Brown wins first Top Fuel pole of the season for DSR, teammate Gray takes Funny Car points lead at Las Vegas

Brown wins first Top Fuel pole of the season for DSR,
teammate Gray takes Funny Car points lead at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - RIS - Antron Brown held on Saturday to earn his first No. 1 Top Fuel qualifying position of the season and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Johnny Gray took over the Funny Car points lead after qualifying Saturday in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brown's time of 3.780 seconds at 325.06 mph that he ran Friday night barely held up after Clay Millican joined him Saturday as the only Top Fuel drivers to reach below 3.80 seconds in the event.

Millican's time of 3.797 (325.85) moved passed Brown's Don Schumacher Racing's teammate Tony Schumacher for the No. 2 position. Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster is ranked third for Sunday's championship eliminations, which begin at 11 a.m. (ET).

In Funny Car, Gray, who won the last event title three weeks ago, qualified fourth and earned enough bonus points in qualifying to break a tie with DSR teammate Ron Capps heading to the championship eliminations in the fourth event of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

The following are qualifying results and other notes:

TOP FUEL
No. 1 qualifier: Antron Brown/Don Schumacher Racing, 3.780 sec., 325.06 mph (Friday night)

Antron Brown, Matco Tools
Qualifying position: No. 1
First-round opponent: Brandon Bernstein
FRIDAY
Session 1: 3.873 sec., 319.90 mph
Session 2: 3.780, 320.43
SATURDAY
Session 3: 3.810, 316.97
Session 4: 5.030, 145.48

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army
First-round opponent: Troy Buff
Qualifying position: No. 3
FRIDAY
Session 1: 3.845 sec., 321.88 mph
Session 2: 3.807, 325.06
SATURDAY
Session 3: 3.939, 308.50
Session 4: 3.879, 313.88

Spencer Massey, Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher
Qualifying position: No. 10
First-round opponent: Bob Vandergriff
FRIDAY
Session 1: 3.998 sec., 251.95 mph
Session 2: 7.874, 73.47
SATURDAY
Session 3: 3.859, 318.97
Session 4: 3.848, 319.29

FUNNY CAR
No. 1 qualifier: Robert Hight/John Force Racing, 4.053 sec., 315.19 mph (Friday night)

Jack Beckman, MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors/Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 3
First-round opponent: Tony Pedregon
FRIDAY
Session 1: 7.065 sec., 93.29 mph
Session 2: 4.158, 297.16
SATURDAY
Session 3: 4.539, 191.13
Session 4: 4.095, 306.05

Johnny Gray, Pitch Energy Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 4
First-round opponent: Chad Head
FRIDAY
Session 1: 4.325 sec., 230.53 mph
Session 2: 4.107, 309.42
SATURDAY Session 3: 4.957, 159.12
Session 4: 4.096, 308.71

Matt Hagan, Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T 

Qualifying position: No. 6
First-round opponent: Bob Tasca III
FRIDAY
Session 1: 4.200 sec., 293.41 mph
Session 2: 4.115, 306.53
SATURDAY
Session 3: 4.205, 262.03
Session 4: 4.802, 167.72

Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 7
First-round opponent: Del Worsham
FRIDAY Session 1: 4.212 sec., 296.70 mph
Session 2: 4.133, 302.55
SATURDAY
Session 3: 4.708, 177.65
Session 4: 4.909, 162.67

THIS WEEK AT LAS VEGAS
WHAT: 14th annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
WHERE: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  NITRO SCHEDULE (times are PT):
Sunday: Championship eliminations, 11 a.m.

ON ESPN2:
Sunday: Championship eliminations, 11 p.m. (ET)

WEATHER.COM FORECAST
Sunday: High 86; 20 percent chance of rain

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
(Unofficial through Las Vegas qualifying; DSR drivers in CAPS)

TOP FUEL
1. ANTRON BROWN, 281
2. TONY SCHUMACHER, 306
3. Shawn Langdon, 244
4. Doug Kalitta, 221
5. Khalid alBalooshi, 217
6. SPENCER MASSEY, 210
7. Clay Millican, 205
8. Morgan Lucas, 194
9. Brandon Bernstein, 177
10. David Grubnic, 175
Event winners: Shawn Langdon, TONY SCHUMACHER, ANTRON BROWN.

FUNNY CAR
1. JOHNNY GRAY, 281
2. RON CAPPS, 277
3. Courtney Force, 255
4. MATT HAGAN, 244
5. Cruz Pedregon, 218
6. Del Worsham, 203
7. Robert Hight, 200
8. Bob Tasca III, 187
9. JACK BECKMAN, 186
10. John Force, 177
Event winners: Courtney Force, RON CAPPS, JOHNNY GRAY.

About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., starts 2013 with seven professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel world champion Matco Tools dragster driven by Antron Brown and the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher 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/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors Dodge Charger R/T, 2011 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar/Rocky Dodge, the NAPA Filters of Ron Capps and the Pitch Energy Dodge of Johnny Gray.

DSR has won 200 NHRA national event titles and 11 world championships.

Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

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Dusty Brandel

President of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association, Inc. Worked with Mike Hollander since Tapsis, Compuserve, etc. and has posted to the website since the beginning. First Female photo-journalist to be given a garage and pit pass for the NASCAR garage, 1972 at Ontario Motor Speedway. One of first seven female writers, photographers given access to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage and pits in 1971. Past President of Greater Los Angeles Press Club, 1992-96, and first female editor of the 8-Ball publication for the Press Club

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Volume 2012, Issue 10, Posted 12:07 AM, 04.07.2013