BROWN EARNS MILESTONE VICTORY AT ENGLISHTOWN; HAGAN, ANDERSON AND SAVOIE ALSO WINNERS AT TOYOTA NHRA SUMMERNATIONALS

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – Antron Brown raced to his third victory of the season and earned his first ever Top Fuel win at his home track, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Sunday at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were victorious at the ninth of 24 events in the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Brown, a local favorite as a native of nearby Chesterfield, powered his Matco Tools dragster to the winner’s circle with a performance of 3.843 seconds at 318.47 mph, also claiming a milestone 50th NHRA victory in the process. Brown has 34 wins in Top Fuel and he earned 16 victories in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition from 1998-2007.

The 2012 Top Fuel world champion and current series points leader raced past Brittany Force’s Monster Energy dragster, which lost traction early in the run and finished in 5.398 at 150.16 in her fifth career final round appearance. As the No. 1 qualifier, Brown defeated Jenna Haddock, Doug Kalitta and Dave Connolly in earlier rounds.

“We knew (my 50th win) was at stake when we came in here, but I put everything of what this race means to the side, and that’s what our team did,” Brown said. “We came in here and treated it like a race. Every race we come in, we put in all the hard work and put in our all. We had to remind ourselves that each and every round. To do it in the hometown and in front of family means the world to me.”

Since the beginning of the 2009 season, Brown has earned 32 victories, which is 10 more than his closest Top Fuel competitor and teammate, Tony Schumacher.

Force raced to her first final round appearance of the season by defeating recent Topeka winner Richie Crampton, defending world champ Schumacher and Terry McMillen in earlier rounds. She was the No. 6 qualifier.

In Funny Car, Hagan’s final-round effort of 4.132 at 299.53 in his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T was enough to hold off Alexis DeJoria’s Patron XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry at the finish line and earn his third victory of the season.

“It’s nice to be able to go out here and run so strong and defend the title that we won last year,” Hagan said. “Everything started clicking here this weekend. (Crew chief) Dickie (Venables) put a great car underneath me. We were able to beat a lot of tough, tough race cars out there and really good drivers. It just gets tougher and tougher each weekend.”

Hagan, the defending world champion, has 17 career wins, two at Raceway Park and now leads the series standings. The No. 4 qualifier raced past 16-time world champion John Force, Tommy Johnson Jr. and teammate Ron Capps to make it to his third final round appearance of the season.

DeJoria qualified 10th and was close to earning her first victory of 2015 by defeating recent Topeka winner Jack Beckman, Dom Lagana and Kalitta Motorsports teammate Del Worsham in the earlier rounds. DeJoria has three career victories in six final round appearances.

Anderson powered his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro to a 6.504 at 214.31 mph to earn his 76th career victory and take over the Pro Stock points lead. He sprinted past Allen Johnson in the final round to earn his second win of the season and a category record sixth trophy at Raceway Park.

“I had a great weekend,” Anderson said. “When I got here, the car ran great right off the trailer. I made eight runs in a row. It was awesome. We got the victory. It’s been a while. It’s good to be back. It’s a neat feeling to have a racecar that can win a race if you just pilot it down the race track and don’t do anything wrong. That’s all a driver can ask for.”

As the No. 1 qualifier, Anderson powered past Val Smeland, newcomer Bo Butner and V. Gaines to make it to his eighth career final round appearance at Raceway Park. Anderson has two victories and three runner-up finishes so far this season.

Johnson, still looking for his first victory of 2015, pushed his Magneti Marelli/Team Mopar Dodge Dart past Larry Morgan, Alan Prusiensky and Shane Gray before meeting Anderson in the finals. This was his third career final round appearance at this event.

Louisiana alligator farmer Savoie earned his second career Pro Stock Motorcycle victory when second-time finalist Jim Underdahl turned on the red-light in the final round.  Savoie rode his Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki to a 6.794 at 197.71, earning his first Wally since St. Louis 2014.

Savoie advanced to his sixth career final by racing past Joe DeSantis, series points leader and local favorite Eddie Krawiec and Hector Arana Jr. in the first three rounds. With the win, Savoie ties with LE Tonglet for eighth in the points standings.

“The driver goes from zero-to-hero but I’m not a selfish person, this goes to my crew,” Savoie said. “Those guys worked really hard. The biggest thing is Vance and Hines. You’re running against a group of guys that want to win really bad, like I do, and to give you the power and tell you, ‘You have to find it, but it’s there,’ and you have to compete with them? Great company.”

The 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series continues with the NHRA New England Nationals, June 12-14 in Epping, N.H.

