<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/69-07ANT1.jpg" alt="69-07ANT1" align="left"borders="0"/>
48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals
Feb. 7-10, 2008
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, Calif.
Antron Brown on Pomona 1
“I’m very excited to participate in my first Top Fuel race. To carry the Matco Tools banner for all the distributors is very cool. We look forward to giving them a great
showing this season. We have a great team and I think we’re going to surprise some people.”
Lee Beard (crew chief) on Pomona 1
“I think we have a very competitive race car. The first full run on our ‘08 car was a 4.48 and we shut off early. The car is going to be able to run with the top three or four guys. Antron has a good number of runs under his belt from our test sessions and I feel as confident going into the race as I would with a seasoned veteran in the seat.”
Brown Pomona 1 Notebook
Brown has never competed at the Winternationals. The Pro Stock Motorcycle category, which does not compete at each NHRA POWERade Series event, begins its schedule at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway in March.
Brown has one victory in three final-round appearances at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He defeated popular rider Craig Treble at the NHRA Finals in 1998 to earn his third career PSM victory.
Last season, Brown raced his U.S. Army Suzuki to a 10th place finish in the PSM standings. It was his 10th consecutive finish in the top 10. He had two semifinals appearances, including Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in November.
Brown was named driver of the Matco Tools dragster during the Auto Club Finals last November.
Brown made the necessary runs required to earn his crossover Top Fuel license on Jan. 26 at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix. He made his first 300-mph lap on Jan. 29 (327.66 mph) and his first 4.4-second pass on Jan. 30 (4.486 seconds) at F.I.R.
Brown has qualified for 145 consecutive NHRA events. He hasn’t missed the cut since the Gainesville race in 1998 after being disqualified for bad fuel at his first career event. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks (Angelle Sampey—166).
2007 Final NHRA Top Fuel Standings
1. Tony Schumacher 3,186 - - - -
2. ROD FULLER 3,167 -19
3. Brandon Bernstein 3,149 -37
4. Larry Dixon 3,135 -51
5. Bob Vandergriff, Jr. 2,358
6. Doug Herbert 2,292
7. J.R. Todd 2,273
8. Whit Bazemore 2,182
9. Melanie Troxel 1,173
10. Doug Kalitta 1,045
Antron Brown’s Career Results at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Year Qualified Finish & Winning Driver
1998 No. 5 Semifinals—Ron Ayers
1999 No. 2 WINNER—def. Craig Treble
2000 No. 2 Semifinals—Matt Hines
2001 No. 2 Runner-up—Angelle Sampey (foul)
2001 No. 3 First round—Joe DeSantis
2002 No. 10 First round—Michael Phillips
2003 No. 13 First round—Andrew Hines
2004 No. 3 Runner-up—Angelle Sampey
2005 No. 2 Second round—Andrew Hines (foul)
2006 No. 10 Second round—Craig Treble
2007 No. 8 Semifinals—Matt Smith (foul)
Brown’s Winternationals Schedule
Date & Time Event and Location
Wed., Feb. 6, Noon NHRA Media Luncheon—The Derby
Thur., Feb. 7, 2:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 8:45 a.m. Y.E.S. Program, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 2:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 2, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 6 p.m. NHRA Autograph Session–NHRA Motorsports Museum
Sat., Feb. 9, 12:30/3:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Auto Club Raceway
Sun., Feb. 10, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Auto Club Raceway
Brown’s Career-Best Performances
E.T.—6.930 seconds Gainesville, Fla. March 2007
MPH—193.24 mph Englishtown, N.J. May 2002
CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date & Time (ET) Coverage
Sat., Feb. 9, 8-10 p.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., Feb. 10, 7:30-11 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage
The Brown Bulletin
48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals
Feb. 7-10, 2008
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, Calif.
Antron Brown on Pomona 1
“I’m very excited to participate in my first Top Fuel race. To carry the Matco Tools banner for all the distributors is very cool. We look forward to giving them a great
showing this season. We have a great team and I think we’re going to surprise some people.”
Lee Beard (crew chief) on Pomona 1
“I think we have a very competitive race car. The first full run on our ‘08 car was a 4.48 and we shut off early. The car is going to be able to run with the top three or four guys. Antron has a good number of runs under his belt from our test sessions and I feel as confident going into the race as I would with a seasoned veteran in the seat.”
Brown Pomona 1 Notebook
Brown has never competed at the Winternationals. The Pro Stock Motorcycle category, which does not compete at each NHRA POWERade Series event, begins its schedule at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway in March.
Brown has one victory in three final-round appearances at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He defeated popular rider Craig Treble at the NHRA Finals in 1998 to earn his third career PSM victory.
Last season, Brown raced his U.S. Army Suzuki to a 10th place finish in the PSM standings. It was his 10th consecutive finish in the top 10. He had two semifinals appearances, including Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in November.
Brown was named driver of the Matco Tools dragster during the Auto Club Finals last November.
Brown made the necessary runs required to earn his crossover Top Fuel license on Jan. 26 at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix. He made his first 300-mph lap on Jan. 29 (327.66 mph) and his first 4.4-second pass on Jan. 30 (4.486 seconds) at F.I.R.
Brown has qualified for 145 consecutive NHRA events. He hasn’t missed the cut since the Gainesville race in 1998 after being disqualified for bad fuel at his first career event. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks (Angelle Sampey—166).
2007 Final NHRA Top Fuel Standings
1. Tony Schumacher 3,186 - - - -
2. ROD FULLER 3,167 -19
3. Brandon Bernstein 3,149 -37
4. Larry Dixon 3,135 -51
5. Bob Vandergriff, Jr. 2,358
6. Doug Herbert 2,292
7. J.R. Todd 2,273
8. Whit Bazemore 2,182
9. Melanie Troxel 1,173
10. Doug Kalitta 1,045
Antron Brown’s Career Results at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Year Qualified Finish & Winning Driver
1998 No. 5 Semifinals—Ron Ayers
1999 No. 2 WINNER—def. Craig Treble
2000 No. 2 Semifinals—Matt Hines
2001 No. 2 Runner-up—Angelle Sampey (foul)
2001 No. 3 First round—Joe DeSantis
2002 No. 10 First round—Michael Phillips
2003 No. 13 First round—Andrew Hines
2004 No. 3 Runner-up—Angelle Sampey
2005 No. 2 Second round—Andrew Hines (foul)
2006 No. 10 Second round—Craig Treble
2007 No. 8 Semifinals—Matt Smith (foul)
Brown’s Winternationals Schedule
Date & Time Event and Location
Wed., Feb. 6, Noon NHRA Media Luncheon—The Derby
Thur., Feb. 7, 2:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 8:45 a.m. Y.E.S. Program, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 2:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 2, Auto Club Raceway
Fri., Feb. 8, 6 p.m. NHRA Autograph Session–NHRA Motorsports Museum
Sat., Feb. 9, 12:30/3:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Auto Club Raceway
Sun., Feb. 10, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Auto Club Raceway
Brown’s Career-Best Performances
E.T.—6.930 seconds Gainesville, Fla. March 2007
MPH—193.24 mph Englishtown, N.J. May 2002
CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date & Time (ET) Coverage
Sat., Feb. 9, 8-10 p.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., Feb. 10, 7:30-11 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage
