Antron Brown ended his first Top Fuel season on Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Raceway. The 18-time NHRA winner missed the cut at the season-ending Auto Club Finals, ending a 168-race qualifying streak dating back to 1998. It was the second longest professional qualifying streak (Angelle Sampey).
The first-year Top Fuel standout ended his 2008 season with two wins and three poles. Brown’s bright blue Matco Tools dragster smoked the tires on its first two qualifying laps on Thursday and Friday afternoon. The New Jersey native entered the final day of qualifying at 4.875-seconds in the No. 17 position. The Matco Tools car overpowered the hot Pomona track on Saturday’s first attempt. On the fourth and final qualifying effort, the Matco car dropped a cylinder and slowed to a pass of 4.620 at 201.31. The last time Brown failed to make a start was at the 1998 Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
“It was a great year,” Brown said. “We’re not going to hold our heads down. Being our first year as a team, we can build from this experience and be even stronger next year in 2009. We’ll work hard this off season for our Matco Tools family. Second to 10th place means nothing. The only spot that matters is No. 1, and that’s our goal next year. We will contend for that Full Throttle championship in 2009, no doubt.”
Brown opened the season by earning the pole at the season-opening Winternationals at 4.495-seconds. He won in just his fourth start by edging Larry Dixon in the final round at Houston Raceway Park to become the first racer in NHRA history to win races in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Brown won again two races later at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga. He advanced to five final rounds and earned three poles in his rookie Top Fuel effort.
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