BROWN EXITS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS IN SEMIFINALS

Antron Brown, after breezing through the first two rounds of Top Fuel  final eliminations at the NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline on the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, developed a mechanical problem and lost in the semifinal round to Shawn Langdon.

The driver of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, which led the class after the first qualifying run on Thursday, started the festivities today from the second position and promptly ran a 3.790-second/325.37-mile-per-hour lap to eliminate Mike Strasburg, 3.976/260.46.  He then took on Doug Kalitta, whose car lost power down the track, and he let up to save the motor, winning with a 3.828/320.66 vs. 4.373/190.70.

When he came up against Langdon in the semis, he felt he had a good shot to go all the way. Langdon ran a 4.033/313.95 in the round, while Brown turned in a 4.427/168.81 pass.

“The car felt great all weekend, as we were in the top three with every pass,” he said. “The Matco Tools/U.S. Army crew gave me a good car right off the trailer, and we made very few adjustments during the weekend.

“In the semis, we got off the line first, and had a good lead at half-track, but something broke right near the end and we lost our chances for a championship weekend.

“Anytime you can reach the semis, it’s a good weekend – with the points and all – but we were hoping for a great weekend and a win.  We will build on the good runs we had, and be ready for a title run at Gainesville.”

Brown won Top Fuel the last time he was at Pomona – in the final race of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season in which he finished fourth in the standings for the Don Schumacher Racing team.”