Pomona: Antron Brown Friday notes

BROWN EARNS PROVISIONAL POLE FRIDAY AT POMONA WITH 4.495-SECOND BURST

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 8, 2008) -- Antron Brown accomplished three firsts Friday afternoon at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The rookie Top Fuel driver of the Matco Tools dragster raced to his first 4.4-second elapsed time, first 330 mph pass, and first provisional No. 1 qualifying position.

The 16-time NHRA winner (Pro Stock Motorcycle), moved from the No. 10 spot to the top of the Top Fuel order when he drove his Lee Beard-tuned dragster to a performance of 4.495 seconds at 330.07 mph. The Matco rail was traveling more than 278 mph at half track (660-feet) and is the only car in the 4.4-second range following two of four scheduled qualifying sessions at the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. Brown also had a .069 (of-a-second) reaction time on the pass.

"It was a great run," Brown said. "I can't say enough for my entire Matco Tools team. I owe everything to Lee (Beard) and my guys. Our goal was to qualify in the top half of the field. Our team is more than capable of that. My guys have made this transition so easy for me. I've got to work on cutting good lights and we'll put those good numbers on the board. I'm just stoked to be part of a phenomenal race team."

The Matco Tools team posted two consistent runs on the first two days of qualifying for the 2008 NHRA season-opener running 4.560 on Thursday and the stellar 4.495 on Friday afternoon. Top Fuel qualifying continues on Saturday with sessions schedule for 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. (PT).

-credit: dpm