Antron Brown, behind the wheel of his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster, took the third starting position here Saturday during final qualifying for tomorrow’s 24th annual FRAM/Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
After laying down a 3.841-second run at 315.19 miles per hour on Friday, the New Jersey native dropped in behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammates, Tony Schumacher and Spencer Massey, respectively, in the race day order.
“I’m pumped up about tomorrow,” said Brown. “As usual, I have been given a race car quite capable of winning the race. We are starting to establish some consistency, which is very encouraging considering how close we are getting to the Countdown to 1.”
Brown will be hoping for continued consistency when he pulls up to the line against 14th-place qualifier, Ron August, Jr., in the first round of eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. PT
“We have to go out and do our thing,” he offered. “We have to concentrate on our lane and on what it will take to get down there in a clean, quick fashion. For sure, we want four win lights tomorrow.”
Brown, fourth in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel standings, is coming off a semifinal round appearance last Sunday in Denver.
“We ran pretty well in Denver, where it is always challenging with the altitude,” he said. “Now, we are back to normal conditions and my car seems to be responding the way we want it to. Hopefully, that will mean many round wins on Sunday.”
Brown has a win to his credit at Infineon Raceway – from 2009. It still has a special place in his scrap book.
“That was the year we swept the Western Swing,” he recalled. “We won’t be able to do that again this year, but a Sonoma win is still out there for the taking. We are going to go after it in a big way.”
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