Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher captured his elusive fourth Gatornationals win at Gainesville Raceway and he credited the preseason testing at Palm Beach International Raceway after collecting the Wally.

The Don Schumacher Racing stable along with the Al-Anabi/Alan Johnson Racing team, Morgan Lucas Racing, Kalitta Racing and the Bob Tasca Funny Car team all visited PBIR’s quarter-mile all concrete drag strip in January to shake off the off-season dust and prepare for the 2010 season.

“We used a lot of the information, (from Palm Beach International Raceway) it’s very similar,” said Schumacher. “The conditions couldn’t have been too much different. It might have been a little bit cooler even when we tested.”

Schumacher recorded his best lap of the PBIR test session under cool, sunny conditions with a 3.753 E.T. (elapsed time) at 322.88 mph, which was an unofficial record. The conditions when Schumacher ran a record setting speed of 324.98 mph at the Gatornationals Sunday were much like those when the teams tested at PBIR.

“That’s why we come to certain racetracks and test,” said Schumacher. “We gathered up an excellent amount of information at West Palm. I think it was the right place for us to test. It was effective for us to be able to make run after run with little changing conditions and we did what we needed to do.”

It was evident that the Schumacher camp learned a lot from the PBIR test as most of their teams had a successful weekend at the Gatornationals. Funny Car driver Matt Hagan, who ran his best time of the PBIR test session with a 4.099 E.T. at 307.86 mph, set a record with his 316.15 mph run in Gainesville.