Memphis: Antron Brown preview

Antron Brown on Memphis
"We ready to get back to the race track at Memphis and get things going for both Matco Tools and Toyota. We're excited to have the Toyota red and white on the car this weekend and hope to have the same result as we did with the DirecTV car back at St. Louis in May. It's not like we're running bad, we just seem to have some bad luck on our side, but we're going to do our best to change that and get this MAR team back on track starting at Memphis."

Brian Corradi (crew chief) on Memphis
"This is an important race for us. We want to do well for Toyota and Matco Tools and gain some ground in the Countdown (to 1). We just need to tweak a few things so we make the right calls and race day and we should be able to win races again. We're confident we can make the right calls and get things back on track for this Matco (Tools) team."

Antron Brown Memphis NHRA Notebook
Last weekend at Texas Motorplex near Dallas, Brown qualified the Matco Tools rail sixth at 3.878 seconds at 314.61 mph. He has qualified in the top half of the field at 19 of 20 races this season (Seattle) and has an average qualifying position of 3.5 with seven poles. Brown advanced to the quarterfinals where he fell to eventual race winner Tony Schumacher 3.915 to 4.113. Brown is now 4-2 in six races against the U.S. Army team this season.

Last year at Memphis Motorsports Park, Brown qualified the Matco Tools dragster ninth at 3.871 seconds at 310.05 mph. He qualified in the bottom half of the field just five times last season. He was defeated in round one by two-time series champion Larry Dixon, 3.877 to 3.881 . Brown had just four first-round losses in 2008, his first season in Top Fuel. Brown's only win at the Memphis race came in 2004 when he defeated Matt Smith in the final, 7.264 to 7.421, aboard his Suzuki.

-credit: mar