ANTRON BROWN

Announcer: We're here with Tony Schumacher at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Tony you've had great success here at ORP and the U.S. Nationals specifically 7-time winner going for your 8th win trying to tie Don Garlits for the most Top Fuel wins in the U.S. Nationals history. Tell us about your feelings going into this race.

Tony: Just a I think any kind of lucky track where you perform well at, when you just can't wait to get back to it. I think you know it's the last race before the countdown we've pretty much have set where we are on the points going into the final 6-races. So actually just show up and trying to win that's a great thing just show up kind of remember when you were young and how you used to get into a race car go out and try to perform. Its what our team is really good at. This is the dominate track for us we got good data from testing here and you know we've won it seven times, but I've been in the finals here nine times including the 1st race I was ever at. One week after I licensed in 1996, so if everyone has their tracks this is mine hope to go out and tie big daddy Don Garlits record with 8 wins.

More importantly, just go out and win this race again. Its the toughest, the toughest race of the year because most cars show-up with the best parts and pieces willing to sacrifice everything to get the win and if anyone tells you that winning is not important they've never won.

Announcer: Now we've talked about you know winning here at Indy, but this is gonna be the seed that's planted for the countdown to one playoff what start in two-weeks from today, two-weeks from this week-end in Charlotte. Obviously you want to run well, try to gain some momentum going in, going into the post season.

Tony: Absolutely, you want to run well in every race, but all testing is finish right here. We're not testing anymore we're pulling out every piece and part we have, everything we've tested since Denver is on in this race car to win this race to get the motion going in the right direction before we get into Charlotte, it exactly right. No type of playing around anymore all we get is the more shortcut this is it. This is where the hard work and the determination is suppose to pay off right now.

Announcer: Now you started this at this race, the beginning of a new season for the Youth and Education Services Program better known as the YES Program. Much of students join you on Friday us about your involvement with the YES program and how beneficial that is to the U.S. Army and to the motor sports world actually.

Tony: I think it's beneficial to the motor sports world and to the Army hopefully it's as beneficial to the kids that what they're bringing them out for just to give them a little bit of insight. You know when I was sixteen I can't honestly tell you that I ever spent anytime thinking about what my ultimate goals were. To think that's what we're out there doing I'm not telling them ???look you got to be a soldier', ???I'm telling try to plan what you're going to be' so you don't wake up ten-years from now and being stuck with whatever's left. I think it's a pretty simple task we've invited them out, we show them how, I think a lot of people go, oh it's a day off from school. No, it's a day in a different school, we are teaching them here, we're trying to present them with opportunities to show them the different jobs that motor sports can offer, that the Army can offer. It's fairly unique for teachers you know to bring kids out to actual race to show them the behind the scenes, the different jobs, give them a little hope, at sixteen, seventeen, eighteen years old little insight maybe let them see something that they might want to be so that they can have a goal because until you have that goal because until you have that goal its hard to work toward it.