***

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 46th Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.  The race is the ninth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

1.  Antron Brown; 2.  Brittany Force; 3.  Dave Connolly; 4.  Terry McMillen; 5.  Doug Kalitta; 6. Tony Schumacher; 7.  Spencer Massey; 8.  Shawn Langdon; 9.  Steve Torrence; 10.  J.R. Todd; 11. Jenna Haddock; 12.  Larry Dixon; 13.  Leah Pritchett; 14.  Morgan Lucas; 15.  Richie Crampton; 16. Clay Millican.

FUNNY CAR:

1.  Matt Hagan; 2.  Alexis DeJoria; 3.  Del Worsham; 4.  Ron Capps; 5.  Cruz Pedregon; 6.  Tommy Johnson Jr.; 7.  Dom Lagana; 8.  Tony Pedregon; 9.  John Force; 10.  Tim Wilkerson; 11.  Jeff Diehl; 12.  Jack Beckman; 13.  Courtney Force; 14.  Robert Hight; 15.  Chad Head; 16.  John Hale.

PRO STOCK:

1.  Greg Anderson; 2.  Allen Johnson; 3.  V. Gaines; 4.  Shane Gray; 5.  Drew Skillman; 6.  Bo Butner; 7.  Kenny Delco; 8.  Alan Prusiensky; 9.  Jason Line; 10.  Larry Morgan; 11.  John Gaydosh Jr; 12.  Jonathan Gray; 13.  Vincent Nobile; 14.  Chris McGaha; 15.  Val Smeland; 16.  Erica Enders.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

1.  Jerry Savoie; 2.  Jim Underdahl; 3.  Andrew Hines; 4.  Hector Arana Jr; 5.  Hector Arana; 6. Matt Smith; 7.  Eddie Krawiec; 8.  Chip Ellis; 9.  Karen Stoffer; 10.  LE Tonglet; 11.  Scotty Pollacheck; 12.  Shawn Gann; 13.  Angie Smith; 14.  Joe DeSantis; 15.  Steve Johnson; 16.  Angelle Sampey.

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Sunday's final results from the 46th Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. The race is the ninth of 24 in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Antron Brown, 3.843 seconds, 318.47 mph  def. Brittany Force, 5.398 seconds, 150.16 mph.

Funny Car -- Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.132, 299.53  def. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.138, 298.40.

Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.504, 214.31  def. Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.537, 213.87.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.794, 197.71  def. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, foul.

Pro Modified -- Bill Glidden, Ford Mustang, 5.923, 243.24  def. Don Walsh, Chevy Camaro, 5.897, 252.33.

Competition Eliminator -- Arnie Martel, Chevy Camaro, 7.732, 160.10  def. Thomas Miller, Chevy S-10, 7.647, 162.86.

Super Stock -- Larry Miller, Plymouth Barracuda, 9.800, 132.80  def. Lincoln Morehead, Chevy Camaro, 10.265, 118.85.

Stock Eliminator -- Steve Calabro, Chevy Camaro, 10.180, 121.04  def. Eugene Monahan, Pontiac Firebird, 12.165, 107.76.

Super Comp -- Tom Stalba, Dragster, 8.868, 166.81  def. Jack Sepanek Jr, Dragster, foul.

Super Gas -- Dan Northrop, Chevy Vega, 9.922, 142.67  def. Mac Starks Jr, Chevy Camaro, 9.904, 162.06.

Top Sportsman -- Jeff Brooks, Henry J, 6.745, 201.04  def. Michael Cerro, Chevy Corvette, 7.013, 196.02.

