Reading: Antron Brown Friday notes

BROWN FINISHES SIXTH FRIDAY EVENING AT MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY

MOHNTON, Pa. (Aug. 15, 2008) -- Antron Brown raced his David Powers-owned Matco Tools dragster to the provisional No. 6 qualifying position Friday evening at Maple Grove Raceway. The two-time Top Fuel winner used an elapsed time of 3.892-seconds to finish fifth on the opening day of qualifying at the Toyo Tires Nationals.

Brown entered the 17th race on the 2008 NHRA schedule ranked second in the POWERade Top Fuel standings having qualified in the top half of the field at 14 of 16 races this season. On Friday's opening qualifying lap, the 18-time NHRA winner used a tune-up from crew chief Lee Beard to race the Matco Tools dragster to the second quickest run of the session. Brown clocked a pass of 3.892 seconds at 308.28 mph to trail only Tony Schumacher after the first qualifying session. Friday evening under the lights at Maple Grove Raceway, the Matco Tools car lost traction and slowed to a pass of 8.376 at 68.57. The 3.892-second E.T. placed Brown and the Matco tools team in the provisional No. 6 qualifying spot.

"That first run was a good pass," Brown said. "We had a little mechanical problem on that last run, but it's ok. We're all good. We'll come out tomorrow and work on our race day tune-up so we can come out on Sunday and lay the smack down."

Professional nitro qualifying resumes Saturday afternoon at the Reading, Pa. track with sessions scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m. (ET). Brown, who earned the Pro Stock Motorcycle pole at the Reading NHRA race in 2004, qualified his Suzuki eighth at Maple Grove Raceway last year.

-credit: dpm