Antron Brown drove his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the provisional No. 2 qualifying position at Firebird International Raceway. The second-year Top Fuel pilot used an elapsed time of 3.830-seconds to finish second in the qualifying order.
Brown posted the fourth quickest run of Friday’s opening qualifying session at the 25th annual Lucas Slick Mist Nationals. The 18-time NHRA winner used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to race the Matco Tools car to a lap of 3.863 at 310.55 to clock the quickest pass in the left lane at F.I.R. The left lane proved to be the trickier of the two lanes to maneuver during the opening session as just three dragsters ran under four seconds on Friday’s first qualifying attempt.
On Friday’s second effort, Brown and two-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon were the last two dragsters to race down the ultra-quick F.I.R. strip. The New Jersey native powered the Matco-backed rail to a performance of 3.830 at 313.80 to finish in the No. 2 provisional qualifying position. Dixon paced the Top Fuel field at 3.807-seconds. Brown qualified second twice last season, his first in Top Fuel after winning 16 races in 10 seasons in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category.
“It was a really good day for our Matco Tools team here at F.I.R.,” Brown said. “We made two great runs. Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) continue to do a great job with our Matco car. That 3.86 on the first lap was strong. Not too many cars were getting down the left lane and we went right down through there just like we did in testing, and then to come back and run that 3.83 was great. I know Brian was looking for a little more, but we’re happy with the consistency of this Matco car.”
Professional nitro qualifying resumes Saturday afternoon at the Phoenix race with sessions scheduled for 12:30 and 3 p.m. (MT) at F.I.R. Brown qualified the Matco Tools dragster fifth at the Phoenix race last February.
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