BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 26, 2012) - Antron Brown won tire-smoking battles in the first two rounds of racing Sunday at the Texas Motorplex en route to winning his fifth event title of the season in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Some might consider it luck, but not after Brown explains it from his point of view.

"In racing, when you catch a few breaks it actually isn't catching a break. It's the way you set your stuff up and putting pressure on them because they expect us to go A to B down the track. That's what we do on almost every run," he said.

"I call it creating your own luck. They know they have to leave on us. You create that by how you perform."

In the championship round Sunday, Brown faced Don Schumacher Racing teammate Spencer Massey and the win by Brown put both drivers in a tie for first place in the Countdown to the Championship with four events left in the six-race NHRA playoff.

The battle continues this weekend when qualifying begins Friday in the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.

Beyond the joy of being tied for first place after winning his series-best fifth title of the season, Brown will help sponsor Aaron's celebrate the opening of its 2,000 store. The newest is located in the Bronx, N.Y., and the sleek dragster will carry special decals saluting the milestone.

"We're thrilled that our Aaron's Dream Machine will let the world know that Aaron's is now in the Bronx," he said. "It's the last Aaron's race of the season so we hope the Lucky Dog is on our side this weekend."

ANTRON BROWN, Aaron's Dream Machine/Matco Tools dragster
2011 at St. Louis: No event
2010 at St. Louis: Qualified No. 16; lost to Doug Kalitta in second round
Career at St. Louis: Wins 1 (2009), Runner-ups 2 (2005-Pro Stock Motorcycle), Poles 2 (2001-PSM, 2004-PSM)

2012 Pts Races Wins Rup Poles DNQ Win/Loss
         1st     19        5       4       2        0       42-14
Career Races Titles Rup Poles DNQ Win/Loss
                 258     36*    35      31      2      436-220 (*20 Top Fuel)

NHRA FULL THROTTLE STANDINGS
After second of six events in the Countdown to the Championship
(Unofficial through Sept. 23, 2012; DSR drivers in CAPS)

TOP FUEL
1. ANTRON BROWN, 2,256
1. SPENCER MASSEY, 2,256
3. TONY SCHUMACHER, 2,232
4. Shawn Langdon, 2,215
5. Morgan Lucas, 2,173
6. Brandon Bernstein, 2,166
7. Doug Kalitta, 2,133
8. Steve Torrence, 2,126
9. Bob Vandergriff, 2,085
10. David Grubnic, 2,075

NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS EVENT SCHEDULE (All times CT)
Friday: 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m., qualifying
Saturday: 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m., qualifying
Sunday: 11 a.m., eliminations

ESPN2 SCHEDULE (All times ET, subject to change)
Sunday: 2:30 a.m., 1 p.m., qualifying 
Sunday: 8-11 p.m., eliminations 

WEATHER
Friday: high 73, 10 percent chance of rain 
Saturday: high 74, 0 percent chance of rain
Sunday: high 78, 0 percent chance of rain

UPCOMING FULL THROTTLE EVENTS
Oct. 4-7, NHRA Nationals, Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia area)
Oct. 25-28, Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas
Nov. 8-11, Auto Club of Southern California Finals, Pomona, Calif. (finale)

About Aaron's, Inc.
Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), the nation's leader in the sale and lease ownership of residential furniture, computers, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories. Aaron's Inc., which celebrates its 57th anniversary this year, has 2,000 company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur and current Chairman R. Charles Loudermilk Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's has been publicly traded since 1982. For more information, visit www.aarons.com.

About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron's Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 193 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

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