Brown dazzles with 3.78 blast on final day of preseason testing in Phoenix
Brown dazzles with 3.78 blast on final day of preseason testing in Phoenix
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Antron Brown, who began his rookie season in Top Fuel last year as the surprise low qualifier at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals, will enter the first event of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in a favorite’s role after the former Pro Stock Motorcycle ace steered his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.781, unofficially the second-quickest Top Fuel elapsed time recorded on the 1,000-foot course, to highlight the third and final day of the NAPA Auto Parts National Time Trials at Firebird Int’l Raceway outside of Phoenix.
In Funny Car, Del Worsham’s field-leading 4.04 from Saturday remained the best time for the testing fuel coupes, though 2008 rookie of the year Mike Neff came close with a 4.071 in John Force’s fourth Ford Mustang. Many teams will remain at FIR through the early part of the week to continue fine-tuning their machines or testing new equipment, but for many, there was a sense of mission accomplished as they now turn their attention to the official season opener in Pomona Feb. 5-8.
The fine outing by Brown and his team is vindication for their rocky off-season in which the team was sold twice and 2008 tuner Lee Beard was released. New owner Mike Ashley brought in Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, who lightly tweaked Beard’s existing tune-up to the fine numbers.
Brown progressed throughout the entire event after losing his first run to a hurt intake valve on the burnout on his sole attempt Friday but ran 3.88, 3.87 Saturday, then 3.99 and a stellar 3.829 early Sunday before closing the event with the 3.781. Only Tony Schumacher’s 3.771, registered last year at the NHRA national event in
“We’ve just been creeping up on it,” said Brown. “Mark and Brian looked at our earlier numbers and decided they wanted to run a high .70. We knew that the car had some good numbers that we were capable of if we got a little more aggressive. We made it through the shake zone, and it just took off. When I chopped it at the other end and looked at my scoreboard, I couldn’t believe it said 3.78. I was ecstatic.
“This is really good for everyone over here after what happened to our team and what happened to Mark and Brian with their old team [Oswald and Corradi were released when Roger Burgess suspended his racing operations earlier this year]. Mike Ashley stepped in and bought the team and was very motivational and said we’re going to be a good team. My mother and grandmother told me that whenever the good Lord closes one door and you go through some adverse conditions, he opens two more, and I guess they were right.”
Oswald, the former Funny Car world-champion-turned-crew-chief, gave full credit to Beard, whose tune-up they adopted, for his and Corradi’s fast start.
“This is so much like our Funny Car combination that it made it easy,” said Oswald. “This is everything Lee was running last year, and we just did a couple of little things to it. Everyone knows Lee has a great car, so that wasn’t an issue. It was very well-prepared, and having all of the same personnel here helped make this a good transition.”
Schumacher and new crew chief Mike Green, who had Saturday’s best number at 3.831, got a crack at unseating Brown but fell just short on their final try with a 3.795 that was the fourth quickest in history at a speed of 318.39, which ties Rod Fuller for second fastest ever and is second only behind the Army car’s own 318.54, also recorded last year in Richmond.
The crew chief who tuned Schumacher to those numbers last year, Alan Johnson, showed he hasn’t forgotten a thing as he wrenched his new driver, Larry Dixon, and the new Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a 3.817 at 315.86 Sunday for the meet’s third-best numbers.
During the three days, eight of the 12 Top Fuel teams reached the three-second zone.
Former Top Alcohol Dragster racer Steve Faria completed his licensing passes with a 4.53, 258.822 to go with his aggregate Saturday bests of 4.37 and 264.91. Shawn Langdon, who also is trying to upgrade his TAD license, still needs a new more full runs to earn his nitro ticket, but the John Stewart-tuned Lucas dragster did impress with an .829 60-foot time, which was quicker than the best registered by the top three cars.
While Johnson spent the day experimenting with new parts on Worsham’s maroon and gold
Neff’s 4.07, on his second to last pass, was a bright spot for John Force Racing, whose three other Mustangs battled the t
Rookie Matt Hagan was impressive with the BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision Avoidance System Dodge, blasting out a 4.09 in the Tommy DeLago-tuned DSR entry to complement Saturday passes of 4.13 and 4.15. Bob Tasca III, who perhaps had the steadiest car throughout the trials, ran two 4.15s and a 4.16 and was joined at 4.15 by Jack Beckman.
Best overall times for the weekend:
|
TOP FUEL |
|
| Antron Brown | 3.781, 316.45 |
| Tony Schumacher | 3.795, 318.39 |
| Larry Dixon | 3.817, 315.86 |
| Morgan Lucas | 3.869, 303.50 |
| Spencer Massey | 3.899, 306.60 |
| Brandon Bernstein | 3.912, 300.20 |
| David Baca | 3.914, 302.62 |
| Joe Hartley | 3.927, 306.67 |
| Shawn Langdon | 4.029, 250.88 |
| Cory McClenathan | 4.067, 227.31 |
| Troy Buff | 4.097, 224.36 |
| Steve Faria | 4.382, 239.87 |
|
FUNNY CAR |
|
| Del Worsham | 4.049, 306.88 |
| Mike Neff | 4.071, 306.81 |
| Matt Hagan | 4.091, 305.56 |
| Ashley Force Hood | 4.141, 287.90 |
| John Force | 4.143, 303.50 |
| Robert Hight | 4.151, 292.39 |
| Bob Tasca III | 4.152, 296.63 |
| Jack Beckman | 4.156, 280.43 |
| Jim Head | 4.251, 231.91 |
| Ron Capps | 4.854, 157.96 |
| Jeff Arend | 6.728, 95.35 |
