Tony Schumacher did everything necessary to win the Top Fuel title in the NHRA and convinced the expert panel that he was the Fourth Quarter Driver of the Year 2006. Schumacher won his third-straight NHRA POWERade world championship driving the US Army Top Fuel dragster. How he won it, that’s the story. In a deep hole, in eighth place in the standings – 338 points behind almost halfway into the season, “Sarge’s” last quarter charge stunned the racing community. With four poles and two victories he still had to, and did, set a national elapsed record in the final event. It was the biggest comeback in the series’ history. In the voting, by an elite panel of print and broadcast journalists, the 35-year-old Chicago native was dominant taking 11 out-of-the 16 first-place votes that were cast. Coincidentally, Melanie Troxel, Schumacher’s former teammate, was the first woman to win a quarterly vote earlier this year. Jimmie Johnson, who had a no-less remarkable comeback in the final quarter with one victory and five second-place finishes to lock up his Nextel Cup Championship, tallied two first-place votes and totaled 73 points. Kevin Harvick clinched his second NASCAR Busch Series early in the fourth quarter with three victories. The Richard Childress Racing Chevy driver had one win in the Nextel Cup Chase, earned one first-place vote and tallied 68 points. Tony Stewart – the 2005 Driver of the Year – won three races, although out of the Chase for the Cup, was rewarded with two first-place votes, finishing fourth with 62 points. A total of 12 drivers scored points in the fourth quarter voting. In its’ 40th year Driver of the Year is unique because it is the oldest award that encompasses all of the racing series in the United States. A panel of 17 leading journalists and broadcasters from across the U.S. determine the winner. In quarterly voting, points are awarded on a declining 9,6,4,3,2,1 basis. A separate one-driver vote will determine the 2006 Driver of the Year. In recognition of the award, Schumacher will receive a trophy and a Maurice Lacroix, wristwatch. The trophy presentation will take place at time and place to be announced later.(DOTY PR)(12-1-2006)
