ANTRON LOOKS AHEAD WITH PROVISIONAL NO. 1 IN TOPEKA
Sat, 2010-05-22 14:53
Antron Brown has struggled through the last three NHRA national events,.
The driver of the Matco Tools Racing driver Top Fuel machine lost in the second round at Las Vegas and St. Louis, and then was beat in the opening round by Pat Dakin this past Sunday in Commerce, Ga.
Antron Brown has struggled through the last three NHRA national events,.
The driver of the Matco Tools Racing driver Top Fuel machine lost in the second round at Las Vegas and St. Louis, and then was beat in the opening round by Pat Dakin this past Sunday in Commerce, Ga.
“Last race was last race,” said Brown, who came to Topeka fifth in the points chase. “Last week, we had an issue where we were only running on seven cylinders right from the hit. We’re just going to come here to (Topeka) and refocus and every; a qualifying round counts more than just qualifying. It counts on getting our edge for race day. We’re working on a lot of new stuff and we’re not running what we ran last year. We have that upstairs if we want to race it. The car from last year is up there, not just with the car and the setup but also your whole management system we had on the car. Right here, it’s not the car, it’s all the brand new management system we have and we have to work all the bugs out of it. Now, we’re right on top of it. I think Topeka is going to be a really good race and I’m excited. I’m ready to go out there. Today (Friday) is pretty much going to set the field because the track is going to be cool. Saturday as long as you’re in the show, you’re just going to be getting ready for race da
y on Sunday. Saturday is going to be hot and the track is going to get slicker just like it’s going to be on Sunday. Today (Friday), we want to qualify in the top three, and we’re going to go for it.”
Brown, who is part of the Don Schumacher Racing stable, hit a home run Friday night at the 22nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.
Brown took the provisional No. 1 spot with a 3.785-second time at 321.96 mph. Both are track records at Heartland Park. It is also the sixth fastest speed at 1,000 foot since the NHRA moved to that distance, from the quarter-mile, in July of 2008.
“The car felt fast,” Brown said. “The car was smooth and it went through all the transition points doing less wiggles and movements. I thought we might have run an 80 or 82 and I thought 80 would have been a really good run. When I took a quick peek up after I hit the chutes, and saw a 78 and I thought are you kidding me or is that the mph? That was a phenomenal run for that race track. This just feels awesome.”
Brown clocked a 3.889-second time in the first qualifying session Friday, which also was good for the top spot. If Brown keeps the pole, it would be his third of the season and the 24th of his career, and second in a row at Topeka.
“This weekend we started with our best foot forward,” Brown said. “I feel we’re back in qualifying, but now we have to do it on race day. We’re going to keep our heads down and working hard, and I think you are going to see the Matco Tools team back in the form we were last year. We need to get off to a good jumpstart here in Topeka, because we’re going to have seven races in eight weeks after this.”
The driver of the Matco Tools Racing driver Top Fuel machine lost in the second round at Las Vegas and St. Louis, and then was beat in the opening round by Pat Dakin this past Sunday in Commerce, Ga.
Antron Brown has struggled through the last three NHRA national events,.
The driver of the Matco Tools Racing driver Top Fuel machine lost in the second round at Las Vegas and St. Louis, and then was beat in the opening round by Pat Dakin this past Sunday in Commerce, Ga.
“Last race was last race,” said Brown, who came to Topeka fifth in the points chase. “Last week, we had an issue where we were only running on seven cylinders right from the hit. We’re just going to come here to (Topeka) and refocus and every; a qualifying round counts more than just qualifying. It counts on getting our edge for race day. We’re working on a lot of new stuff and we’re not running what we ran last year. We have that upstairs if we want to race it. The car from last year is up there, not just with the car and the setup but also your whole management system we had on the car. Right here, it’s not the car, it’s all the brand new management system we have and we have to work all the bugs out of it. Now, we’re right on top of it. I think Topeka is going to be a really good race and I’m excited. I’m ready to go out there. Today (Friday) is pretty much going to set the field because the track is going to be cool. Saturday as long as you’re in the show, you’re just going to be getting ready for race da
y on Sunday. Saturday is going to be hot and the track is going to get slicker just like it’s going to be on Sunday. Today (Friday), we want to qualify in the top three, and we’re going to go for it.”
Brown, who is part of the Don Schumacher Racing stable, hit a home run Friday night at the 22nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.
Brown took the provisional No. 1 spot with a 3.785-second time at 321.96 mph. Both are track records at Heartland Park. It is also the sixth fastest speed at 1,000 foot since the NHRA moved to that distance, from the quarter-mile, in July of 2008.
“The car felt fast,” Brown said. “The car was smooth and it went through all the transition points doing less wiggles and movements. I thought we might have run an 80 or 82 and I thought 80 would have been a really good run. When I took a quick peek up after I hit the chutes, and saw a 78 and I thought are you kidding me or is that the mph? That was a phenomenal run for that race track. This just feels awesome.”
Brown clocked a 3.889-second time in the first qualifying session Friday, which also was good for the top spot. If Brown keeps the pole, it would be his third of the season and the 24th of his career, and second in a row at Topeka.
“This weekend we started with our best foot forward,” Brown said. “I feel we’re back in qualifying, but now we have to do it on race day. We’re going to keep our heads down and working hard, and I think you are going to see the Matco Tools team back in the form we were last year. We need to get off to a good jumpstart here in Topeka, because we’re going to have seven races in eight weeks after this.”
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