Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher came to “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway one qualifying run shy of locking-up his second consecutive top fuel NHRA Powerade drag racing championship.

No pressure or drama -- all he had to do was cut a clean light and clear the starting line. So you would be excused to think that Schumacher would play it safe and go for the easy win.

Not hardly. Not “Sarge.” Not ever.

Instead, he went out and not only locked-up the title on run number one. He then swept the entire event, decisively winning his fourth consecutive NHRA meet.

As if that weren’t enough, Saturday night saw him victorious in the prestigious Budweiser Shootout All-Star event. It was his first win in that competition, where he was the number one qualifier. The closest he had gotten previously was his runner-up finish to Doug Kalitta in 2003.

In all, Schumacher’s Army team won $590,000 for their weekend’s work, including $400,000 for the series title and $100,000 for his Budweiser win. Given that they were in Las Vegas, it’s a good bet that the local economy benefited from their success.

A Champion’s perspective

Relaxing after his title-clinching win Friday with some of the pressure off, it was evident that winning a championship wasn’t about to satisfy a man like Schumacher.

He wanted more. And he and his Army team meant to get it.

“If you ask an athlete why you’re great, most don’t know,”said Schumacher. “For whatever reason, you put a group together that want to win so bad that that’s what life’s about for them.

That’s why we’re here, not to merely stage and get the championship. We’re here to win each race, kick butt, and put an exclamation point on why we’re world champions.”

If Webster’s dictionary needed an illustration of intensity and competitive spirit, they’d be wise to use a photo of Schumacher in his Army fire suit just after winning a race.

Schumacher said his Army racing team approached each 2005 race with the same take-no-prisoners attitude. Simply put: the secret to their phenomenal success was consistency.

“We couldn’t have won today if we hadn’t won the first, fifth or 10th race. We were going for the win every single time,” said Schumacher.

The first stage of the first race in Pomona last spring, we went to the line knowing that in 23 races someone would emerge as the world champion. And we wanted to do it as soon as possible. Period.”

It takes a team

After every win this weekend, “Sarge” endured a protracted round of carefully-staged photo opportunities, with eagle-eyed PR reps alert to ensure that the right sponsor ball cap was on all the right heads and that the trophy was facing the right direction.

Standing quietly off to the side looking on, arms usually folded across his chest, was a grey-bearded man who many believe is the best at his job in the sport.

Alan Johnson, the Army’s top fuel crew chief, joined the team in mid-season of 2003. And the rest, as they say, is history.

With Johnson at the helm, Schumacher started winning like never before. Last year he led the team to a record 10 event wins on the way to the championship. It was Johnson’s fourth NHRA title win.

So when Johnson says he knows why he’s usually a part of winning efforts, smart people listen.

“The only way you can achieve success in this sport is by avoiding mistakes. Simply put, if you make a mistake, you lose,” said Johnson. “The teamwork we have allows us to make winning runs throughout the weekend because the members of our team avoid making mistakes. Everybody has to trust the other guys to do the right thing.

Johnson said that he and his crew always approach each run as though it’s for a championship.

“We want everything to be perfect every time. If we do that, then I can make it run as well as it can on the racetrack. That’s the way we attack it.”

Army biker finishes second

Both Army pro stock cyclists qualified for Sunday’s session. And if all had gone as hoped, they would have raced one another in round three. But it was not to be.

Antron Brown jumped the line in his first heat, spoiling any chance for an Army vs. Army match-up.

Angelle Sampey continued her run of strong races through all three pre-final eliminations, defeating three Suzuki riders in tight finishes.

Going into the final round against defending event winner Chip Ellis’ Buell cycle, the three-time champion Sampey had lane choice, opting for a last-second switch to the right lane.

Sampey’s usually sharp reflexes were just a bit too quick at the light, as she fouled by 5/1000th of a second, conceding the win to Ellis and earning her Army team a second-place finish.

Sunday’s racing did little to shake-up the series points standings, as Andrew Hines, GT Tonglet and Sampey still occupied the top three slots respectively. Brown’s troubles dropped him into fifth place behind event winner Ellis.

Funny cars meant serious racing action

For pure drama, the hands-down best racing Sunday was in the funny car division.

In a stunning upset, reigning series champion John Force was eliminated in the first round, defeated by last year’s runner-up Del Worsham by a mere 1/1000th of a second.

At the close of eliminations both of Don Schumacher Racing’s funny cars, driven by Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi, were set to compete head-to-head in the final heat.

Scelizi was faster off the line, but Capps made up the distance and defeated his teammate to take the win. His victory gave him a mere two-point lead over Capps in the overall series points standings going into the seasons last race in Pomona next month.

In pro stock action, Kurt Johnson bested series champion Greg Anderson, who clinched his title during Saturday’s qualifying runs.