Sat, 19 Sep 2009, 10:50 PM Antron Brown Earns No. 2 Qualifying Spot Saturday at ZMax Dragway

Courtesy of Ted Yerzyk

CONCORD, N.C. -- Antron Brown drove his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster to the No. 2 qualifying position Saturday afternoon at zMax Dragway at Concord. The 23-time NHRA winner used a qualifying-best elapsed time of 3.847-seconds to finish second in the 16-car order at the second annual Carolinas NHRA Nationals.

After earning the provisional No. 1 qualifying position with a blast of 3.847 seconds at 317.87 mph on Friday evening under the lights at zMax Dragway, the seven-time Top Fuel winner posted another solid lap on Saturday's first qualifying attempt. Brown powered the bright blue Matco Tools rail to a pass of 3.862 seconds at 304.19 mph. Brown fell to second in the order after two-time series champion Larry Dixon clocked a pass of 3.844-seconds. The Matco Tools/Toyota car was the second quickest to half track at 3.073-seconds, but lost a blower belt on the top end causing the slower speed. On his final qualifying effort, the Matco Tools dragster dropped a cylinder at the hit of the throttle and slowed to a run of 3.924 at 315.49. The former college track star at Mercer (N.J.) Community College remained second in the order. It is the second time that Brown has qualified second this season (Las Vegas 1). The Matco car now has an average qualifying position of 3.37 in 19 races this season with a category-best seven poles. Brown earned five bonus points in qualifying for a total of 12 qualifying points. He and Tony Schumacher both earned 12 points.

"We've ran really well so far this weekend at Charlotte," Brown said. "We made three really good runs and we dropped a hole (cylinder) at the hit on that last run. Our two runs on Saturday were a bit off for us. We should have gone No. 1 on the first run, but we kicked a rod out on the pass. It was going to run a low 3.80. But it's all good. Our MAR Matco Tools team is running well. We earned 12 points in qualifying and, I think, even gained a point on Larry (Dixon). We're fired up about the Countdown (to 1) and trying to win this championship for Matco Tools."

Brown will face off against No. 15 qualifier Terry McMillen in the opening round of eliminations at Noon (ET) on Sunday at zMax Dragway. Brown, who has a mark of 42-13 with five wins this season, has never met McMillen in eliminations.

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