Brown defeats Schumacher for Top Fuel win at Atlanta
Antron Brown drove his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.856-second run at 318.69 mph to hold off teammate Tony Schumacher and earn his second win of the season, 27th of his career and fourth at Atlanta Dragway (two in Top Fuel, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations
COMMERCE, Ga. – Antron Brown held off his teammate Tony Schumacher as he raced to his second win of the season Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
Jack Beckman, Jason Line and LE Tonglet also won in their respective categories at the sixth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Brown drove his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.856-second run at 318.69 mph to hold off teammate Tony Schumacher and earn his second win of the season, 27th of his career and fourth at Atlanta Dragway (two in Top Fuel, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle).
“It was tough all weekend,” said Brown. “Qualifying didn’t go like we wanted it to of course. But our boys just pulled together like they did in Vegas and when race day comes, the game face goes on. Any given Sunday anybody can win it. We came out here this weekend and just took it one round at a time.”
With the win Brown moved up to the second spot in the Top Fuel point standings, 70 points behind leader Del Worsham, who lost in the first round of eliminations to Shawn Langdon.
In Funny Car, fellow Don Schumacher Racing driver Beckman also collected his second win of the season. Beckman powered his Aaron’s/Valvoline Dodge Charger to a 4.111 at 311.05 to charge past points leader Mike Neff in the final round. The win was the 11th of Beckman's career win and his second win at Atlanta Dragway.
“Any win is good,” said Beckman. “You take everybody serious. But beating a John Force car has kind of got a nice topping on that ice cream sundae if you know what I mean. They are at the top of their game.”
Beckman moved up to the second spot in the Funny Car points standings with the win, 20 points behind leader and runner up Neff.
Jason Line held off teammate Greg Anderson in an all Summit Racing Pro Stock final to secure his third win of the season and first at his sponsor’s event. Line drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to a 6.600 at 208.42 to get his 23rd career win in Pro Stock.
“It was a good day, it really was,” said Line. “After the semis, Greg and I got down there and we were excited. We felt we needed a miracle to win because we didn’t feel like we performed like we should’ve. But somehow we got it. But Summit won today and that was the biggest thing.”
The final round matchup between Line and Anderson gave the two drivers the first and second place spot in the point standings, respectively.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Tonglet held off the fast-charging Karen Stoffer in the final round to collect his first win of the season and sixth of his career. Tonglet rode his Nitro Fish Suzuki to a 6.924 at 191.62 to get the win and move to fourth in the point standings.
“We’re really happy with the way that Nitro Fish Suzuki is running,” said Tonglet. “It’s really been a fun bike to ride. It’s so smooth and it’s just hauling butt. There is really nothing more we can do to it.”
With her runner-up finish, Stoffer secured the top spot in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings, 15 points ahead of second-place Andrew Hines.
The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues May 20-22 with the 23rd annual NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas.
