For the last five years top fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher has strapped himself into his 8,000 horsepower, 2,225-pound Army land rocket and roared down the dragways of America, hitting more than 330 mph and running the 1,000-foot track in le...

For the last five years top fuel driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher has strapped himself into his 8,000 horsepower, 2,225-pound Army land rocket and roared down the dragways of America, hitting more than 330 mph and running the 1,000-foot track in less than 4 seconds-and he\'s done it faster, more often than any top fuel pilot on the National Hot Rod Association circuit.

The Chicagoan blew out the competition with an overwhelming single-season record of 15 top fuel career victories in 2008, and picked up his fifth consecutive and sixth overall NHRA championship title when he and crew wrapped up the 2008 season in November at Pomona Dragway in California. He also holds the most top fuel career wins at 56.

For all that he and the Army team accomplished, the Driver of the Year Foundation selected Schumacher as the 2008 Driver of the Year, becoming only the third NHRA driver to be so honored in the 42-year history of the award.