THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS; NHRA's Super Bowl has its usual drama.(Competitions of car racing)

Byline: CURT CAVIN

We now know what NHRA's new Countdown to the Championship looks and feels like. Tony Schumacher benefited; John Force did not.

Schumacher's road to a fifth Top Fuel title got a whole lot straighter at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, when he captured the playoff-starting U.S. Nationals for the sixth time. The wire-to-wire run through the 53rd-annual event vaulted him to the points lead with five races to go.

Last year, in a season-long manner of determining a champion, Schumacher had to scramble back to stun Doug Kalitta in the finale at Pomona. Now, after only one race in a format similar to NASCAR's, Schumacher is in the driver's seat for the first time this season.

Before Indy, Schumacher was 184 points out of first. Now he leads the eight-man chase by 31 points.

"I am a Countdown fan right now, but I don't know that I was at the beginning of the year,'' said Schumacher, who beat Larry Dixon in the finals (winning pace of 4.575 seconds and 331.94 mph). "I'm fine with it as long as at the end of the year, you have the trophy because you've done something. I don't want it to be a gift.''

Schumacher said he had fallen behind in the standings because his crew chief, Alan Johnson, was tinkering with blowers and clutches for the stretch run. There are three more events before the field is trimmed to four drivers per professional class.