[coverattach=1]Antron Brown on St. Louis
"I'm just excited to get back to the race track. Our team is energized and ready to keep going some rounds. We really want to get the points lead back. Our car is running great and it's very consistent and we just need to keep that going.
"It's exciting to have DirecTV on our dragster for the St. Louis race to show case a new sponsor to the great NHRA fan base and to add to our stable of great sponsors. The car looks awesome and I know our Matco Tools family will embrace the folks from DirecTV."
Brian Corradi (crew chief) on St. Louis
"This is an important race for us. We want to do well for DirecTV and Matco Tools. Our car has been pretty consistent, but we just need to tweak a few things so we make the right calls and race day and we should be able to win races again. We set the track speed record at St. Louis with Mike's (Ashley) Funny Car in '07 and we hope to run that well again."
Antron Brown St. Louis NHRA Notebook
The 19-time NHRA winner has been one of the hotter drivers in the early part of the 2009 NHRA season. Brown has one win (Phoenix), runner-up finish (Pomona 1), and two No. 1 qualifying awards (Pomona 1 and Houston) and has not ranked lower than second in the Top Fuel standings. Brown also clocked the second quickest 1,000-foot pass in NHRA history at 3.778-seconds at Pomona in February.
Two weeks ago at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., Brown and the Matco Tools team maintained their second place ranking in the NHRA Top Fuel standings. Brown qualified fifth at 3.867 seconds at 311.63 mph. He has qualified in the top half of the field at all six races this season. He advanced to the second round before his dragster shook the tires against six-time series champion Tony Schumacher. Brown is now 1-1 against the 58-time NHRA winner this season.
Last year at the St. Louis NHRA race, Brown clocked his fastest Top Fuel speed. The first-year Top Fuel pilot raced his Matco Tools dragster to the No. 4 qualifying position with a lap of 4.517 seconds at 331.94 mph. It is the G.I.R. track speed record. Brown has one career final round appearance at Gateway, when he posted a runner-up finish to cousin-in-law Angelle Sampey in 2005, 7.237 to 7.240. Brown also earned two PSM No. 1 qualifying awards at Gateway at 7.203 seconds in 2001 and 7.086 seconds in 2004.
Antron Brown... Did You Know?-Brown was a track star at Mercer College in New Jersey competing in the 100 and 200-meters, long jump, and 55-meter indoor. He ran quick enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trails in the 100-meters.
-Brown's first team owner was former NFL star cornerback Troy Vincent.
-Brown is the only driver in NHRA history to hold the points lead and win races in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle (3 TF/16 PSM).
-Brown's team owner Mike Ashley has three career NHRA Funny Car wins, including the 2007 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
-Brown's co-crew chief, Mark Oswald, won the 1984 NHRA Winston Funny Car championship.
-Ashley earned the Funny Car pole at the 2007 St. Louis NHRA race with a qualifying blast of 4.799 seconds at 331.77 mph. It remains the Gateway International Raceway Funny Car track speed record.
-Brown (Top Fuel) and Ashley (Funny Car) both hold the G.I.R. track speed records at 331.94 mph and 331.77 mph.
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Standings (six of 24 races)
1. Tony Schumacher (2) 487 - - -
2. ANTRON BROWN (1) 448 -39
3. Brandon Bernstein 425 -62
4. Cory McClenathan 396 -91
5. Morgan Lucas (1) 379 -108
6. Larry Dixon (1) 368 -119
7. Shawn Langdon 301 -186
8. Spencer Massey 288 -199
Doug Kalitta (1) 288 -199
10. Joe Hartley 250 -237
11. Clay Millican 161 -326
Antron Brown's Career Results at Gateway International Raceway
Year Qualified Finish/Winning Driver
1998 No. 3 Second round-Dave Schultz
1999 No. 3 Semifinals-Angelle Sampey (foul)
2000 No. 3 Second round-Geno Scali
2001 No. 1 First round-Ron Ayers
2002 No. 5 Semifinals-Angelle Sampey (foul)
2003 No. 8 Second round-Shawn Gann
2004 No. 1 Second round-Geno Scali
2005 No. 3 Runner-up-Angelle Sampey
2006 No. 4 First round-Craig Treble
2007 No. 4 First round-Hector Arana
2008 No. 4-4.517 ET Second round-Doug Kalitta
Brown's St. Louis NHRA Schedule
Date/Time Event/Location
Wed., April 29, 11 a.m-2 p.m. Matco Tools Vocational School Visit
Linn State Technical College, Linn, Mo.
Fri., May 1, 3:30/6:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1/2, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Sat., May 2, 12:30/3 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Sun., May 3, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Brown's Career-Best Performances
E.T./Speed Location Date
E.T.-4.495 seconds Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2008
MPH-331.94 mph Madison, Ill. May 2008
E.T.-3.778 seconds* Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2009
MPH-317.19 mph* Las Vegas Nov. 2008
*1,000-foot
NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date/Time (ET) Coverage
Sat., May 2, 6-8 p.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., May 3, 11-11:30 a.m. NHRA Race Day
Sun., May 3, 7-10 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage
"I'm just excited to get back to the race track. Our team is energized and ready to keep going some rounds. We really want to get the points lead back. Our car is running great and it's very consistent and we just need to keep that going.
