ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – Antron Brown, a New Jersey native, used some of that Garden State home cooking to claim the provisional pole Friday evening at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Brown powered his David Powers-owned Matco Tools dragster to a run of 4.502 seconds at 326.24 mph.
Brown, who enters the 11th race on the 2008 NHRA schedule ranked second in the POWERade Top Fuel standings, used a tune-up from crew chief Lee Beard to make the sixth quickest pass of Friday’s opening qualifying session. Brown clocked a pass of 4.628 seconds at 319.37 mph in the Matco Tools rail. Friday evening under the lights at the track he grew up watching his racing heroes like Don Prudhomme and Kenny Bernstein compete on, the 18-time NHRA winner blistered the strip in 4.502 at 326.24 to pace the Top Fuel order.
“This is awesome at my home track,” Brown said. “I grew up just 25 minutes from here. I remember some 22 years ago when this race was called the Summer Nationals watching guys like Don Prudhomme and Kenny Bernstein and wishing I could do this some day. I was lucky to get my start in the motorcycles and I’m just so fortunate to come out here with Lee Beard and this great Matco Tools team to qualify No. 1 at Englishtown. It’s such a great feeling to do this in front of all my family and friends. When you dream, this is how you want things to play out.”
Professional nitro qualifying resumes Saturday afternoon at Raceway Park with sessions scheduled for 1 and 3:30 p.m. (ET). Brown earned the pole at the season-opener in Pomona, Calif. this February (4.495 seconds) and is a two-time Pro Stock Motorcycle winner and No. 1 qualifier at the Englishtown race. Brown’s teammate, Rod Fuller, qualified sixth and clocked the fastest pass of the day, 328.46 mph.
Headquartered in Houston with race operations located in Brownsburg, Ind., David Powers Motorsports fields the two-car Top Fuel operation of drivers Rod Fuller and Antron Brown. DPM proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Caterpillar, Forward Sports Marketing, Valvoline, Toyota, Ringer’s Gloves, Go Fast Sports, iLocate GPS, Goodyear, FRAM, and Autolite.
Q1 4.628 ET, 319.37 MPH No. 6
Q2 4.502 ET, 326.24 MPH No. 1
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