NHRA: Brown Wins In Dallas

NHRA

NHRA: Brown Wins In Dallas

Antron Brown didn't have the best car on the track Sunday, but he did turn the win light on four times, including the finals against Spencer Massey.

Craig Wack | http://www.go2Geiger.com | Posted September 23, 2012

Antron Brown kept his title chances alive in Texas. (Photo: NHRA)

Antron Brown left the first race of the NHRA's postseason with a torn up engine and a tumble down the Top Fuel standings, but the Matco Tools team wasn't about to hit the panic button going into Sunday's eliminations at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.

"Everybody is throwing haymakers out there," Brown said. "Everyone is pushing the tree and running exceptional ETs. It's an all-out battle royale out there right now.

"We never come in and say, 'Must win.' You just have to focus on getting better each round."

Brown didn't have the best car on the track Sunday, but he did turn the win light on four times, including the finals against teammate Spencer Massey.

Other winners at Texas Motorplex on Sunday: Bob Tasca III in Funny Car, Allen Johnson in Pro Stock and Michael Ray in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

With his win, Brown jumped from fourth into a tie for first with Massey in the Top Fuel points. His final round ET was a 3.898 second pass at 311.49 mph, while Massey's Fram rail ran a 3.945 at 300.60 mph.

"This is the way to rebound," Brown said. "I've got to give all the credit to my team guys. They stuck together, because it's so easy to get down. At Charlotte we were leading first round then we broke an input shaft, which wipes out everything from the motor plate back. There was nothing we could use, even the reverser was gone."

Brown said the team came in this weekend and methodically got the car back into shape. He said everything finally clicked back into place during his semifinal win over Morgan Lucas.

"The car was giving us fits because it was being too aggressive," Brown said. "It was wanting to run faster than we wanted to run. In the semis, we finally got that little peace of mind."

Tasca and the Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford Mustang won the battle of non-Countdown cars when won a pedalfest against Matt Hagan and the Aaron's Dodge Charger.

"This weekend epitomized our whole season," Tasca said. "We had to keep fighting. We went through three motors. The guys haven’t worked this hard all year. It's long overdue for our team, but we just kept fighting."

In the final, Tasca and Hagan left the starting line at virtually the same time and they started smoking the tires in near harmony as well. Tasca was able to recover and cross the finish line first in 4.826 seconds at 197.59 mph. Hagan finished in 5.025 at 188.15 mph.

Ron Capps retained the Funny Car points lead. He's 96 points ahead of second place Mike Neff.

Johnson had a max points weekend in the Mopar Dodge Avenger, sweeping all the top qualifying points before working his way through the field before finally beating Erica Enders and the KLR Group Chevy Cobalt in the final.

"We've got a great crew making great decisions," Johnson said. "We're making great power and, fortunately, the driver did his job today too.

"Consistency is what we've preached all season and we were low ET all four qualifying rounds and got the job done today."

Johnson was out of the gate second, but Enders' car spun the tires a bit at the 60 foot mark. Johnson's Dodge was able to pull away and cross in 6.598 seconds at 210.93 mph, while Enders recovered to run a 6.835 at 209.39 mph.

Following his fifth win of the season, Johnson leads second place Jason Line, who lost in the first round, by 93 points.

Ray and his Viper Motorcycles Buell shook up the Pro Stock Motorcycle world when he became the first non-Harley rider to win an NHRA national event this season.

"When we got here this weekend we knew we had a great bike for the hot weather," said Ray, who also won for the first time in his career. "I knew as long as I kept my cool and rode the bike consistently, there's no one with a better hot weather tune-up than Matt Smith."

Ray defeated Karen Stoffer and the GEICO Suzuki in the first Harley-free PSM final since Reading last year. His winning ET was 6.920 seconds at 192.77 mph to Stoffer's 7.028 at 190.48 mph.

Ray leap-frogged a couple of riders and moved into fourth in the standings as Eddie Krawiec maintained his points lead.

Up next on the NHRA schedule is the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, Friday-Sunday, at Gateway Motor Sports Park outside of St. Louis.