Antron Brown raced his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the provisional No. 3 qualifying
position Friday evening at Maple Grove Raceway. The 23-time NHRA winner and current Top Fuel
point's leader used an elapsed time of 3.895-seconds to finish third in the 16-car order.
After a lengthy afternoon rain delay at the 25th annual Toyo Tires Nationals, professional
qualifying finally began around 7 p.m. (ET). As the last pair of cars to go down the track on
Friday evening, Brown and the Matco Tools team outpaced the U.S. Army/Matco Tools dragster to earn
the provisional No. 3 qualifying position. The seven-time Top Fuel winner used a tune-up from crew
chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to power the bright blue Matco Tools dragster to a pass of
3.895 seconds at 313.07 mph. Brown posted the fastest speed of the day at more than 313-mph. There
are 16 Top Fuel dragsters competing this weekend. Morgan Lucas earned the provisional pole at
3.867-seconds.
"I don't know what the deal with this place is, but it always seems to rain here," Brown said.
"This is one of my favorite tracks and a place I'd love to win at. I'm glad we got that one run in
because tomorrow looks ugly from what they're saying. All we can do is show up and hope we race. I
know we'd like to try and go even faster out there.
"We had fun out there today though. My Grandma (Delores Brown) was hanging out and signing
autographs. We did a long autograph session at the NitroMall and it's always cool to mingle with
the fans. And let me tell you, these fans here at Maple Grove (Raceway) are some die hards. I think
my Grandma is more popular than me these days."
Professional nitro qualifying is scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m. (ET) on Saturday afternoon at Maple
Grove Raceway. Top Fuel will run first followed by Funny Car. Brown raced his Matco Tools dragster
to a semifinals finish at the Reading race last August after qualifying seventh at 3.892-seconds.
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
