Antron Brown has 30 BIG reasons to win in this segment of events.

SEATTLE (July 29, 2014) - Antron Brown and the Matco Tools have three NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events left to claim the No. 1 spot in the standings, and he can think of 30 good reasons to reach that goal.

When the top-10 in points are finalized upon conclusion of the Mello Yello regular season, which includes this weekend's race near Seattle and events at Brainerd, Minn., and near Indianapolis, the points totals will be reset for those 10 Top Fuel drivers eligible to win the season title in the Countdown to the Championship.

Whoever leaves Indy with the points lead will start the Countdown with a 30-point lead over the driver ranked second in regular season standings.

Antron, who has won a category-best five events titles in 15 races this year, will arrive Friday at the Northwest NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., ranked second and 46 points behind Doug Kalitta but has missed opportunities at the past two events to overtake the leader.

On Sunday at Sonoma, Calif., Antron's team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, qualified third but were upset by Don Schumacher Racing teammate Spencer Massey in the first round. Fortunately for the Matco Tools team, Kalitta lost in the second round or the deficit Antron faces would be an even bigger challenge.

(Each round win on Sunday is worth 20 points.)

"Yeah, we had an opportunity there but the competition is so tough out here that those days will happen," Antron said. "I'm just glad Doug only lasted one round more than we did.

"Brian and Mark and our Matco boys are running every race to win because if you try to play it safe it will bite you. We're in great shape right now. Our Matco dragster is really good but we hit some real tricky conditions like everyone else these last two weekends.

"If it's not too hot at Seattle like it's supposed to be we'll be ready to fly.

"We want to be No. 1 when the Countdown starts and that 30-point lead would sure be nice."

RUNNING FOR SANDVIK COROMANT
Antron will run a special yellow Sandvik/Matco Tools dragster at Seattle to honor one of DSR' major sponsors, Sandvik Coromant, a global leading supplier of cutting tools, tooling solutions and know-how to the metalworking industry.

 He and the Sandvik/Matco rail will be at the LeMay America's Car Museum in Tacoma from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday (July 30). He will tour the 2-year-old museum, which spotlights America's love affair with the automobile, before signing autographs Noon-1 p.m. The Sandvik dragster will be on display 10 a.m.-2 p.m.at the museum's main entrance (2702 East D Street, Tacoma; LeMayMuseum.org.com).

"I'm a car lover; I was raised around cars," he said. "I'm fired up to check out the LeMay Museum and see some of the 300 cars on display. Also, we'll get to showcase our sport of Mello Yello NHRA Drag Racing to a new audience."

Antron Brown, Sandvik Coromant/Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster
Last event Sonoma (July 27): Qualified No. 4; lost in first round to Spencer Massey
A year ago at Seattle: Qualified No. 6; lost in quarterfinals to T.J. Zizzo
Career at Seattle: Wins 1 (2009); Runner-ups 1 (2010); Poles 1 (2011)

          Pts Events Titles Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ Win/Loss
2014  2nd    15         5        1       3      2       4         0       0       30-10
CAREER       301     46       39     61   84      68      36      3      506-252
Best Time, Speed: 3.701*/** sec. (10- 8-12, Reading, Pa.); 328.78 mph (10-8-12, Reading)
* Quickest ever/** NHRA record

NHRA MELLO YELLO STANDINGS
(Official after 15 of 24 events; DSR drivers in CAPS)
TOP FUEL
driver (wins)                          pts    behind
1. Doug Kalitta (1)              1,223      ----
2. ANTRON BROWN (5)     1,177      -46
3. Shawn Langdon (1)        1,065     -158
4. TONY SCHUMACHER (2)  911     -312
5. Steve Torrence                 867     -356
6. SPENCER MASSEY (2)     862     -361
7. Brittany Force                    824    -409
8. Khalid alBalooshi (2)          801    -422
9. Richie Crampton (1)           752    -471
10. J.R. Todd (1)                    741    -482

About Sandvik Coromant

Sandvik Coromant is the world's leading supplier of tools, tooling solutions, and know-how to the metalworking industry. With extensive investments in research and development, we create unique innovations and set new productivity standards together with our customers. These include the world's major automotive, aerospace, and energy industries.

Sandvik Coromant has 8,000 employees and is represented in 130 countries.

About Matco Tools

 Since 1979, the mission of Matco Tools has been to provide professional mechanics and auto enthusiasts with all of the premium tools, storage and equipment they need to get the job done, while also offering best-in-class service and customer support. The company's network of 1,500 premier independent mobile distributors is focused on developing and maintaining trust-based relationships with its customers and has increased its revenues by an average of 8% in each of the last three years. Ranked among the top 30 in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2014 Franchise 500®, the company continues to expand throughout the United States and Canada, adding several hundred mobile stores each year.  For more information, please visit www.MatcoTools.com.

About Don Schumacher Racing

Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields seven professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel world champion Matco Tools dragster driven by Antron Brown and the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster driven by Spencer Massey; and in Funny Car, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Valvoline MaxLife Dodge Charger R/T, 2011 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.

 

DSR has won 231 NHRA national event titles and 11 world championships.