From top to bottom for Antron

Thrill of dramatic run to earn U.S. Nationals Top Fuel pole 

still a highlight for Matco's Brown despite first-round loss

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 2, 2013) - No form of motorsports is as finicky as Top Fuel drag racing with its 10,000-horsepower land rockets.

Within about 18 hours, Antron Brown and his Matco Tools went from the very high to the very low in the 59th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals.

On Sunday evening, Brown with crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald went from the No. 16 to No. 1 qualifying position on the event's last qualifying session with a time of 3.811 seconds at 320.58 mph at Lucas Oil Raceway. That made Brown's 10-minute ride to his home in Pittsboro, Ind., a fun one.

But the ride to Pittsboro was not nearly as enjoyable Monday afternoon after the Matco Tools team lost in the opening round to Morgan Lucas, who qualified in the last spot in the 16-car field. Lucas quicker time of the opening round at 3.784 beat Brown's 3.825.

"We're really disappointed, especially after how we qualified (Sunday) night," said Brown, the reigning Top Fuel world champion

"We went out there and threw a shot in the first round. The track was real good, so it sucked a little bit of it up. After running that 3.81 last night, we just built off that and we were going up there hoping to run a 3.77.

"The track just ate us up a little bit and we couldn't make the number. We knew what Morgan Lucas and his team was capable of and we didn't want to leave anything on the table. They threw a great run out there. They threw the number that they needed to win."