Pomona: Antron Brown final report

BROWN DRIVES MATCO DRAGSTER TO QUARTERFINAL FINISH, SITS FIFTH IN TOP FUEL STANDINGS

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2008) -- Antron Brown looked like a season veteran rather than a Top Fuel rookie during his debut Top Fuel event at the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. The 16-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle winner drove his David Powers-owned Matco Tools dragster to a quarterfinal effort on Sunday, a day after earning his 12th career pole.

Brown, a New Jersey native, earned his first career round win as a Top Fuel driver by narrowly edging Erbacher in the opening round of the season-opener. Racing from the pole for the 12th time in his career, Brown powered the Matco-backed rail to a pass of 4.522 seconds at 329.36 mph to score the win light in the right lane at Auto Club Raceway. Erbacher, a former European Top Fuel champion, clocked a career-best 4.571, 324.98 pass.

Brown, who earned the pole with a run of 4.495-seconds in qualifying, faced off against 29-time Top Fuel winner Cory McClenathan in round two. Brown used a great .062 (of-a-second) reaction time but the Matco Tools rail lost traction instantly and slowed to a run of 16.894 seconds. McClenathan earned the trip to the semifinals as a result of his 4.530-second winning effort.

"We came in here and went down the track on Thursday and Lee (Beard) got a good baseline and then came out and set low E.T. and qualified No. 1 with that 4.49 on Friday; what more could you ask for," Brown said. "Then to outrun Tony Schumacher on our final qualifying run on Saturday night got us warmed up for race day.

"We don't just want to race, we want to contend for a championship. Lee has a lot of experience winning races. With the experience of Lee and working with Hot Rod (Fuller), I have great coaches. The skies the limit for our team. We leave here fifth in points and we're looking forward to Phoenix. We know the track and tested well there and I have more confidence in my driving skills."

-credit: dpm