Gunning for a fifth straight POWERade Top Fuel title, Tony Schumacher not only has the largest points total of all his front-running Pro peers, but also the largest lead, a whopping 253 markers ahead of second place.

The completion of the second annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk marked not just the halfway point of the 24-event NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, but also the two-thirds point of its regular season heading toward the Countdown to 1 cutoff at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and the subsequent beginning of the six-race playoffs that will determine the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series world champions.

Reigning Top Fuel world champ Tony Schumacher continues to lead the standings in his class, as he has all year, and former world champs Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle also find themselves in familiar, pack-leading positions. The season’s biggest surprise may be Tim Wilkerson, who not only gained the first points lead of his career following his May Funny Car victory in Madison but has maintained the top spot and built on his lead. In this first in a four-part series, we take a look at the Top Fuel season to date.

Schumacher has owned the premier spot in the standings since his victory at the season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, which surely has his peers concerned. The last two seasons, Schumacher was languishing in the fifth and sixth spots, respectively, at this point in the season and had yet to hit his stride with his Alan Johnson-tuned U.S. Army dragster.

Already this season, Schumacher has reached the winner’s circle five times in 12 starts and was runner-up on two other occasions. He has been the No. 1 qualifier three times and sports a 32-7 win-loss record this season. He also owns not only the largest points total of all the leaders – 1,062 – but also the biggest lead, fronting second-place runner Antron Brown by 253 markers. He is the only driver to have locked up a spot in the Countdown to 1 field.

Schumacher is hot off of back-to-back wins in Chicago and Englishtown, and even a surprising second-round loss in Norwalk does not seem to concern the five-time world champion.

"We certainly like where we're at right now," he said. "But, at the same time, we're never satisfied. Our soldiers always emphasize that the mission comes first. For us, the mission is to win another world title."

Schumacher is shooting for a sixth world championship and fifth overall. His championship last season marked the first time that anyone in Top Fuel had won more than three consecutive, and he now has his eyes set on breaking the second-place tie he holds with four-time Funny Car champs John Force and Kenny Bernstein for most consecutive titles in the nitro classes. Force, of course, holds the all-time record with 10 straight Funny Car crowns, 1993 to 2002.

Class rookie Antron Brown, right, has been Schumacher's greatest threat this season and the class' only other multi-time winner this year.

Brown, competing in his rookie season in the class, has surely impressed with two wins already in David Powers’ Lee Beard-tuned Matco dragster. He scored his first in Houston in just his fourth start in the class, and, after recording another a  few races later in Atlanta, he assumed second place in the standings, which he has held since. He qualified No. 1 in his debut in Pomona and again in Englishtown and is batting a fine .666 in eliminations with a 20-10 win-loss record; three of those losses have been to Schumacher, whom he has beaten once, in the Atlanta final.

Veteran Larry Dixon, a former two-time world champ, is just 18 points behind Brown in third with Don Prudhomme’s Don Bender-wrenched U.S. Smokeless dragster. He has a win (in Topeka, where he also qualified No. 1) and three runner-ups and sports a 20-11 record, also with a win and three losses to Schumacher.

Rod Fuller, last year’s championship runner-up to Schumacher, sits fourth in Powers’ other rail, the Rob Flynn-tuned Caterpillar machine, 316 points behind Schumacher. He also beat Schumacher in the final for his lone win, in Madison, and his sole runner-up was in a final-round loss to Schumacher in Chicago. With his second-round victory against the champ in Norwalk, he holds an even record against the points leader at 2-2 this season.

“The positives are that we keep going rounds, we got our first pole of the year, and we’re closing in on second and third place in the standings," said Fuller. “We’re going to Denver in a few weeks, and that’s a race we won last year. The consistency of the Cat car has been great, and we want to keep gaining points because we want to be second or third heading into the Countdown.”

Schumacher teammate Cory McClenathan, a four-time championship runner-up and the winner in Las Vegas, is in fifth place in the standings.

Schumacher’s Top Fuel teammate, Cory McClenathan, a four-time championship runner-up, rounds out the top five with his Mike Green-led Fram dragster. He’s 352 points behind Schumacher, who beat him at the season opener in Pomona, and has one victory this season, in Las Vegas, and one pole spot, in Atlanta. He has a 15-11 overall record and a 1-2 mark against the points leader.

"What I'm trying to do is condition myself for the Western Swing and from Indy on, and that's really the most important thing here,” said McClenathan, who is still trying to adjust to improved eyesight following LASIK eye surgery prior to the Englishtown event. “The best thing I can do for myself is keep working and be on my game when it comes to Indy, and that's what I plan on doing.”

Brandon Bernstein, a three-time runner-up this season, tops the second half of the provisional top 10, just ahead of Hillary Will and Doug Herbert, who each have a win this season, and teammates Dave Grubnic and Doug Kalitta.

Another pair of teammates, Morgan Lucas and J.R. Todd, sits 11th and 12th, 32 and 86 points, respectively, outside the top 10 with six races to go, and Bob Vandergriff Jr. is just 95 points out of a playoff berth. They are the only three drivers with a realistic chance at bumping into a playoff berth before the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Coming Thursday: Funny Car

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