Antron Brown enters Sunday’s New England Nationals as the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel. (Photo: NHRA)
EPPING, N.H. – The weather continued to wreak havoc on NHRA qualifying on Saturday afternoon, but Antron Brown and his Matco Tools team were able to master the elements and charge to a 3.729-second pass and the top spot in Top Fuel entering Sunday.
“It feels really good today,” Brown said. “What made it feel so good is how our team was so good to adapt to all the different conditions. Friday we were No. 2, and we dropped a hole early, so we missed out on being number one there, and we were still able to get two bonus points. And [Saturday] we were able to bounce back and be one of the few cars to make it down.”
Teams had to adjust to 90-degree weather on Friday with most Nitro teams struggling to get down the track. On Saturday, the struggles returned as the air temperature dropped to 55 degrees, changing everything teams had to do to get the cars down the track.
“The hard part is, we never ran in conditions like that, so you’ve got to get the right power level, back it down,” Brown said. “We went for a safe run to get down so we could prepare, because we know the conditions are going to be like this tomorrow on race day. We made a lap so we could get down and pick at it, and make it better and better each lap.”
Chad Green picked up his first No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car, as his 4.100-second time from Friday’s qualifying held up. It is Green’s first No. 1 qualifying effort, but he said he is hoping for an even bigger goal on Sunday.
“I haven’t had, really, number one qualifier on my mind as much as I’ve had winning a race,” Green said. “There’s some really tough teams out here. It’s really tough to be number one. If I would have drawn it up in my mind, this is not how I thought it would’ve happened, but I’m definitely happy about it. I’m proud of my guys.”
Both top qualifiers said they will have to contend as much with weather conditions as the opponents in the opposite lane on Sunday.
Chad Green’s 4.100-second run from Friday qualifying held on to make him the No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car entering Sunday’s NHRA New England Nationals. (Photo: NHRA)
“Track was good enough to run mid- to high-60s if you hit it right, but you could hit it so wrong like a lot of other teams did,” Brown said. “I’m super proud of our guys, and it makes me feel good to see the way we can adapt to so many different circumstances.”
“I thought a lot of these big-time teams were going to go out there and light up the track, set records, go really fast, and that just didn’t happen [today],” Green said. “Tomorrow is going to be another day like today so we’re gonna go, put our heads together and see what we can come up with.”
Both Green and Brown said their top qualifying spots are something they can build on going forward.
“This race here fell in a spot where we made the right judgment calls and picked up five bonus points in two rounds of qualifying,” Brown said. “Our whole focus is to get better like that, because qualifying sets you up in a good spot, but it doesn’t mean you win the race. Do I want to qualify No. 1 a lot more? Heck yeah! But we want to keep working to know how we got there, not just throw shots at it.”
Green said that, although his first top qualifier was a surprise, he hopes his team’s ability to adjust to the elements will benefit him on Sunday.
“Feels pretty great. It’s pretty unexpected,” Green said. “When I woke up this morning, I never thought our run yesterday would hold up for number one today. This has been a really tricky place. I’m very proud of my crew, my team, for navigating the track yesterday, as tricky as it was, and being able to make that run to get us in this position.”
