Antron Brown needs a push in the Countdown..

World champ Brown wants momentum from Indy to help propel 

his Toyota dragster to fast start in Countdown near Charlotte

 "After the third event of the NHRA Mello Yello Series, Antron Brown was first in points after winning the Top Fuel title at Gainesville, Fla. Four races later, the reigning Top Fuel world champion won at Atlanta and was second in points.

The native of New Jersey and resident of Pittsboro, Ind., hopes a return to southern cookin' helps kick-start his Toyota dragster tuned by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald this weekend at the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte.

The team, which won six titles last season, has been mired in a run that has led to first-round exits in 10 of 18 regular-season events including at the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day after a daring run the night before earned the team its second No. 1 qualifying position of the season.

"We were really disappointed after how we qualified," Brown said of his team's 3.811-second qualifying run. "After running that 3.81 we just built off that and were going up there hoping to run a 3.77. The track just ate us up a little bit."

But Brown's second pole of the season was enough to let him know his Toyota dragster was ready for the six-event Countdown in which he is seeded No. 6 among the 10 qualified drivers.

"Now it's time for the Countdown. This is where it all counts for the championship, and we're sitting right in the middle of the field. We have our work cut out for us, but there isn't anything that we can't handle. We're going to head in there with our heads up and bring our 'A' game.

"We have to head into the Countdown with the attitude that we have nothing to lose, and we don't. We're going to go out there and give it all we've got and have fun. We're looking forward to getting to Charlotte."

The No. 1 qualifying spot at Indy was the Toyota team's first since starting on the pole at the fourth race of the season and marked its only top-five start since a No. 2 position near Atlanta at the season's seventh race of the year.

"We're definitely heading in the right direction," said Brown, who won the fall race at zMAX in 2011 and was runner-up in 2008.

"We're not going backward, we're going forward. It's a good thing. We're right there where we need to be. We know what it takes to go out there to do what we need to do. We just have to go there, qualify well again and take it another step up."

As an avid follower of this team, I know it is so competitive that a fly in the track could cause a difference in overall performance. Too often, to many are oblivious of this and wonder what the "problem" could be.  I can attest to the tension at the starting line and if a driver is "off the mark" by any  amount, the results will be as Antron put it, "hoping for better luck next time."

We invite comments in that the NHRA really does not have a lock on any ESPN2 broadcast time  slot.