What can Brown do in the Countdown?

Plenty, if the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals are any indication.

What can Brown do in the Countdown?

Plenty, if the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals are any indication.

Antron Brown won his sixth Mello Yello Racing Series national event title of the season at Gateway Motorsports Park, winning his first rounds since the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship got underway. After defeating defending world champion Shawn Langdon in the final round, Brown is now in striking distance of points leader and teammate Tony Schumacher in the 2014 Coundown.

Brown won with a .046-induced 3.844 at 315.42 miles per hour to top Langdon’s tire-rattling 4.035 at 279.38.

Schumacher was knocked off by Terry McMillen in the first round of eliminations.

Heading to Reading, Schumacher has 2,337 points with Langdon in second, 57 behind.

Brown lurks in third place, just 80 points behind the leader.

“This was a big day for us,” Brown said of the victory. “We came into this race and we know our backs were against the wall. We’ve been struggling. The last four races we’ve been working hard, but no matter what we did our car was not cooperating with us.

“We got it back, we got it back. Now our car is doing what we’re used to seeing it do. The last two rounds weren’t exactly what we wanted to do, but we were right close, right there. We were competitive to actually pull off this win today.”

Brown qualified sixth while Langdon was fifth on the qualifying sheet. A second-round race against Schumacher appeared imminent for one of the two, but McMillen spoiled the party…much to Brown’s chagrin.

“Honestly, the way the Army Team works and the way our team works we work out good,” Brown said when asked how he felt about his teammate losing in the first round. “It’s so tough out there you don’t know if you’re going to win in the first round or second round. The thing is, I never cheer for somebody to lose or somebody to win.

“I learned about this sport a long time ago, and truth be told, if you plan on doing some winning out here and winning a championship, you can’t depend on other people to do your work for you. You’ve got to do it yourself.

“He went out there, their car was real aggressive and it shook the tires like our car did the first two rounds. We weren’t focused on what Tony was doing, we were honestly focused on what our car needed to do to get the job done.

“Everything else takes care of itself. There’s only so many rounds, so many rounds to win. I never root for anybody to beat my teammate. I would rather have raced him in the second round and did the job ourselves.”

Gateway Motorsports Park has been very good to Brown. He won the Top Fuel Wally for the third consecutive year and for the fourth time in the last five races.

“When you come to a track like St. Louis, it’s the right time of year now and the track’s always in prime shape,” he said. “We’re running .79s on over a 110-degree track and went .81 when it was 116. That just tells you how good this race track is, and you can do it in either lane.

“As the day went on we were in a zone. We have so many runs on this race track that we can look back at in our data bank. I think that really helps us out, also, and we just feel comfortable here. Some tracks you go to you feel more comfortable. No matter what you do right or no matter what you do wrong, it still works out for you. That’s how St. Louis has always been for our Matco Tools team.”

The win was nice, but Brown knows there is a lot of work ahead.

“With another three races left we’ve got to keep on pushing and do what we do because it’s still anybody’s race out there,” he said.

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