ANTRON'S REACTION ARE KEY
Wed, 2008-04-30 16:29
Sometimes a malfunction can make a driver look like a genius. NHRA Southern Nationals Top Fuel
champion
Antron Brown can relate. All weekend, the Matco Tools-sponsored driver
fought problems with his hand brake and the more he fought, the better
his reaction times got.
Nothing defies the traditional definition of breakage more than a hole shot victory over the point leader and former U.S. Army teammate Tony Schumacher.
“My car just kept rolling on me,” said Brown, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout. “I just kept pulling the lever back and I kept rolling a little bit. I was popping up with some good reaction times this weekend so it made me look like I was doing good. I was hurt in the ET a little bit but I went into the final round knowing that we were racing Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher with that great US Army race team over there.
“They’re five-time world champs and you've just got to give it everything you've got, so as soon as I saw that thing just flicker yellow I just hit the pedal as quick as I could.” Sometimes a malfunction can make a driver look like a genius. NHRA Southern Nationals Top Fuel
champion
Antron Brown can relate. All weekend, the Matco Tools-sponsored driver
fought problems with his hand brake and the more he fought, the better
his reaction times got.
Nothing defies the traditional definition of breakage more than a hole shot victory over the point leader and former U.S. Army teammate Tony Schumacher.
“My car just kept rolling on me,” said Brown, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout. “I just kept pulling the lever back and I kept rolling a little bit. I was popping up with some good reaction times this weekend so it made me look like I was doing good. I was hurt in the ET a little bit but I went into the final round knowing that we were racing Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher with that great US Army race team over there.
“They’re five-time world champs and you've just got to give it everything you've got, so as soon as I saw that thing just flicker yellow I just hit the pedal as quick as I could.”
Faulty brake or not, Brown was pumped for the final round. Blasting tunes from Jay-Z and Linkin’ Park in the team’s Toyota Sequoia tow vehicle prior to the final round only got his intensity level up.
“I got myself amped up,” Brown admitted. “I just hit that throttle as quick as I could and that thing just took off. We were going down and had no hiccups going down so I knew we were on a good pass. I didn't see Tony but I heard him right there so I was like man come on, come on and I went through the traps and I saw that win light come on and I just went ecstatic.
“I couldn't get out of that car quick enough. I was trying to get out of the seat belt and unbuckle it. It just felt fantastic because we have so many Matco Tools distributors pushing us on every week and they just want to see this car do well.”
While Brown credited the hand-brake for the rapid starting line departures, a good measure of the credit could be traced to the days of racing Pro Stock Motorcycle where reaction times can be in the .00 range on a consistent basis.
Case in point, NHRA Southern Nationals Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Andrew Hines had a .009 reaction in the final. In the first round of eliminations for that category, there were five reaction times quicker than a .019.
The starting line prowess for those competitors compared to the move team owner David Powers made to bring a rider from the category and put him in a Top Fuel dragster could very well create a trend for cultivating talent. Such a trend wouldn’t surprise Brown.
“There are a lot of great athletes in Pro Stock Motorcycle,” Brown said. “To drive a pro stock motorcycle you have to be a great athlete. You see all of them; they’re all slim, trim and light. The reaction time deal, everybody thinks that because you have a Pro Stock bike you have a quicker reaction time and then you come over to Top Fuel and it's going to show. That's not necessarily the case. You just have to work hard because it's hard to get a light in a Top Fuel car. The good thing about it is all the bike guys, like I do; we can't go red seeing yellow.
“We could work on hitting the tree as hard as we can but we can work on making ourselves better. That's why I'm glad I'm not in Pro Stock bike anymore because I don't have to be a human delay box anymore. I'm loving Top Fuel because every drag racer wants to go quicker and faster. I always wanted to do this, years and years ago but I'm just fortunate enough to do it with DPM.”
A troublesome brake led to lightning quick reactions for two-time winner Antron Brown. (Roger Richards)
Nothing defies the traditional definition of breakage more than a hole shot victory over the point leader and former U.S. Army teammate Tony Schumacher.
“My car just kept rolling on me,” said Brown, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout. “I just kept pulling the lever back and I kept rolling a little bit. I was popping up with some good reaction times this weekend so it made me look like I was doing good. I was hurt in the ET a little bit but I went into the final round knowing that we were racing Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher with that great US Army race team over there.
“They’re five-time world champs and you've just got to give it everything you've got, so as soon as I saw that thing just flicker yellow I just hit the pedal as quick as I could.” Sometimes a malfunction can make a driver look like a genius. NHRA Southern Nationals Top Fuel
A troublesome brake led to lightning quick reactions for two-time winner Antron Brown. (Roger Richards)
Nothing defies the traditional definition of breakage more than a hole shot victory over the point leader and former U.S. Army teammate Tony Schumacher.
“My car just kept rolling on me,” said Brown, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout. “I just kept pulling the lever back and I kept rolling a little bit. I was popping up with some good reaction times this weekend so it made me look like I was doing good. I was hurt in the ET a little bit but I went into the final round knowing that we were racing Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher with that great US Army race team over there.
“They’re five-time world champs and you've just got to give it everything you've got, so as soon as I saw that thing just flicker yellow I just hit the pedal as quick as I could.”
Faulty brake or not, Brown was pumped for the final round. Blasting tunes from Jay-Z and Linkin’ Park in the team’s Toyota Sequoia tow vehicle prior to the final round only got his intensity level up.
“I got myself amped up,” Brown admitted. “I just hit that throttle as quick as I could and that thing just took off. We were going down and had no hiccups going down so I knew we were on a good pass. I didn't see Tony but I heard him right there so I was like man come on, come on and I went through the traps and I saw that win light come on and I just went ecstatic.
“I couldn't get out of that car quick enough. I was trying to get out of the seat belt and unbuckle it. It just felt fantastic because we have so many Matco Tools distributors pushing us on every week and they just want to see this car do well.”
While Brown credited the hand-brake for the rapid starting line departures, a good measure of the credit could be traced to the days of racing Pro Stock Motorcycle where reaction times can be in the .00 range on a consistent basis.
Case in point, NHRA Southern Nationals Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Andrew Hines had a .009 reaction in the final. In the first round of eliminations for that category, there were five reaction times quicker than a .019.
The starting line prowess for those competitors compared to the move team owner David Powers made to bring a rider from the category and put him in a Top Fuel dragster could very well create a trend for cultivating talent. Such a trend wouldn’t surprise Brown.
“There are a lot of great athletes in Pro Stock Motorcycle,” Brown said. “To drive a pro stock motorcycle you have to be a great athlete. You see all of them; they’re all slim, trim and light. The reaction time deal, everybody thinks that because you have a Pro Stock bike you have a quicker reaction time and then you come over to Top Fuel and it's going to show. That's not necessarily the case. You just have to work hard because it's hard to get a light in a Top Fuel car. The good thing about it is all the bike guys, like I do; we can't go red seeing yellow.
“We could work on hitting the tree as hard as we can but we can work on making ourselves better. That's why I'm glad I'm not in Pro Stock bike anymore because I don't have to be a human delay box anymore. I'm loving Top Fuel because every drag racer wants to go quicker and faster. I always wanted to do this, years and years ago but I'm just fortunate enough to do it with DPM.”
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