A runner-up finish at the most recent NHRA Camping World Series event in Bristol, Tennessee., had Antron Brown and his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster primed for a successful homecoming at a track with many local ties.
Brown, the 2014 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals event winner, was looking forward to putting on a show for Matco Tools, Summit, and Race Winning Brands, all located in Ohio, but loss of traction in the opening round of eliminations hampered the Matco team’s attempt to advance to their second consecutive final round.
Brown’s crew chiefs, Ohio natives Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, tuned his 11,000-horsepower machine to a 3.730-second pass in the third and final qualifying session of the weekend on Saturday to place him ninth on the Top Fuel ladder. Rain on Friday limited the racers to only one pass during the day, taking away valuable data.
On race day, the three-time Top Fuel world champ faced Mike Salinas in eliminations and were the last pair to take to the track in the opening round. Brown launched first and grabbed an early advantage but quickly lost traction, and Salinas posted a winning run of 3.760 seconds at 330.96 mph to Brown’s 5.182-second effort.
“Not the day we were looking for but all in all, we’re still learning and growing,” said Brown following eliminations. “We were really close first round. We were just trying to repeat what we ran in Q3, and it didn’t hold, but that being said, we’re going to make some adjustments, get ready for Denver and come out swinging.
“We made some big strides here in qualifying after Q1 on Friday night, and we’re definitely getting to where we need to be, and we’re looking forward to our future races.”
Brown departs Summit Motorsports Park occupying the No. 6 position in the Top Fuel point standings and will look to rebound from his early exit when the NHRA returns to action with the start of the Western Swing at the Mile-High Nationals in Denver, July 14-16. Brown has three career wins at the historic facility, the last coming in 2017, and was the last Camping World Series competitor to ‘Sweep the Swing,’ winning the trio of West Coast races in 2009.
