Brown, Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ dragster resets national record, extends points lead to 104 at Maple Grove Raceway

October 08

READING, Pa. (Oct. 8, 2012) – It was a near perfect weekend for Antron Brown and the Matco Tools “Tools for the Cause” team. 
Brown and the team leave Maple Grove Raceway with a national elapsed time record, along with the 20 bonus points, their 11th championship round of the season, and a whopping 104-point lead in the Top Fuel category with two races remaining in the six-race Countdown to the Championship. Brown also posted career bests in both elapsed time and speed this weekend.
Brown was runner-up to rookie Khalid alBalooshi of Al-Anabi Racing, who won his first Top Fuel title in the rain-delayed event completed Monday. Brown earned his way to the final with a national elapsed time record 3.701-second pass at 328.78 mph in the semifinal round defeating Brandon Bernstein’s 3.740 lap.
“At the end of the racetrack when they told me our ET I didn’t even know we ran that quick because I didn’t see the scoreboard,” Brown said. “I was just in awe. I was stunned.
“People thought I would be doing cartwheels and backflips, but I was just shocked. It hit me emotionally. It was a great hard fought battle all weekend.”
The best part about setting the national record for Matco’s “Tools for the Cause” team is that it was worth 20 bonus points and they left Maple Grove with a 104-point lead over Don Schumacher Racing teammate Spencer Massey, who is second in points.
Brown went to his third straight final round and his fourth in the past six events but missed a chance at winning his seventh event title of the season. The team wasn’t hanging their heads after the final round loss to alBalooshi. Brown’s dragster hazed the tires and alBalooshi posted a 3.910-second effort for the win.
“It’s nothing to be disappointed about,” Brown said. “No mixed feelings. We’ve just been firing off our best shots each round. There’s no reason to hold our heads down. We got a record, got an extra 20 points.”
Crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald approached the final round with a similar game plan to what earned Brown the semifinal win and national record. But the track couldn’t handle the record-setting horsepower.
“We were going out there to hit it just like we did when we ran the .70 because that’s what we needed to do to win,” he said. “All in all it was a great weekend for points.”
“We just have to get ready for Vegas and go out there and attack that race,” Brown said.
The following are Brown’s results, points standings and other event information.
TOP FUEL
Event Winner: Khalid alBalooshi (Al-Anabi Racing)
No. 1 qualifier: David Grubnic (Kalitta Motorsports) 3.728, 327.11

Antron Brown, Matco Tools “Tools for the Cause” dragster
Qualified: No. 7

SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
1st round: BROWN (3.745 sec., 327.66 mph) def. Steve Torrence (3.775, 323.12)
2nd round: BROWN (3.722, 325.69) def. Morgan Lucas (5.859, 115.84)
MONDAY ELIMINATIONS
Semifinals: BROWN (3.701-quickest ever, elapsed time national record, 328.78) def. vs. Brandon Bernstein (3.740, 326.78)
Finals: Khalid alBalooshi (3.910, 312.42) def. BROWN (9.818, 75.99)

FRIDAY QUALIFYING
Session 1: 3.844 sec., 317.87 mph
Session 2: 4.871, 147.91
SATURDAY QUALIFYING
Session 3: 3.793, 322.73
Session 4: 3.758, 325.14

NHRA FULL THROTTLE STANDINGS
(Unofficial through Oct. 8, 2012; DSR drivers in CAPS)

TOP FUEL
1. ANTRON BROWN 2,491
2. SPENCER MASSEY 2,387
3. TONY SCHUMACHER 2,355
4. Shawn Langdon 2,351
5. Brandon Bernstein 2,314
6. Morgan Lucas 2,267
8. Doug Kalitta 2,228
7. Steve Torrence 2,212
9. David Grubnic 2,193
10. Bob Vandergriff 2,149

NEXT FULL THROTTLE EVENTS
Oct. 25-28, Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas
Nov. 8-11; and the Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Pomona, Calif.

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About Matco Tools
Matco Tools manufactures, distributes and services premium quality automotive equipment, tools, and tool storage for the professional technician. The company has more than 60 years of national brand experience in the automotive equipment industry and a vast product line of more than 13,000 of the highest quality, innovative tools and accessories.
The company's franchise offering has no initial franchise fee, monthly royalties, or advertising fees.
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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 195 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.

Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

- DSR -