In a rather surprising and certainly controversial move, Don Schumacher Racing announced on Friday that Spencer Massey, who was released from his employment with the drag racing mega team following an incident at the NHRA awards banquet in November, has returned to the team and will re-assume the seat of the former FRAM/Prestone Top Fueler that he drove to a third place finish in the points last season.

Massey will rejoin teammates Tony Schumacher and reigning champion Antron Brown, and crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara will once again lead the third DSR dragster into competition at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona in less than two weeks. According to official reports, the dragster will be fully funded by Schumacher himself, carrying the banner of Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher.

Although Massey has not tested the car this winter and the team did not attend the recent PRO Winter Warmup in Florida with the rest of the seven-car team, Shuler and Okuhara did test the car with Tommy Johnson Jr. at the controls in December, rocking to a best lap of 3.75 seconds at 325 mph.

This season will mark the 30-year old Massey’s fourth season as a full-time pro and third with DSR. Their partnership appeared to be a closed book deal in November when Massey was released with little explanation from the team and silence from Massey himself.

In unrelated-related news, the rumor mill is suggesting that veteran nitro pilot Johnson Jr., who has been working as a test pilot and track consultant for DSR and was believed by many to be in line for the seat of the third dragster, resigned his duties on Friday. As the slick turns…

We’ll have more on these developing stories this week, so stay tuned here to Dragzine.