Pomona: Antron Brown Sunday notes

BROWN WINS OPENING ROUND AT POMONA IN MATCO TOOLS CAR BEFORE RAIN AGAIN HALTS RACING ACTION

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 6, 2009) - Mother Nature was the winner of the first day of eliminations at the 49th annual Winternationals Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Antron Brown, the No. 1 qualifier, raced his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to an opening-round victory before rain halted the day's racing action. One round of professional eliminations was completed on Sunday.

In the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations, Brown and Steve Faria were the fifth pair of dragsters to do battle on Sunday. The drivers used nearly identical reaction times and Brown raced the Matco Tools rail to a lap of 4.222 seconds at 279.79 mph to score the win light in the right lane at Auto Club Raceway. The Matco Tools car dropped a cylinder early in the run causing early tire-shake. Faria clocked a pass of 5.099 at 155.10 in his first career professional start. The second round of professional eliminations is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (PT) on Monday morning at Auto Club Raceway, weather permitting. Brown will face No. 9 qualifier Mike Strasburg.

"We caught a bit of a break in that first round because it dropped a hole and I had to pedal the car," Brown said. "It's all good though. I have all the confidence in the world in Brian (Corradi), Mark (Oswald) and this Matco Tools crew and we'll be good to go in the second round. If we're sticking around another day, we're in it to win it."

-credit: mar