With really nothing to race for Antron Brown still didn’t let his foot off the gas Friday.

Brown, who clinched his third NHRA Top Fuel world championship – second in a row Oct. 30 at the Las Vegas race – was still in top form at the season-ending NHRA Auto Club Finals Nov. 11 in Pomona, Calif.

Brown clocked a 3.713-second time at 326.56 mph in his Don Schumacher Racing Matco Tools-sponsored dragster to capture the provisional No. 1 spot.

If Brown does keep the top spot through Saturday’s qualifying it will be the 47th of his career.

“At the end of the day it is for the love of the sport,” said Brown, who has won seven races this season. “When you come out to an NHRA Mello Yello event you know these teams are out here, not because they make a lot of money or it is for the attention. They are out here for the passion and the love of the sport. The way the competition is we snuck back to the No. 1 spot. That just shows you how tough it is, 71, 72, 73s, the whole field is just so tight right now and this weekend is what you are going to see all next year. We have our work cut out for us this weekend, but it feels good to get the Matco Tools car to the No. 1 spot, especially for all the veterans out there on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) for what they do for us to be able to do what we do in this country is just true a blessing. We dedicate that run to all the vets out there in the stands and who are watching us worldwide.”

Brown held the No. 1 spot, followed by Steve Torrence (3.726 seconds) and Leah Pritchett (3.726 seconds).

“We came in here and we wanted to win Vegas, but we pressed a little hard and we didn’t get the result we wanted,” Brown said. “We pressed a little hard, but we had to because of how great J.R. Todd was running, he had the car to beat. Then Torrence showed what it is about in the final. You don’t know who is going to win these races and we are just trying to set ourselves up right now to end the season on a great note. (Friday), we got some quality points, but (Saturday) we want to do the same thing and see if can carry it over to Sunday, and see if we can sneak out of here with something we can be proud of the whole offseason beside that championship.”

Although Brown won a world title before he arrived in Pomona, he acknowledged he can’t just turn his competitive juices off.

“This a battle and this is what we do,” Brown said. “This is the gladiator zone and I love getting into that zone. But, what I can tell you that is different is when I’m back in that pits and all the people are there and the fans come up and I see my family and my friends and all of our teammates families and we are all there together, I’m able to actually take a moment and looking around and I take the whole moment in because you are not promised to win another championship or win another round or win another race. You have to earn those types of times and those type of moments. Right now, I’m just enjoying what we’ve done this whole season.”