Sonoma: Antron Brown preview

Antron Brown on Sonoma

"I'm so excited to get back to racing at Sonoma. Last year we had an awesome weekend winning the race and sweeping the Western Swing. I still have to sometimes pinch myself to believe that our Matco team accomplished that. We can't sweep the swing again, but we're way overdue to win a race. We're tired of playing bridesmaid after six runner-ups. Our Matco Tools dragster is running great and it's our time and hopefully Sonoma is the place."

Brian Corradi (crew chief) on Sonoma

"Our goal is to always qualify well and take things one round at a time and go some rounds on race day and we've been doing that. We've been to the final round at the last two races and our car has been consistent and Antron (Brown) has been on his A game. We've got a great team and we're ready to get back to the winner's circle."

Antron Brown Sonoma NHRA Notebook

Last weekend at Pacific Raceways near Seattle, Brown kicked-off the grueling Western Swing by qualifying his Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster fifth at 3.964-seconds. On race day, he advanced to his sixth final round of the 2010 season by defeating Steve Chrisman, seven-time champion Tony Schumacher and 31-time winner Doug Kalitta, before falling to 34-time winner and DSR teammate Cory McClenathan 3.887 to 3.909. It was Brown's sixth runner-up finish for the season and second straight final round at the Seattle race.

Last July at Sonoma, Brown qualified his Matco Tools dragster fourth at 3.844 seconds at 311.05 mph. After winning the Denver and Seattle races the previous weeks, Brown was in position to become just the fifth Top Fuel driver to sweep the famed NHRA Western Swing. Brown advanced to the final round and edged FRAM driver McClenathan 3.990 to 4.002 in a close drag race to join the likes of champions Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon and Joe Amato as Top Fuelers to sweep the swing. In eight tries at the Sonoma race, Brown has an average qualifying position of 5.4.

Brown, who won a category-best six races last season, enters the 14th race on the 2010 NHRA schedule ranked fourth in the Top Fuel standings. He has secured a spot in the Countdown to 1 playoff and trails two-time champion Larry Dixon by 296 points. Brown has six final-round appearances this season (Gainesville, Charlotte 1, Houston, Englishtown, Norwalk and Seattle) and four No. 1 qualifiers (Gainesville, Las Vegas 1, Topeka and Bristol). Last year, Brown had 10 finals and seven poles. His average qualifying position in 14 races this year is 4.9.

-source: dsr