"It's exciting to have DirecTV on our dragster for the St. Louis race to show case a new sponsor to the great NHRA fan base and to add to our stable of great sponsors. The car looks awesome and I know our Matco Tools family will embrace the folks from DirecTV."
Brian Corradi (crew chief) on St. Louis
"This is an important race for us. We want to do well for DirecTV and Matco Tools. Our car has been pretty consistent, but we just need to tweak a few things so we make the right calls and race day and we should be able to win races again. We set the track speed record at St. Louis with Mike's (Ashley) Funny Car in '07 and we hope to run that well again."
Antron Brown St. Louis NHRA Notebook
The 19-time NHRA winner has been one of the hotter drivers in the early part of the 2009 NHRA season. Brown has one win (Phoenix), runner-up finish (Pomona 1), and two No. 1 qualifying awards (Pomona 1 and Houston) and has not ranked lower than second in the Top Fuel standings. Brown also clocked the second quickest 1,000-foot pass in NHRA history at 3.778-seconds at Pomona in February.
Two weeks ago at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., Brown and the Matco Tools team maintained their second place ranking in the NHRA Top Fuel standings. Brown qualified fifth at 3.867 seconds at 311.63 mph. He has qualified in the top half of the field at all six races this season. He advanced to the second round before his dragster shook the tires against six-time series champion Tony Schumacher. Brown is now 1-1 against the 58-time NHRA winner this season.
Last year at the St. Louis NHRA race, Brown clocked his fastest Top Fuel speed. The first-year Top Fuel pilot raced his Matco Tools dragster to the No. 4 qualifying position with a lap of 4.517 seconds at 331.94 mph. It is the G.I.R. track speed record. Brown has one career final round appearance at Gateway, when he posted a runner-up finish to cousin-in-law Angelle Sampey in 2005, 7.237 to 7.240. Brown also earned two PSM No. 1 qualifying awards at Gateway at 7.203 seconds in 2001 and 7.086 seconds in 2004.
Antron Brown... Did You Know?-Brown was a track star at Mercer College in New Jersey competing in the 100 and 200-meters, long jump, and 55-meter indoor. He ran quick enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trails in the 100-meters.
-Brown's first team owner was former NFL star cornerback Troy Vincent.
-Brown is the only driver in NHRA history to hold the points lead and win races in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle (3 TF/16 PSM).
-Brown's team owner Mike Ashley has three career NHRA Funny Car wins, including the 2007 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
-Brown's co-crew chief, Mark Oswald, won the 1984 NHRA Winston Funny Car championship.
-Ashley earned the Funny Car pole at the 2007 St. Louis NHRA race with a qualifying blast of 4.799 seconds at 331.77 mph. It remains the Gateway International Raceway Funny Car track speed record.
-Brown (Top Fuel) and Ashley (Funny Car) both hold the G.I.R. track speed records at 331.94 mph and 331.77 mph.
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Standings (six of 24 races)
1. Tony Schumacher (2) 487 - - -
2. ANTRON BROWN (1) 448 -39
3. Brandon Bernstein 425 -62
4. Cory McClenathan 396 -91
5. Morgan Lucas (1) 379 -108
6. Larry Dixon (1) 368 -119
7. Shawn Langdon 301 -186
8. Spencer Massey 288 -199
Doug Kalitta (1) 288 -199
10. Joe Hartley 250 -237
11. Clay Millican 161 -326
Antron Brown's Career Results at Gateway International Raceway
Year Qualified Finish/Winning Driver
1998 No. 3 Second round-Dave Schultz
1999 No. 3 Semifinals-Angelle Sampey (foul)
2000 No. 3 Second round-Geno Scali
2001 No. 1 First round-Ron Ayers
2002 No. 5 Semifinals-Angelle Sampey (foul)
2003 No. 8 Second round-Shawn Gann
2004 No. 1 Second round-Geno Scali
2005 No. 3 Runner-up-Angelle Sampey
2006 No. 4 First round-Craig Treble
2007 No. 4 First round-Hector Arana
2008 No. 4-4.517 ET Second round-Doug Kalitta
Brown's St. Louis NHRA Schedule
Date/Time Event/Location
Wed., April 29, 11 a.m-2 p.m. Matco Tools Vocational School Visit
Linn State Technical College, Linn, Mo.
Fri., May 1, 3:30/6:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1/2, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Sat., May 2, 12:30/3 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Sun., May 3, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Gateway Int'l Raceway
Brown's Career-Best Performances
E.T./Speed Location Date
E.T.-4.495 seconds Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2008
MPH-331.94 mph Madison, Ill. May 2008
E.T.-3.778 seconds* Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2009
MPH-317.19 mph* Las Vegas Nov. 2008
*1,000-foot
NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date/Time (ET) Coverage
Sat., May 2, 6-8 p.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., May 3, 11-11:30 a.m. NHRA Race Day
Sun., May 3, 7-10 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage
