After Tony Schumacher won the Top Fuel title in Norwalk, he provided undeniable proof that our drag racing community is indeed a family

“Doug Kalitta is a competitor of mine and I need to beat him because that's my job, but I was kind of pulling for the guy today,” Schumacher said. “He's part of our family out here and he lost his dad this week, so we're all hurting for him. I wanted to race him in the final so I could be the first one to either congratulate him or give him the trophy because this one belongs to him. I will present it to him as soon as I get the chance.”

As I strolled into the Mac Tools race car hauler Saturday in Bristol, what I saw gave me chills and still does every time I look at the image. There was the trophy Tony won in Norwalk sitting on the counter in front of a picture of Senior that a race fan had given to Doug earlier in the day.

How fitting.

Thanks again to Tony and to all of the members of the U.S. Army dragster team.