher held off points leader Brittany Force in the final round, going 3.977-seconds at 251.34 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Okuma dragster. It gave the longtime standout his fifth Seattle victory – and his first at Pacific Raceways since 2008 – and also the first win for Joe and Cathi Maynard, who became majority team owners last week. His 86th career win surpasses Bob Glidden for the fourth-most in NHRA history as Schumacher and his team have fully rebounded from a slow start this year. He beat Scott Palmer, Shawn Langdon, and then Justin Ashley in a wild pedalfest to reach the finals, where he outlasted Force to tie Joe Amato for the most Top Fuel wins at Pacific Raceways in NHRA history.
“This is fantastic,” Schumacher said. “We were having a tough time this year, but we dug deep, worked hard, and made some big changes. Joe and Cathi are a great group of people and when good stuff happens, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s good for my guys, it’s good for Joe and Cathi and this is cool stuff. You’ve got to perform in this class, and these are not easy to win. To have five here in Seattle is phenomenal and we all felt good coming here this weekend.”
Force advanced to her fifth final round this season and 33rd in her career with wins against Jim Maroney, Josh Hart, and Leah Pruett. The standout also set the track speed record on Sunday with a run of 332.43 and stretched her points lead to 71 points over Mike Salinas.
Hight wrapped up a nearly-perfect Western Swing with another spectacular Sunday performance, delivering a stellar 3.975 at 319.98 in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS to slip past J.R. Todd in the final round. It gives the Funny Car points leader his sixth win this season and 59th in his career and a great finish to a Western Swing that included two victories and a semifinal appearance. Hight made the quickest run in each round of eliminations as he knocked off defending world…
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