Photos courtesy Mellie Snedeker

Two of the most poorly-kept secrets in the NHRA nitro pit area have revolved around multi-motorsport team owner Rick Ware and eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher. Ware, who has operated teams at NASCAR’s highest levels, in SCCA, flat track and motocross motorcycle racing, entered the NHRA in 2023 with the acquisition of fan favorite Clay Millican’s Top Fuel team; Ware was clear from the outset that he intended to expand his drag racing operation when the time was right. Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in the sport’s history, who lost his ride with Maynard Family Racing at the close of the 2024 season, the desire to continue in the sport was a no-brainer.

In March, those two stories have collided, as Ware and Schumacher publicly acknowledge a budding new partnership that would put the NHRA and the IHRA’s all-time winningest Top Fuel drivers under the same umbrella.

On Monday, Schumacher took the first major on-track steps toward realizing that new opportunity, taking to the Virginia Motorsports Park in scorching-hot temperatures to shake down his new dragster, with backing from Tomball, Texas-based American Communications Construction (ACC). Veteran crew chief Rob Flynn, who began the 2025 campaign with Mike Salinas’ Scrappers Racing team, was announced last week as the tuner for the new entry, joining another seasoned vet in Jim Oberhofer on the team’s braintrust.

The team has yet to confirm its plans for 2025, with Schumacher commenting, “We are still waiting on parts to make sure we have everything we need to come out and win. It will be soon, though.”

Schumacher has 88 career wins to go with his eight championships — with three of those wins coming during his tenure with team owner Joe Maynard, including two a season ago.