NHRA
Topeka: Antron Brown Friday notes
BROWN AND MATCO TOOLS TEAM EARN PROVISIONAL POLE FRIDAY AT TOPEKA TOPEKA, Kan. (May 29, 2009) - Antron Brown raced his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday evening at Heartland Park Topeka with ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:49 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
BROWN AND MATCO TOOLS TEAM EARN PROVISIONAL POLE FRIDAY AT TOPEKA
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 29, 2009) - Antron Brown raced his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday evening at Heartland Park Topeka with a 1,000-foot blast of 3.841-seconds. The Matco Tools car also clocked the fastest speed of the day at 315.71 mph.
Brown enters the ninth of 24 races on the 2009 NHRA schedule ranked second in the NHRA Top Fuel standings. The Matco Tools flagship driver trails six-time series champion Tony Schumacher by 45 points. Brown, a two-time winner this season, opened qualifying at the 21st annual O'Reilly Summer Nationals with a lap of 4.353 seconds at 223.21 mph. That placed him 10th in the order after the first of four qualiying sessions. The track temperature was 116-degrees for the first qualifying attempt.
Friday evening under the lights at the ultra-fast Topeka track, Brown, the fastest 1,000-foot driver, continued to post blistering speeds in the bright blue Matco Tools rail. Brown, a former college sprinter, used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to power the Matco-backed car to a lap of 3.841 at 315.71 to pace the Top Fuel field on Friday at Heartland Park. Two weeks ago at Bristol, Tenn., Brown carded the fastest 1,000-foot pass at 319.75 mph. He's the only driver to surpass 319 mph. Brown has earned top speed of the meet honors three times this year.
"That was almost a perfect run," Brown said. "Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) and all our guys put our heads together and made the right changes for the night run. The track temperature dropped like 20-degrees and the conditions were really good. Ashley (Force Hood) ran that 4.10 and we wanted to go for a top three spot. That showed us the track was really good. That's a good position, being in the top three.
"The car was on the edge, but we motored on through there. It got real tight and bowed up and I knew it was on a good run. I didn't think it was that good. I thought maybe a 3.85 or .86, but not a 3.84 at 315. That was a great run. Our entire MAR Matco team did an awesome job, as always. Now we've got to get on point for the rest of the weekend because it's going to be even hotter than today. The track will be really slick and gooey like bubble gum the rest of the weekend. Tomrrow, if you see a run in the low 3.90s, that'll be really good. If someone runs a 3.89, that will be an awesome run."
Professional nitro qualifying is scheduled for Noon and 2:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday afternoon at Heartland Park. Top Fuel will run first followed by Funny Car. Brown qualified fourth last May at Topeka at 4.584 seconds at 292.77 mph. He posted a semifinal finish, falling to two-time series champion Larry Dixon in the round of four.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., Mike Ashley Racing fields the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown. MAR proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Lend America, DirecTV, BeepBeep.com, Toyota, DataDot USA, Ringer's Gloves, Go Fast Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite, Suzuki, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing.
Mike Ashley Racing supports Autism Awareness through their support of the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and an estimated 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, and Mike Ashley Racing is working to help educate the public about ways they can get involved. Visit the Heal Autism Now website for more information about how you can get involved at www.healautismnow.org.
-credit: mar
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Topeka: Morgan Lucas Racing Friday notes
Next article Topeka: Morgan Lucas Racing Saturday notes
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tony Schumacher
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
NHRA
NHRA
Bristol
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
Schumacher unconcerned by new crew chief’s lack of Top Fuel experience
NHRA
NHRA
Schumacher unconcerned by new crew chief’s lack of Top Fuel experience
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
NHRA
NHRA
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
Latest news
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
34 min
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
DTM
DTM DTM 2 h
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe