DSR’s toughest competitors on track came from former crew chief Johnson as his Al-Anabi Racing team with driver Larry Dixon ended up running Schumacher to the final round. The season ended with Dixon falling in the semi finals to rookie Spencer Massey, who replaced him in Don Prudhomme’s entry. The loss dropped him just two points behind Schumacher in the standings, the closest margin of victory in history.

Through the season however, it was all Antron Brown. After being bounced between three different teams for various monetary situations, Brown, his crew, and his sponsor stuck together. Their solidarity led them to a top fuel high six wins (one more than Schumacher) in 10 final round appearances, 51 round wins, seven poles, and two speed records. Brown dominated the regular season standings and had Schumacher’s number with a 6-2 record against the eventual champ.

His fall however, came when the performance was needed the most, just at the start of the six-race Countdown.

"We felt the pressure within the Countdown. There are no excuses. Our team is a no excuse team. We just got beat. I look at it this way; when we got to the Countdown, you need things to go your way," he said.

"It just wasn’t our time to win the championship. We worked hard, gave it everything we got. Gremlins got us. We had some parts failures. It knocked us back where we had to play catch-up. The first two of the six races killed us. We lost about 40 points in the world championship."

Brown’s team, led by co-crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi, was sold to Schumacher with two races remaining in the season after Mike Ashley, who gained control of the team from David Powers during the off season, was forced to focus on legal matters stemming from other business dealings.

All was not lost however, as Brown and crew regrouped once more, closing the season with a win at the season-ending event in Pomona.

"The thing about us, is we stuck together," Brown said of his team after bouncing between three car owners within a year. "We had most of our same crew guys. We got Brian and Mark. They are very stand-up, easy going , hard workers.

"They want to win a championship. We want to win a championship. With that same attitude, it’s a great gel. We’re a family now. "