ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. — They all wanted to win for drag-racing legend Connie Kalitta Sunday, to honor his son Scott’s memory and celebrate the gusto with which the fallen National Hot Rod Ass’n Funny Car driver raced.
But Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher had extra incentive as he reached the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals winner’s circle with Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Schumacher had never won at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
“Man, that track flat-out gives me a headache every year,” he said earlier in the week. He failed to qualify at Raceway Park in 2003, and since then has a quarterfinal finish and three first-round losses.
He faced off in the finals with Brandon Bernstein, who was trying to shake his own Englishtown jinx that started also in 2003 with a season-ending wreck.

TO THE TOP: Greg Anderson captured his third Wally of the season, defeating Cagnazzi rival Dave Connolly in the final round of Pro Stock eliminations Sunday in Englishtown, N.J. (NHRA Photo)

Schumacher used a quicker starting-line reaction time in the U.S. Army Dragster to defeat Bernstein and his Budweiser/Lucas Oil Dragster.
Schumacher ran a 4.589-second elapsed time at 325.06 miles per hour to Bernstein’s 4.562/323.04.
The $40,000 victory put Schumacher six wins short of tying Joe Amato for the all-time Top Fuel victory record. He has reached seven final rounds in 11 races this season, including five of the six most recent events.
Schumacher, who won his first Wally trophy in 1999 against Scott Kalitta at Dallas, said he planned to give his 46th statue to Connie Kalitta and that the soldiers he represents with his Amy sponsorship asked that he tell Kalitta it is from them, as well.
The elder Kalitta owns the airline that has the only contract with the federal government to fly the remains of U.S. troops to their final resting places.
“He’s going through what he flies home every week,” Schumacher said. He added that crew chief Alan Johnson was shaken by Scott Kalitta’s violent wreck, for he was the crew chief for brother Blaine Johnson, who died in a qualifying crash in 1996 at Indianapolis. He deliberated overnight whether to participate in Sunday’s eliminations, but after conferring with Schumacher, they decided to move forward.
“I woke up and did what I had to do. We had to move on. We had to race,” Schumacher said. “There had to be a winner. We said we’ve got to get the trophy and it’s got to be earned. It’s a great win, and it’ll sit on a great shelf.”
The Kalitta team and crew chiefs Jon and Jim Oberhofer supported Johnson by standing with him at the starting line for the final-round drama.
Wilkerson, too, said the race needed to continue.
“Knowing Scott, he would have wanted us to race. You put your heart and soul into what you do and you hope for the best,” he said.   
Sunday’s results turned out best for Wilkerson, who edged Mike Neff in the final with a 4.877-second, 319.29 effort in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala. Neff drove his Old Spice Ford Mustang to a 4.883/316.75 effort.
“Jeff Jacobs and Rich Schendel, my two key guys on the team, have really made me look good all year long,” Wilkerson said. “The alliance with Don Prudhomme…has been very important to the performance of our car. We’ve learned a lot over at his place, and it has showed on the race track.”
The victory — Wilkerson’s eighth overall, third this year and first at Raceway Park — extended his lead in the standings to 132 points over second-place Ashley Force. Wilkerson has also advanced to the final round at four of the last seven races.
For Wilkerson, a longtime independent racer, the $40,000 payout will come in handy.
“With the price of diesel fuel and the price of nitro, I called my sponsor last week and said, ‘I can tell you right now that I’m going to be $75,000 in the hole by the time I get home at the end of the year. If I wasn’t winning races, I’d be in trouble right now.”
Anderson might have been in trouble in the Pro Stock final against Dave Connolly, were it not for teammate Jason Line, who gave him perfect advice.
Anderson followed it and credited Line — and Scott Kalitta, too, referring to him as “an angel on my shoulder” — for the $20,000 victory.
“I owe that win to Jason Line. He stuck his head into the cockpit right at the starting line and said, ‘If it shakes, get back in it. Don’t lift.’ It was a pedal fest and it was ugly, but I got the win. If Jason hadn’t said that, I’d probably still be sitting there.”
Both Anderson’s KB/Summt Pontiac GXP and Connolly’s Cagnazzi Racing/Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt shook hard early. Anderson got back into the throttle and struggled to the finish line, winning with a 7.578-second e.t. at 200.23 mph, while Connolly coasted to a 20.285-second clocking.
It was Anderson’s third victory this season and his fourth overall at Raceway Park. Connolly reached his third final-round appearance in just six races this year.
Ellis, delighted first that his Schumacher Electric Suzuki held its own among the Buells and Harley-Davidsons and second because he won against the team that released him last season, won $7,000. He ran a 7.040-second, 187.21-mph pass, while No. 1 qualifier Chris Rivas jumped the light on his and missed the chance for a second-straight victory.