Schumacher said when he learned his final-round
pass would be a solo, he said, "I was okay with
it. No matter how it happened, we ran fantastic
all weekend. We got the job done. That is the
Army way."
He said with his car's capability, he expected
to be the points leader. "Anything but being
No. 1 would be a disappointment," he said. "I
waited two and a half months, knowing that we
had more points than anyone else the last 14
races of the year. I couldn't wait for the season
to end so I could start the new one."
Same for Anderson. His Vegas General Construction
Pontiac Grand Am is a new Jerry Haas design,
one he could hardly wait to test in elimination
rounds and one he said seems to have a little
bit of magic. Perhaps it does. He drove it to
a 6.713-second pass at 205.76 to Johnson's 6.761/204.23
in the final round and earned $25,000. Still,
he understood what Schumacher meant when he
said that as a favorite, "now all you are is
someone who can lose a race."
The Charlotte, N.C.-based driver earned his
first Winternationals victory. However, he has
been nothing short of dominating in the Pro
Stock class. This was his fourth straight victory
and the third consecutive event in which he
has "run the table" as winner, No.1 qualifier
and driver with low elapsed time and top speed
of the weekend. He has led the category's points
standings since last June.
He's no slouch at Pomona Raceway, either. He
lowered his own track elapsed-time record three
times last weekend, and he improved his track
speed mark as many times. The last eight of
his 16 consecutive round- wins have come on
the storied quarter-mile.
Anderson said hard work alone by his team accounts
for his six straight top-qualifier positions,
his 23 races in a row in which he has qualified
third or better, his 17-11 record in final rounds,
and the perfect follow-up to a season in which
he won a record 12 races.
Anderson is 7-9 against Johnson overall, but
it was the first time Anderson defeated his
former boss in a final round. "That makes it
extra special. It's certainly a grudge match.
I respect the heck out of the guy," Anderson
said, "but it seems like the more success I
have, the tougher things get, the relationship
gets strained. . . . I just had an awesome car
all weekend. This thing is bad. It's just a
fast, fast car.
"The new beadlock tire rule that got thrown
in this year was a learning curve. Apparently
we got ahead of everybody else," he said. "I
honestly don't know if I've ever had this big
of gap on the field in all the runs I've made
down the race track. All four qualifying runs
would have gotten the pole. All four runs (in
eliminations) were quicker than anybody by three
or four hundredths in every run. Even at Englishtown
last year when I had such a great day, I don't
think even that was as impressive."
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