Below: Trudy was encouraging then points losing Tony Schumacher to keep his chin up "You're still the champion!" At this race on Sunday Tony had just been eliminated in an early round before we caught up with him in the pits. You could tell that the early elimination from competition bothered the whole team, but he was the cordial professional while attending to his fans. Outside of Drag Racing - You just don't get the opportunity to be this up-close and personal with any other sports professionals, or the opportunity to use the same arena as the professionals (Race Track). Fast-forward: It was and an added treat, and great to see, them come from behind in the final race of the season and once again become the Top Fuel Championship Team.

Above and Below: Trudy encouraging Tony Schumacher to keep his chin up "You're still the champion!" wins her a smile. Patient fans were not disappointed when waiting for Tony to make an appearance after going down to an early round defeat in Sundays finals. This was Trudy's 1st attendance at a National NHRA event. She enjoyed seeing, hearing and feeling the raw power of the dragsters; and the up close and personal experience of meeting the drivers and teams in the pits and Nitro Alley.

SCHUMACHER WINS FOURTH QUARTER DRIVER OF THE YEAR: NHRA Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, who made the greatest comeback in NHRA history to win his third consecutive and fourth overall NHRA POWERade Series world championship, was named the fourth quarter winner of the prestigious Driver of the Year award. Schumacher, who won the final race of the season with a national record time of 4.428 seconds to complete a 12-race, 336 point comeback and defeat Doug Kalitta for the season championship by 14 points, received 11 of 16 first place votes from an elite panel of motorsports journalists who decide the Driver of the Year. Others who received first place votes included Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart of NASCAR. The season’s other Driver of the Year quarterly winners included Melanie Troxel, NHRA Top Fuel, first quarter; Sebastian Bourdais, Champ Car, second quarter; and Sam Hornish Jr., Indy Racing League, third quarter. National Hot Rod Association: NHRA Drag Racing - Join Today!

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