Antron Brown on Pomona
“We’re excited about Pomona. Not only do we have the NHRA Softball Classic on Wednesday, but we can finish second in the points and that would be awesome for our Matco Tools team in our first season together. Both our DPM cars are running strong and we hope to go late into the day on Sunday with the Matco Tools dragster and Hot Rod’s (Fuller) car.”
Lee Beard (crew chief) on Pomona
“We feel like we made some progress with both cars at the last race and we’re just a tick away from (Tony) Schumacher’s car, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel to be on the same level performance-wise. Because of that we’re excited about going to Pomona and running our best E.T.s of the season.”
Antron Brown Pomona NHRA Notebook
Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, Brown raced to his fifth semifinal finish of the season. He qualified his Matco Tools dragster in the No. 2 position for the second time this season (Joliet, Ill.) with a pass of 3.812 second at 315.49 mph. Brown advanced to the semifinals before his rail overpowered the track against teammate Hot Rod Fuller. It was Brown’s first defeat in four races against his teammate this season. He also posted his fastest 1,000-foot speed at 317.19 mph during the fall Las Vegas race.
Brown has made a seamless transition from the Pro Stock Motorcycle class to Top Fuel this season. The 18-time NHRA winner became the first racer in NHRA history to win races in both Top Fuel and PSM by winning in his fourth career Top Fuel start (Houston). Brown has two wins in five final rounds this season, along with three poles. He also clocked low E.T. of the meet twice and top speed of the meet three times this year.
At the 2008 NHRA season-opener at Auto Club Raceway, Brown paced the field in the Matco Tools dragster earning the pole in his first Top Fuel race with a lap of 4.495 seconds at 331.61 mph. It’s his only pole at the historic Pomona track. He has qualified second four times in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category at Pomona. Brown won the Auto Club Finals in 1999 and is a two-time finalist at NHRA’s annual season-finale in So Cal. Brown’s average starting position in 12 races at Pomona is 5.08.
Brown has qualified for 168 consecutive NHRA events and hasn’t missed the cut since the Gainesville race in 1998, his first career race. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks (Angelle Sampey—182). He has an average qualifying position of 5.21 this season with three poles, including the Winternationals at Pomona in February.
Brown became the eighth different driver that crew chief Lee Beard has tuned to the pole and 10th different racer Beard has tuned to a win in Top Fuel or Funny Car. Beard has 53 wins and 60 poles, including five wins and seven poles at the historic Pomona track.
