Drag Racing Legend Don Schumacher Has Passed Away, Age 79
News is coming through of the passing of drag racing legend Don Schumacher overnight, confirmed by former NHRA competition director Steve Gibbs and NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart.
Schumacher was one of the biggest names in the sport of drag racing, from his driving days in a range of stunning Funny Cars to his years as a team owner for Don Schumacher Racing.
Schumacher was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1944. He was one of the Funny Car originals, match racing his way around the USA in the late sixties. He won five NHRA events, nine IHRA events and even an AHRA World Championship before retiring from driving relatively early in his career in 1974 to focus on business and family.
While professional drag racing was no doubt calling his name, Schumacher turned his attention to the Woodward-Schumacher Electric company started by his father in 1947. The company primarily manufactured transformers, but Don convinced his dad to purchase a bankrupt battery charger manufacturer. The company became known as Schumacher Electric and grew into a 2500-employee giant worth $200 million.
With the company mature, Don was able to look back to drag racing and in 1998 he formed Don Schumacher Racing. Over the years the stable would grow to host up to eight nitro teams, winning dozens of championships and hundreds of events. Don brought the same professional business approach to racing, with industry-leading corporate hospitality and sponsor programs.
Among those who raced under the DSR banner for many years was Don’s son Tony, who continues racing to this day. With eight NHRA Top Fuel championships, Tony’s name is forever etched in Top Fuel legend - and he’s not done yet.
Don began to wind down his involvement in team ownership after 2020, working on a collaborative handover process to introduce drivers Ron Capps and Antron Brown to team ownership themselves. More recently, DSR began producing a range of specialty Dodge Hemi products for high performance street cars.
Don had spent the past several months privately battling lung cancer before succumbing to illness-related complications on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Very few names in the sport of drag racing can profess to have done as much for the sport as Don Schumacher - forever a legend.
Our condolences go out to the Schumacher family at this time.
We will have more details as they come to hand.
