Antron Brown drove his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the second fastest speed in NHRA
1,000-foot racing history en route to the No. 5 qualifying position Saturday afternoon at Virginia
Motorsports Park. The seven-time Top Fuel winner used a lap of 3.797 seconds at 319.60 mph to
finish fifth in the Top Fuel qualifying order.
After racing the bright blue Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to the provisional No. 4 qualifying
position on Friday with a lap of 3.856 seconds at 315.49 mph, the Matco Tools team took advantage
of the ideal conditions on Saturday. The 23-time NHRA winner used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian
Corradi and Mark Oswald to power the Matco-backed rail to its second quickest and fastest lap of
the year. The former college track star drove the Matco/DirecTV car to a run of 3.797 at 319.60 to
remain fourth in the order. Four drivers clocked runs in the 3.7-second range during the third
qualifying session. Only Brown's lap of 319.75 mph at Bristol, Tenn. in May was faster at
1,000-feet.
On Brown's final qualifying attempt, the 16-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle winner powered to a run
of 3.820 at 316.45 to finish in the No. 5 qualifying position. The 316.45 mph speed was enough to
back-up the 319.60 burst for the NHRA national speed mark. Brown owned the speed record at 319.22
mph set during the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis this September. Brown's average qualifying
position in 22 races this season is 3.5 with seven No. 1 qualifying awards. The Matco Tools team
earned three bonus points during qualifying and now trails points-leader Tony Schumacher by 121
points entering Sunday's eliminations.
"Today was a good day," Brown said. "The rain held off and there was some great racing for all of
our fans here at Richmond. The fans were great and they saw some awesome drag racing. Our MAR Matco
Tools team put that awesome 3.79 at 319 on the board and we re-set the speed record again. That's
great. Our Matco Tools car continues to run well and we should see some more great numbers during
race day on Sunday. We're fired up and ready to go some rounds and get back to another final
round."
Brown will face off against No. 12 qualifier and racing legend Chris "the Greek" Karamesines at 11
a.m. (ET) on Sunday at VMP. The have yet to meet during eliminations. Brown has a mark of 43-16
with five wins in 21 races this season. Brown qualified eighth at the Richmond race last year at
3.823-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 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
