Brown, the most recent winner on the NHRA tour, entered the final day of qualifying for the ninth annual Thunder Valley Nationals in the provisional No. 7 qualifying position after posting a pass of 3.898 seconds at 313.07 mph on Friday afternoon at Bristol Dragway. After overpowering the Bristol strip under the lights on Friday evening, the Matco Tools rail again spun the tires on Saturday's first lap. In a challenging third qualifying session, Brown's bright blue Matco car smoked the tires and slowed to a pass of 9.022 at 77.99. He remained seventh in the 16-car order. On his final attempt of the weekend, crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald gave the four-time Top Fuel winner the tune-up he needed to maneuver the tricky Bristol Dragway track in 3.963 at 293.86. It was the third quickest pass of the session. It is the 11th time that Brown has qualified seventh in his career. He now has an average qualifying position of 4.12 in eight races this season.

"The last run was really important for our Matco team," Brown said. "We struggled a little bit with our consistency this weekend. This is the first time this year we've run on a really slimy track, but Mark (Oswald) and Brian (Corradi) made the right calls for that session and we were third quick. That's good and gives our Matco team a lot of confidence. It's supposed to really cool off tomorrow and we know that we can get down this Bristol track in any conditions."

Brown will face off against No. 10 qualifier Troy Buff in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations at Noon (ET) on Sunday at Bristol Dragway. Brown is 2-0 in his career against Buff. Last year, Brown qualified fourth at the Bristol race and posted a quarterfinal finish to Hillary Will. Entering eliminations, Brown holds a 15-point lead over six-time series champion Tony Schumacher.

Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., Mike Ashley Racing fields the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown. MAR proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Lend America, DirecTV, BeepBeep.com, Toyota, DataDot USA, Ringer's Gloves, Go Fast Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite, Suzuki, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing.

Mike Ashley Racing supports Autism Awareness through their support of the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and an estimated 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, and Mike Ashley Racing is working to help educate the public about ways they can get involved. Visit the Heal Autism Now website for more information about how you can get involved at http://www.healautismnow.org
Q1 3.898 ET, 313.07 MPH No. 2 Q2 6.156 ET, 103.45 MPH No. 7 Q3 9.022 ET, 77.99 MPH No. 7 Q4 3.963 ET, 293.86 MPH No. 7

Courtesy of Ted Yerzyk