Race Weekend Central

Nitro Shots: March Madness With Don Schumacher Racing

It’s almost like a fever that spreads out of control every year. It’s March Madness.

Pools are taking place in offices all over the country. Whether you are a college basketball fan with knowledge of most of the teams or you never follow the sport and make your picks by the color of the uniforms or the kind of mascot, everyone wants to have a little fun and maybe win at least bragging rights. Don Schumacher Racing is no different. Below, the seven all-star drivers share their picks with us. Funny Car world champion Ron Capps and eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher also share some insights into those picks.

We’ll let you know who comes out on top in the DSR office pool when it’s all over.

Ron Capps

* I live in San Diego area (Carlsbad), so I naturally had to pick San Diego St. to pull the big upset in Round 1 and take out No. 6 seed Houston (sorry Baytown Raceway fans). But the dream ends for our Aztec’s against Michigan in the next round.

* Gonzaga is always my favorite pick every year as I was a huge John Stockton fan. It has always been fun to watch Gonzaga knock off the larger schools, especially the east coast schools every year. I have them going all the way to the Final Four this year, but losing a close game to Arizona.

*I would love to see either Gonzaga or Arizona play for the championship. I have to keep it west coast and my favorite pick to win it all is Arizona. I can’t wait to watch Deandre Ayton put on a clinic with his Wildcat teammates and bring the trophy out west with a win over east coast powerhouse Villanova.

Tony Schumacher

“I’m not sure I’m the best guy to be making college basketball picks. I’m a 5’8” Italian guy,” joked Schumacher.

“But it’s a fun time of the year for a lot of people. I picked a couple of teams with local pull for me. First off, happy for Loyola to get back into the tournament. Being a Chicago kid that makes me proud. And now I’m a resident of Austin, so I’m pulling for the Texas Longhorns to make a good run. Other than those two, I like some of the favorites to come out on top. Villanova has won it recently and anytime you’ve done something like winning a championship before, you have a good chance to do it again.”

Matt Hagan

Antron Brown

Jack Beckman

Tommy Johnson Jr.

Leah Pritchett

About the author

A writer for Frontstretch since 2002, and editor since 2006, Toni heads up the NHRA coverage for the site. She’s responsible for post-race coverage in the weekly Pace Laps multi-series round-up along with the weekly Nitro Shots column featuring news and features from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. An award-winning former writer for the Presbyterian Church, Toni works in web design and freelances with writing in North Carolina.

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