With temperatures climbing into the low 90's, and track temps at 140 degrees,   Antron Brown and the Matco Tools crew got down to the business of finding the right tune-up to carry the teams through four rounds of competition on Sunday.

“The track, right now, has been as hot as it has been all weekend,” said Brown after clinching the number one spot in his Top Fuel dragster. “We like when it gets hot out there. I think tomorrow we are going to back her down a little bit so it doesn't pop the chutes out before the finish line; try to run some high 3.90's. I think if you can do that tomorrow, run anywhere between 3.97 to 4.01, that is what it is going to take to win these rounds tomorrow.”

Brown knows what he is talking about. He was second fastest in the third and fastest in the fourth round of qualifying under the increasing summer heat with passes of 3.990 seconds at 302.48 mph and 4.006 seconds at 291.89 mph, respectively.

With temperatures climbing into the low 90's, and track temps at 140 degrees,   Antron Brown and the Matco Tools crew got down to the business of finding the right tune-up to carry the teams through four rounds of competition on Sunday.

“The track, right now, has been as hot as it has been all weekend,” said Brown after clinching the number one spot in his Top Fuel dragster. “We like when it gets hot out there. I think tomorrow we are going to back her down a little bit so it doesn't pop the chutes out before the finish line; try to run some high 3.90's. I think if you can do that tomorrow, run anywhere between 3.97 to 4.01, that is what it is going to take to win these rounds tomorrow.”

Brown knows what he is talking about. He was second fastest in the third and fastest in the fourth round of qualifying under the increasing summer heat with passes of 3.990 seconds at 302.48 mph and 4.006 seconds at 291.89 mph, respectively.

Brown loves the heat. He believes his team runs the best in the heat. Still, Brown isn't taking his first round match-up against Doug Kalitta lightly.

“I feel confident for tomorrow, but we have to take it one round at a time,” admitted Brown. “We have Kalitta first round. He qualified 16th, but he is no 16th place qualifier. Tomorrow they could be on the p's and q's and it will be like a final round match-up first round. It will be a tough one for sure tomorrow, but we're looking forward to that challenge.”

When questioned about the possibility of a tire-smoking pedal-fest on Sunday, Brown admitted the track, at least to the 800 feet area is good despite the higher temperature.

“You know what the hard deal is? This track, even though it is hot, is pretty good to half track,” Brown explained. “We're having problems keeping our deal from spinning right before the finish line, about the 800 feet area. We're so slow early, it's like the car is still trying to go. When we get to that area there is still a lot of power there.

“The cool part is our car has been working really well down low, from 150 feet to the 400 feet area where we use to spin the tires all the time, like everybody does.

“We just want to take it one step at a time tomorrow. It's still mind boggling and tricky right there, but our car has went down it four runs in a row. I am pretty stoked about that and we're hoping for the same deal tomorrow.”

So far, Brown has gained 10 points on the competition this weekend. The key now is picking up the maximum points on race day.

“It's going to be one of those mind boggling days tomorrow. We got some really good points in qualifying, 10 extra points there and we need to do that. But, Sunday, it doesn't make a difference what you did on Friday and Saturday.”

Brown is confident the team is ready to break into the win column because his team is really beginning to come together.

“It's not just the car,” said Brown, when asked to explain the team's resurgence. “It's the whole team synergy. We had a couple new guys at the beginning of this year and a new guy in the middle of this year, so everybody is starting to click. They are able to look at each other without even talking and know what each other means. That is what happened last year on the Western Swing. We're starting to get that same synergy.

“We're just going to go out here tomorrow and charge each round with our best and see where we end up at.”

Brown believes the team is more than ready to end the day hoisting the Wally high into the air.o