Elimination Highlights:
- Antron Brown clinched berth into the 2021 Countdown to the Championship playoffs during qualifying at Heartland Motorsports Park, and made it official by signing and adding his name to the leaderboard on Sunday morning
- Antron is currently ranked in the ‘top five’ heading into the next event in Brainerd, Minn.
Qualified: No. 8 (3.808 E.T. at 322.34 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 4.914 E.T. at 155.788 MPH defeated by Shawn Langdon 3.900 E.T. at 307.16 MPH
Race Recap:
Antron Brown officially clinched a Countdown to the Championship playoff berth during qualifying for the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor where he powered to the second-best pass of Q2. By clinching, the 2021 Countdown will mark Brown’s 13th consecutive playoff appearance in Top Fuel, and ensures he will finish ranked in the Top 10 for the 24th year in a row. Brown has been a Top Fuel Countdown contender every year since transitioning into the category in 2008.
Brown, who departs Topeka ranked third, qualified eighth and drew Shawn Langdon as his round one opponent on race day. Against Langdon, Brown was up in smoke early. Langdon also encountered issues in the opposite lane but was further down track when he got out of shape and was able to win the coasting match.
Quotable:
“That was definitely not the race day we wanted here in Topeka. We certainly wanted to come out and do much better. We thought we had a Matco Tools car that could win this race. We ran really well yesterday in the heat, but we just pushed too hard. That being said, we learned a lot this weekend. The good news is Brainerd (Minn.) is next weekend so we have another race to redeem ourselves. We’ll keep our heads down and get after it at B.I.R. The Countdown is around the corner and we’ll come out swinging next weekend.”