Brown Rides Seattle Momentum into Brainerd; Races to Provisional No. 1 Spot
BRAINERD, MN – Antron Brown hasn’t skipped a beat. Fresh off of his 50th Top Fuel win from the previous event, 
Brown closed out day one of qualifying at the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway as the provisional No. 1 qualifier.
The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered his 11,000-horsepower machine down the BIR track in 3.789-seconds at 325.45-mph during Q2, collecting three bonus points as he launched to the No. 1 spot.
Brown has raced to the BIR final round the past two years in a row, finishing as the runner-up both times. When asked how he and his team planned to take it one step further and finish the day in the winner’s circle this weekend, Brown said, “First you have to start off by qualifying well. I think our Q2 run is going to solidify us in the top-half of the field for sure. Our main goal is always to qualify in the top three so you can set your ladder up the way it needs to be.”
In addition to nabbing the provisional No. 1 seed, Brown officially clinched a playoff berth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship on Friday. With only one race left after Brainerd to set the Countdown standings, Brown knows he and his team must take advantage of every opportunity to collect points.
“The Countdown is around the corner and that’s when recess is out. Play time is over and I’m ready to just get to it. Tomorrow we want to go out there and make some great runs and get ready for race day. We want to try and get some more qualifying points. We clinched in the Countdown today but there are still a lot of positions available where we could move up. We can definitely get into that fifth spot, and with points-and-a-half at Indy, if we do well here, it can set us up to maybe get into one of those top tier two-through-four spots and will give us some great momentum going into the Countdown.
“Our game plan is to go out there and do the best that we can and try and pull off a win,” added Brown, a five-time BIR champion. If he is able to retain his No. 1 position on Saturday, Brown will have qualified No. 1 for the 50th time in his NHRA career.
Q1: 4.789 E.T. at 156.21 MPH
Q2: 3.789 E.T. at 325.45 MPH (Three bonus points for third quickest run of the session)
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 1
Bonus Points: Three
Driver Information:
Top Fuel:
LEAH PRITCHETT
Driver of the Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster
Q1: 3.841 E.T. at 324.83 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)
Q2: 4.612 E.T. at 163.45 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 6
Bonus Points: Two
TONY SCHUMACHER
Driver of the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Q1: 3.946 E.T. at 308.92 MPH
Q2: 4.936 E.T. at 144.27 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 8
Funny Car:
JACK BECKMAN
Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Q1: 4.067 E.T. at 314.75 MPH
Q2: 4.905 E.T. at 159.59 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 9
RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Q1: 4.039 E.T. at 309.20 MPH (One bonus point for third quickest run of the session)
Q2: 4.053 E.T. at 311.99 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 8
Bonus Points: One
MATT HAGAN
Driver of the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Q1: 4.797 E.T. at 169.68 MPH
Q2: 3.990 E.T. at 324.51 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session)
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 2
Bonus Points: Two
TOMMY JOHNSON JR.
Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Q1: 4.057 E.T. at 315.12 MPH
Q2: 4.017 E.T. at 317.42 MPH
Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 5
