Antron Brown led DSR's impressive day at LRP. (Go2Geiger.com)
Antron Brown led a Don Schumacher Racing sweep of Top Fuel qualifying Saturday at Lucas Oil Raceway, as DSR cars were 1-2-3 after three rounds of qualifying at the 57th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil.
Brown was the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel after a scintillating pass of 3.818 seconds at 322.96 mph late in Saturday's third session. Teammates Tony Schumacher (3.856 at 320.36 mph) and Spencer Massey (3.875 at 319.37 mph) were second and third, respectively.
The other provisional No. 1s were the same from Friday's Q1: Cruz Pedregon in Funny Car, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Brown and his team tested at Lucas Oil Raceway last week, working on a myriad of mechanical components. But they also tried working on starting-line position.
"The track, to us, was a little bit better than in testing," Brown said. "That run right there, they put our car right on the numbers of what we did when we tested. We backed a couple things off, just to be on the safe side. We've been playing with stuff on the starting line, moving way out, way in. They're going to where they feel the starting line is the best so our car gets off to a good start.
"They moved us over there, and the car moved right back into the groove, and it was just like on Easy Street. The car did exactly what they wanted it to do. It was a dream to drive, and the ET showed it."
Temperatures are expected to drop 20 degrees for Sunday's final two qualifying rounds, so ETs could drop even further.
"We're stoked to be No. 1 now, but tomorrow's going to be better," Brown said. "We'll go out there and keep on digging."
That's what Pedregon did Saturday. He admitted his team was "too conservative" in Q2, so they stepped it up for Saturday's night session. He ran a pass of 4.071 seconds at 301.54 mph to take maintain provisional No. 1.
"We are trying really hard, maybe too hard, to go down the track," Pedregon said. "Then the last run – I don't like to say 'going for it,' but we take advantage of the conditions. We made a calculated guess, 'Hey, it'll handle this amount of clutch, this amount of motor.' Like we've done all year, the car hung on. Man, it was hauling down there. In fact, it was dangling the front end a little bit. But it was a good run, good for the team."
Tim Wilkerson (4.138 at 302.96) was second, with Melanie Troxel (4.139 at 308.63) third in her In-N-Out Burger Toyota Solara.
Anderson continued his Pro Stock prowess by hanging on to the provisional No. 1 qualifier with two more quick passes. He went 6.647 seconds at 208.23 mph in Q2 and went even faster in Q3, 6.629 at 208.23 mph.
"I love Indy," Anderson said. "I've said that a million times. I love racing at this place. It means the world to me. To come here and run like we've run the first three runs, it's fantastic. I can't wait for tomorrow, I cannot wait for Monday. You get more excited, more jacked, every day at this race track."
Anderson, the Pro Stock points leader, has won two of the last three races and has qualified first or second over that span, too.
"We've got things going in the right direction," Anderson said. "We're getting close to the Countdown. We're supposed to worry about points and where you end up, but quite honestly, I could care less. I have come here to win Indy."
Teammate Jason Line (6.640 at 208.17 mph) was second, with Erica Enders (6.651 at 207.30) third in her ZaZa Energy Chevrolet.
Smith held on to the No. 1 spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle, as his time from Friday night held up in cooler conditions. Smith could only muster a 7.067-second pass in Saturday's Q3, though he had an engine problem late in his run.
"I thought this evening you'd see a .94 or .93," Smith said. "It started getting cool quick, and I think everybody anticipated it'd cool down more. It started cooling down, and it stopped."
Smith's pass of 6.954 seconds at 190.97 mph remains No. 1, though temperatures are expected to drop 20 degrees Sunday. Smith said he expects a low 6.90- or high 6.80-second run to be No. 1 after Sunday's two sessions.
"We'll do our best to try to run with these guys," Smith said. "Right now, we've got a fast bike, but we've got to fix whatever happened on my motor that time. It's nothing major."
Andrew Hines (6.962 at 192.49 mph) was second, with Chip Ellis (6.972 at 190.48) third.
