The Brown Bulletin The prerace release of 18-time NHRA winner Antron Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team Contact: Ted Yerzyk, (317) 852-6363 o, or (760) 207-9767 c ted@davidpowersmotorsports.com 12th annual O’Reilly Midwest Nationals May 2-4, 2008 Gateway International Raceway Madison, Ill. Antron Brown on St. Louis “We’re riding a hot streak with this Matco Tools team and just want to keep things going. We have such a great group of guys and an awesome team; I feel so lucky to drive this car. As always, our goal is to be consistent and go rounds on race day. Lee (Beard) has been on his game, so I like our chances of running well again.” Lee Beard (crew chief) on St. Louis “I’m excited about going to St. Louis under cool weather conditions. In the past when we raced there it was very hot and difficult to get down the track. We just want to maintain our performance and continue to have a consistent Matco Tools dragster.” Brown St. Louis NHRA Notebook Last weekend at Atlanta Dragway, Brown earned his 18th career victory and second in Top Fuel. He advanced to his third straight final round and won for the second time in three races. Brown used stellar reaction times to earn his third career win at Atlanta Dragway when he edged five-time series champion Tony Schumacher in the final round. Brown enters the seventh race on the 2008 NHRA schedule riding a wave of momentum. He has advanced to the final round at the last three events, Houston, Las Vegas 1 and Atlanta, with two victories. He ranks second in the Top Fuel standings and trails Schumacher by just 26 points. He also earned the pole at the season-opening event at Pomona, Calif. In 10 career races at the St. Louis track, Brown advanced to one final round where he posted a runner-up finish to then teammate Angelle Sampey (2005). He has claimed two career PSM poles at Gateway Int’l Raceway, 2001 (7.203 seconds) and 2004 (7.086 seconds). Brown has qualified for 151 consecutive NHRA events. He hasn’t missed the cut since the Gainesville race in 1998 after being disqualified for bad fuel at his first career race. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks (Angelle Sampey—169). 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 Rod Fuller (2006) and Kenny Bernstein (1998) to the pole at Gateway Int’l Raceway. 2008 NHRA Top Fuel Standings 1. Tony Schumacher (2) 511 - - - 2. ANTRON BROWN (2) 485 -26 3. Larry Dixon (1) 415 -96 4. Cory McClenathan (1) 386 -125 5. Brandon Bernstein 322 -189 6. ROD FULLER 321 -190 7. Hillary Will 305 -206 8. Doug Herbert 278 -233 9. David Grubnic 265 -246 10. Doug Kalitta 254 -257 11. Morgan Lucas 234 -277 Antron Brown’s Career Results at Gateway International Raceway Year Qualified Finish/Winning Driver 1998 No. 3 Second round—Dave Schultz 1999 No. 3 Semifinals—Angelle Sampey (foul) 2000 No. 3 Second round—Geno Scali 2001 No. 1 First round—Ron Ayers 2002 No. 5 Semifinals—Angelle Sampey (foul) 2003 No. 8 Second round—Shawn Gann 2004 No. 1 Second round—Geno Scali 2005 No. 3 Runner-up—Angelle Sampey 2006 No. 4 First round—Craig Treble 2007 No. 4 First round—Hector Arana Brown’s St. Louis Schedule Date & Time Event and Location Thur., May 1, Noon NHRA Media Luncheon—Mike Shannon’s Thur., May 1, 5:30 p.m. NHRA on Dirt—Tri-City Speedway Fri., May 2, 9 a.m. Army Y.E.S. Program, Gateway Raceway Fri., May 2, 4/6:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1/2, Gateway Int’l Raceway Sat., May 3, 12:30/3 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Gateway Int’l Raceway Sun., May 4, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Gateway Int’l Raceway Brown’s Career-Best Performances Top Fuel E.T.—4.495 seconds Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2008 MPH—331.61 mph Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2008 Pro Stock Motorcycle E.T.—6.930 seconds Gainesville, Fla. March 2007 MPH—193.24 mph Englishtown, N.J. May 2002 O’Reilly Midwest Nationals TV Schedule (ESPN2) Date & Time (ET) Coverage Sat., May 3, 9-11 p.m. Qualifying Highlights Sun., May 4, 11-11:30 a.m. NHRA Race Day Sun., May 4, 7-10 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage www.matcotools.com www.davidpowersmotorsports.com