Antron Brown raced his Don Schumacher-owned Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster to the provisional No. 17 qualifying position Friday evening at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. The 24-time NHRA winner didn't make a full pass on Friday at the historic Eastern Pennsylvania track.

Brown, who enters the fourth race in the Countdown to 1 playoff ranked seventh in the Top Fuel standings, lost traction on Friday's first pass as his Matco Tools/U.S. Army rail slowed to a lap of 4.920 seconds at 147.94 mph. Brown's bright blue Matco Tools rail smoked the tires on Friday's second attempt under the lights at Maple Grove Raceway, slowing to a run of 6.744 at 93.61 mph. There are 20 cars attempting to make the 16-car field this weekend in Reading.

"It was a tough day for our DSR Matco Tools team," Brown said. "We had a fuel system issue on the first pass and the conditions were so good tonight, we were all just too aggressive. The quickest run was an (3).85 and not too many cars got down the track. We'll regroup and make two good runs on Saturday."

Professional nitro qualifying will conclude on Saturday afternoon at Maple Grove Raceway with sessions scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m. (ET). Top Fuel will run first followed by Funny Car. Brown earned the pole at the Reading race last August.

Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of six professional NHRA teams: The U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher; the FRAM dragster of Cory McClenathan, and the Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster of Antron Brown. The Funny Car teams are the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge driven by Ron Capps, the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, and the DieHard/shelor.com Dodge driven by Matt Hagan. Since 1998, Don Schumacher Racing teams have won 149 national events in 289 final rounds and eight world championships.