Antron Brown, the current NHRA Top Fuel points leader, will have to wait until Saturday to qualify his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster for the 10th annual Summitracing Nationals. Friday’s two Top Fuel qualifying sessions were cancelled due to wind and rain after one round of Pro Stock and Funny Car qualifying was completed.
“Man, I couldn’t believe how cold and windy it was today, but NHRA really made the right call,” Brown said. “That wind was really rough out there and I’m not sure how safe it would have been to run with the dirt on the track and those wind gusts. The weather will be better tomorrow and we’ll make some good runs with this Matco Tools dragster. Our car ran awesome last weekend at Houston and we’re ready to race.”
Brown, a 19-time NHRA winner, leads six-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher by 20 points entering the fifth of 24 races on the 2009 NHRA schedule. Brown, a former college track star at Mercer (N.J.) College, has one win (Phoenix), a runner-up finish and two No.1 qualifiers in four races this season.
Professional nitro qualifying resumes on Saturday afternoon at the Las Vegas track. Top Fuel will run first followed by Funny Car. Brown qualified in the No.6 position (4.600 at 324.75) last April at the spring Las Vegas race enroute to posting a runner-up finish to Cory McClenathan.
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