Qualified: No. 4 (3.741 E.T. at 326.87 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 3.731 E.T. at 324.12 MPH defeated Scott Palmer 4.283 E.T. at 197.10 MPH
E2: 3.719 E.T. at 329.42 MPH defeated Doug Kalitta 3.747 E.T. at 325.92 MPH
E3: 4.763 E.T. at 154.53 MPH defeated by Steve Torrence 3.673 E.T. at 324.83 MPH
Race Recap:
Antron Brown powered the Matco Tools/Global Electronic Technology/Hangsterfer’s Toyota Top Fuel dragster to the third-quickest run of the second qualifying round to earn a fourth-seeded starting position. Brown, a two-time event champ who won his first Top Fuel trophy at Houston Raceway Park in 2008, was looking to make a deep run through the Top Fuel field on Sunday as he sought to capture his first trophy of the year. He easily dispatched his round-one opponent when he snagged the starting line advantage over Scott Palmer and never trailed for the win. In the quarterfinals, Brown played spoiler for Doug Kalitta, defeating the championship contender with a strong 3.719 E.T. to Kalitta’s 3.747-second effort. In the semifinals, Brown’s machine-like reaction time earned him a sizeable starting line advantage over Steve Torrence but Brown hazed the tires near half-track, and Torrence drove away with the win.
Quotable:
“We’ve been working on a lot of things. We’re definitely getting better. We’re consistent and going down the race track. We’re pressing. We want to get the car to leave better. (Crew chiefs) Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) and the rest of our Matco Tools boys are working towards that. Once we get to that happy spot, we should be good. We want to end this year off strong and make a good showing in Vegas and get ready for the 2021 season. We’re going to roll some dice next weekend. We were pressing on it in the semis today. We just pressed too hard in the middle. We wanted to run a high 3.60, but we have to get it going better early. That’s the main focus. We’ll get better and we’re making strides and not hurting parts and pieces.”