Morrison – Tony Schumacher and Robert Hight exceeded 300 mph four times each Sunday en route to sharing top honors in the rain-delayed finals of the 26th Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Schumacher flawlessly went 331.45 mph in the top fuel final against Morgan Lucas to set the track speed record and take over the points standings lead with his fourth win this season. His 4.617-second pass against the 21-year-old Lucas (4.778, 309.91) denied car owner Joe Amato his eighth top fuel win at Bandimere.
Hight, a funny car rookie driving for his father-in-law, John Force, completed the rare sweep of winning from the pole and setting the division’s low elapsed time (4.796 seconds) and top speed (322.58 mph). He used a 4.897-second, 316.60-mph pass to defeat 2004 funny car event winner Phil Burkart Jr. in the final.
Ten years ago, experts said NHRA top fuel dragsters and funny cars never would eclipse the 300-mph barrier in Colorado. But Sunday, 20 passes exceeded 300, topped by Schumacher’s final run, which took Brandon Bernstein’s 330.88-mph pass Friday out of the record book.
Heading into this event, Amato held the track record of 318.54, set in 1999.
“I knew we’d be in great shape if we kept all eight cylinders lit, and that’s what we did in the finals,” said Schumacher, who qualified second and got to the final by beating Don Sosenka, Doug Herbert and Cory McClenathan. “That was just an outstanding run.”
Lucas – the replacement for the late Darrell Russell, who died in Amato’s cockpit about a year ago – fell to 0-3 in the finals this year. He’s 0-2 against Schumacher, who is 4-for-4.
“Morgan is eventually going to win one of these things, and it makes you nervous racing him in the finals,” Schumacher said. “I’m not sure he was next to me, because when you’re running 331 mph, man, odds are he wasn’t.”
Lucas reached the final by eliminating David Grubnic, previous points leader Doug Kalitta and Scott Weis. Lucas is fifth in the standings behind second- place Kalitta, Dixon and Grubnic.
Hight’s funny car victory ended a seven-race winning streak at Bandimere for Burkart, who made it out of the first round for the first time in 11 events.
Hight, from Anaheim Hills, Calif., took the points lead over Force, who bowed out in the first round to Burkart. Hight leads his boss by 22 points (893-871).
“I’m starting to get a little more confidence, but still, I have a lot to learn,” said Hight, who is married to Force’s oldest daughter. “There is a million ways to lose races. But we came here to win and it worked out.”
Warren Johnson (pro stock) and Ryan Schnitz (pro stock motorcycle) won their divisions.
Johnson, 62, who is retiring after this season, won for the 95th time in 148 career final rounds.
His win against Dave Connolly, 22, was a beauty. Connolly false-started after the drivers played the staging game for 1 minute, 49 seconds.
“I’ve been doing this for 30-plus years and some people get the mind-set that they have to stage last,” said Johnson, who won for the fifth time at Bandimere. “We’ll let them do it once in a while. But you know, when you have a brat kid you just got to teach him a lesson once in a while.”
Schnitz became the first multiple pro bike winner this year and took over the top spot in the standings. He edged Antron Brown in the final, despite Brown’s sensational reaction time of .007 of a second.
Brown had three of the best reaction times of the four divisions. He had a perfect one of .000 against Karen Stoffer in the first round and .001 in a second-round upset of polesitter Andrew Hines.
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
