Antron Brown qualified his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster in the No. 6 qualifying position
Saturday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway. The 23-time NHRA winner used an elapsed time
of 3.947-seconds to finish sixth in the 16-car order at B.I.R.
A day after racing to the No. 5 provisional qualifying position at the 28th annual Lucas Oil
Nationals with a lap of 3.947 seconds at 304.46 mph, Brown's bright blue Matco Tools dragster shook
the tires and slowed to a pass of 8.021 at 62.49 on Saturday's first attempt. As the Top Fuel order
shuffled, Brown moved to sixth in the field after losing traction on Saturday's only effort. The
fourth qualifying session was canceled due to afternoon rain showers in the central Minnesota area.
It is the first time that Brown has qualified sixth this season and 11th in his career. The
seven-time Top Fuel winner now has an average qualifying position of 4.12 in 16 races this season.
Brown has qualified in the top half of the 16-car order all but once this year (Seattle). Morgan
Lucas earned the No. 1 qualifying award with a lap of 3.868-seconds on Saturday.
"We like to qualify higher, like in the top four, but it's ok," Brown said. "We were trying some
stuff in the clutch today and that caused us to be too aggressive. After that, we just played the
waiting game all afternoon. It'll be tough out there tomorrow and there are no easy races, but we
have a lot of confidence with this MAR Matco Tools team. We're excited to try and keep going
rounds."
Brown will face off against veteran nitro racer Terry Haddock in the opening round of Top Fuel
eliminations at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday morning at B.I.R. Brown, who has a record of 38-10 with five
wins this season, has never met Haddock in eliminations. Brown has 295 career round wins.
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,
Toyota, SpongeTechR Delivery Systerms, Ringer's Gloves, Go Fast! Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite,
Impact! Racing, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing (FSM).
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
