Antron Brown on Las Vegas 1
“I’m jacked up to get to (Las) Vegas. Our Matco dragster is really running awesome. We had the to car to beat last weekend at Houston, but sometimes racing doesn’t always go your way. We went to the final round at LVMS last year and that’s our goal this April, to get back to the money round and take home our second “Wally” of the season and keep this Matco Tools team in the points lead.”
Brian Corradi (crew chief) on Las Vegas 1
“Our goal at (Las) Vegas is the same as always, to be consistent and try to win rounds one round at a time. We ran very well last weekend in Houston and we will try to continue that performance at the Vegas race.”
Mike Ashley (team owner) on Las Vegas 1
“I’m really looking forward to the Las Vegas race. I’ll be there with a group of 40 leaders from Lend America showing them what NHRA drag racing is all about. It’s going to be a fun race and I’m placing my bet on Antron and the Matco Tools team.”
Antron Brown Las Vegas 1 NHRA Notebook
Following the first four races on the 2009 NHRA schedule, Antron Brown continues to lead the NHRA Top Fuel standings. Entering the spring Las Vegas race, the 19-time NHRA winner holds a 20-point margin over six-time series champion Tony Schumacher. Brown and the Matco Tools team are the only Top Fuel team to amass more than 300 points thus far. They have one win (Phoenix), a runner-up finish (Pomona 1) and two No. 1 qualifiers (Pomona 1 and Houston). Last Saturday at Houston Raceway Park, Brown earned his 16th career pole by pacing the 16-car Top Fuel field with a stellar lap of 3.819 seconds at 316.75 mph, his fastest speed of the season.
Last April at The Strip at LVMS, Antron Brown advanced to his second career Top Fuel final round. One week after capturing his first career Top Fuel win (March 20, 2008), Brown posted a runner-up finish after falling in a close race to 30-time Top Fuel winner Cory McClenathan, 4.654 to 4.703. Brown qualified sixth at the spring Las Vegas race last April with a lap of 4.600 seconds at 324.75 mph.
Brown is a two-time runner-up at the Bruton Smith-owned Las Vegas facility. The three-time Top Fuel winner posted a runner-up finish on his Suzuki in 2001 falling to Shawn Gann, 7.352 to 7.374. Last year, he posted a runner-up and semifinal finish in the Matco Tools dragster at the two Las Vegas events. He also posted his personal best 1,000-foot speed at 317.19 mph last October at LVMS. Brown’s average qualifying position in 10 tries at The Strip at LVMS is 7.2.
Antron Brown… Did You Know?
-Brown was a track star at Mercer College in New Jersey competing in the 100 and 200-meters, long jump, and 55-meter indoor. He ran quick enough to qualify for the U. S. Olympic trails in the 100-meters.
-Brown’s first team owner was former NFL star cornerback Troy Vincent.
-Brown is the only driver in NHRA history to hold the points lead and win races in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle (3 TF/16 PSM).
-Brown’s team owner Mike Ashley has three career NHRA Funny Car wins, including the 2007 U. S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
-Brown’s co-crew chief, Mark Oswald, won the 1984 NHRA Winston Funny Car championship.
-Ashley earned his first career Funny Car pole at the spring Las Vegas race in 2007 with a blast of 4.725 seconds at 334.32 mph, a LVMS track record.
NHRA Top Fuel Standings (four of 24 races)
1. ANTRON BROWN (1) 317 - - -
2. Tony Schumacher (1) 297 -20
3. Brandon Bernstein 296 -21
4. Larry Dixon (1) 279 -38
5. Cory McClenathan 270 -47
6. Morgan Lucas 230 -87
7. Doug Kalitta (1) 204 -113
8. Shawn Langdon 170 -147
9. Joe Hartley 167 -150
10. Spencer Massey 156 -161
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