Friday evening, Brown raced the Toyota/Matco Tools rail to the provisional No. 2 qualifying position with a blast of 3.836 seconds at 318.99 mph trailing only two-time champion Larry Dixon's 3.810-second pass. Brown's 318.99 mph burst was the third fastest 1,000-foot speed. The Matco Tools flagship driver is the only Top Fuel racer to exceed 319-mph at 1,000-feet (319.75 and 319.22 mph). Brown's Toyota/Matco Tools car was the second quickest in both of Friday's qualifying sessions earning the MAR team four bonus points.

On Saturday's opening effort at the Memphis facility, Brown's red and white Toyota dragster lost traction early as Brown coasted to a pass of 8.614 at 73.02. He remained second in the 16-car order. The five-time winner this season then used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to clock the third quickest elapsed time of the final qualifying session at 3.890 at 309.84 earning Brown one bonus point. Brown amassed five bonus points in qualifying this weekend after finishing in the No. 3 spot for the third time this season. The former college track star now has an average qualifying position of 3.43 in 21 races this season with seven No. 1 qualifying awards.

"This Toyota dragster is running strong for us here at MAR and Matco Tools," Brown said. "We made three really good runs and just missed it on Saturday's first pass. It was just a little too hopped up. That last run was good. We should have gone quicker, but it spun the tires on the big end. We like our chances tomorrow and hopefully we can do the same thing we did with the DirecTV car at St. Louis and put this Toyota/Matco car in the winner's circle here at Memphis."

Brown will face off against No. 15 qualifier "Turbo Tim" Cullinan in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday. Brown has yet to meet the part-time Top Fueler from Illinois during eliminations. Brown trailers points-leader Tony Schumacher by 61 points entering eliminations at Memphis and has a mark of 43-15 in 20 races this season with five 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 Systems, 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

Courtesy of Ted Yerzyk