BROWN CONTINUES RACKING UP
Rookie Top Fuel driver has never raced at Thunder Valley Nationals before ...
Brown has never competed in a national event at Bristol Dragway. He did compete at Thunder Valley in 1999 and 2000 during the Winston Showdown bonus event driving a Pro Stock motorcycle. Brown qualified second and advanced to the final round in the 2000 Showdown, posting a runner-up finish to three-time PSM champion Matt Hines, 7.337 to 7.364 seconds.
“I’m so excited to get to Bristol,” Brown said. “I haven’t raced there in years. The last time we ran there was during the Winston Showdown almost 10 years ago. Our Matco team has been on a roll and we want to get into Bristol and have a consistent car that goes down the track. Both of our DPM cars are running strong and we want to keep that going.”
Rookie Top Fuel driver has never raced at Thunder Valley Nationals before ...
Brown has never competed in a national event at Bristol Dragway. He did compete at Thunder Valley in 1999 and 2000 during the Winston Showdown bonus event driving a Pro Stock motorcycle. Brown qualified second and advanced to the final round in the 2000 Showdown, posting a runner-up finish to three-time PSM champion Matt Hines, 7.337 to 7.364 seconds.
“I’m so excited to get to Bristol,” Brown said. “I haven’t raced there in years. The last time we ran there was during the Winston Showdown almost 10 years ago. Our Matco team has been on a roll and we want to get into Bristol and have a consistent car that goes down the track. Both of our DPM cars are running strong and we want to keep that going.”
Two weeks ago in St. Louis, Brown qualified his Matco Tools dragster fourth with a pass of 4.517 seconds at 331.94 mph. Brown’s speed set the Gateway International Raceway track speed record. It was a career-best speed for the first-year Top Fuel driver. Brown posted a quarterfinal finish on race day.
Brown has taken the Top Fuel division by storm since making the transition from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel. He earned the pole at the season-opener at Pomona, Calif. (4.495 seconds) and won in just his fourth Top Fuel start (Houston). Brown recently advanced to three consecutive final rounds, winning at Houston and Atlanta. He enters the Bristol race ranked second in the standings trailing five-time series champion Tony Schumacher by 68 points. Brown and Schumacher remain the only two Top Fuel drivers to have advanced passed the first round of eliminations at each race this season.
Brown became the eighth different driver that crew chief Lee Beard has tuned to the pole award and 10th different racer Beard has tuned to a win in Top Fuel or Funny Car. Beard tuned Whit Bazemore to the Funny Car win at Bristol in 2002 and pole in 2004.
No wonder Beard has a special affection for Thunder Valley.
“It’s one of my favorite places to race. I love the layout of the track being in the canyon. I’ve had success there in the past. The Matco car has really been running good. We’ve had top speed of the meet at the last two races. We’re really optimistic about our chances at Bristol.”
Brown has qualified for 152 consecutive NHRA events. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks behind Angelle Sampey, at 170.
