Tony Schumacher vs. Jimmie Johnson: The Burnout Competition

As part of the promotional build up to the 2015 Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history Tony Schumacher hauled his 10,000 HP dragster across the street from the dragstrip to Charlotte Motor Speedway to hang out with Jimmie Johnson, who at the time had won five NASCAR Monster Cup series championships. As part of the promotion, Johnson got up close and personal with Schumacher’s dragster, climbing inside the cockpit while the crew warmed the car up on pit road.

You can see the awe on Jimmie’s face when the crew “blips” the throttle and the car, already idling angrily atop the hydraulic jacks, lets forth a deafening roar that will make even the most grizzled race fan jump completely out of their shoes. Johnson takes a second to process the blip, then shows the disbelief on his face with a look of pure shock. The two champions then suited up and got in their respective rides for a little demonstration of horsepower, laying down side-by-side burnouts down the Charlotte Motor Speedway pit road. Johnson, who we have to say needs a little coaching up in his burnouts, begins with a short burnout while Schumacher’s crew pushes him through the water. Tony lets off the clutch and goes full on 1990’s John Force, laying down a beautiful, long smoky burnout that absolutely dwarfed Johnson’s effort.

Of course, when your car has more than 10 times the power than the guy to your left, it should be a little easier to throw up a massive wall of tiresmoke. Thanks to our partners at Don Schumacher Racing for the excellent video. We hope to see some more cross-sanction promotions like this in the future, as both NASCAR and the NHRA could benefit from bringing each others fans into their own worlds.