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Final round-by-round results from the 46th Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the ninth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Spencer Massey, 3.809, 318.02 def. Clay Millican, 10.945, 74.58; Shawn Langdon, 3.809, 316.23 def. Larry Dixon, 4.267, 196.73; Dave Connolly, 3.843, 316.60 def. Leah Pritchett, 6.911, 93.42; Tony Schumacher, 3.802, 318.99 def. Morgan Lucas, 8.739, 85.43; Antron Brown, 3.803, 316.82 def. Jenna Haddock, 3.913, 302.82; Terry McMillen, 3.887, 306.40 def. J.R. Todd, 3.902, 282.01; Brittany Force, 3.848, 316.01 def. Richie Crampton, 9.477, 75.71; Doug Kalitta, 3.821, 313.58 def. Steve Torrence, 3.804, 317.34; QUARTERFINALS -- Connolly, 3.848, 312.71 def. Langdon, 6.647, 111.11; McMillen, 5.016, 195.34 def. Massey, 6.462, 129.00; Brown, 3.799, 318.32 def. Kalitta, 3.826, 311.85; Force, 3.838, 314.02 def. Schumacher, 6.216, 117.65; SEMIFINALS -- Force, 3.899, 314.09 def. McMillen, 5.079, 146.80; Brown, 3.820, 317.12 def. Connolly, 4.740, 160.50; FINAL -- Brown, 3.843, 318.47 def. Force, 5.398, 150.16.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.035, 308.43 def. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.131, 306.12; Dom Lagana, Toyota Solara, 4.969, 157.74 def. Chad Head, Toyota Camry, 5.348, 270.00; Del Worsham, Camry, 4.114, 299.26 def. Jeff Diehl, Solara, foul; Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.101, 303.03 def. John Hale, Charger, broke; Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.077, 304.94 def. Robert Hight, Chevrolet Camaro, 4.723, 174.73; Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.160, 300.66 def. Courtney Force, Camaro, 4.651, 195.11; Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.089, 302.96 def. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.458, 206.39; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.083, 300.93 def. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.313, 231.56; QUARTERFINALS -- Worsham, 4.116, 300.66 def. T. Pedregon, 7.046, 121.64; Capps, 9.807, 86.18 def. C. Pedregon, foul; Hagan, 4.124, 302.01 def. Johnson Jr., 5.911, 146.96; DeJoria, 4.168, 296.89 def. Lagana, 6.863, 93.35; SEMIFINALS -- Hagan, 4.124, 300.20 def. Capps, 4.191, 282.07; DeJoria, 4.120, 297.09 def. Worsham, 4.138, 301.00; FINAL -- Hagan, 4.132, 299.53 def. DeJoria, 4.138, 298.40.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE -- Bo Butner, Chevy Camaro, 6.549, 212.63 def. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.657, 212.23; Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.544, 212.13 def. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, foul; Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.519, 213.87 def. Larry Morgan, Camaro, foul; V. Gaines, Dart, 6.538, 212.36 def. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.510, 215.17; Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.541, 211.76 def. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 8.301, 117.66; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.493, 214.28 def. Val Smeland, Chevy Cobalt, 8.725, 108.60; Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.502, 212.96 def. John Gaydosh Jr, Pontiac GXP, 6.562, 211.53; Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Avenger, 6.643, 209.95 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 10.306, 87.32; QUARTERFINALS -- Gaines, 8.080, 199.14 def. Delco, 10.345, 100.23; Johnson, 6.871, 211.20 def. Prusiensky, 14.931, 56.23; S. Gray, 6.545, 212.49 def. Skillman, 6.523, 212.90; Anderson, 6.503, 214.11 def. Butner, 6.549, 213.43; SEMIFINALS -- Johnson, 6.570, 213.77 def. S. Gray, 6.555, 212.79; Anderson, 6.499, 214.14 def. Gaines, 6.531, 213.43; FINAL -- Anderson, 6.504, 214.31 def. Johnson, 6.537, 213.87.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

ROUND ONE -- Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.825, 197.48 def. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, foul; Matt Smith, 6.883, 192.96 def. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.832, 196.19; Hector Arana, Buell, 6.849, 196.04 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.896, 194.80; Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.871, 191.10 def. Angie Smith, 6.971, 189.02; Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.833, 196.10 def. Angelle Sampey, Buell, DQ; Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.852, 198.38 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.233, 158.28; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.858, 192.60 def. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, foul; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.862, 192.91 def. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.882, 194.63; QUARTERFINALS -- Savoie, 6.798, 197.62 def. Krawiec, 6.938, 190.35; Hines, 6.894, 192.69 def. Ellis, broke; Underdahl, 6.860, 195.05 def. M. Smith, 6.928, 191.02; Arana Jr, 6.833, 197.08 def. Arana, 6.841, 197.08; SEMIFINALS -- Savoie, 6.785, 197.71 def. Arana Jr, foul; Underdahl, 6.886, 193.10 def. Hines, 6.906, 190.94; FINAL -- Savoie, 6.794, 197.71 def. Underdahl, foul.

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. -- Point standings (top 10) following the 46th Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the ninth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Antron Brown, 751; 2.  Tony Schumacher, 633; 3.  Spencer Massey, 588; 4.  Richie Crampton, 579; 5.  Doug Kalitta, 554; 6.  Shawn Langdon, 530; 7.  Larry Dixon, 508; 8.  Brittany Force, 479; 9. J.R. Todd, 456; 10.  Clay Millican, 427.

Funny Car

1.  Matt Hagan, 692; 2.  Ron Capps, 653; 3.  Del Worsham, 587; 4.  Jack Beckman, 567; 5.  John Force, 533; 6.  Tommy Johnson Jr., 513; 7.  Robert Hight, 492; 8.  Alexis DeJoria, 487; 9.  Tim Wilkerson, 480; 10.  Cruz Pedregon, 458.

Pro Stock

1.  Greg Anderson, 781; 2.  Erica Enders, 759; 3.  Jason Line, 698; 4.  Chris McGaha, 578; 5. Rodger Brogdon, 493; 6.  Drew Skillman, 488; 7.  Larry Morgan, 486; 8.  Shane Gray, 474; 9.  Allen Johnson, 461; 10.  Vincent Nobile, 453.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

1.  Eddie Krawiec, 339; 2.  Andrew Hines, 286; 3.  Hector Arana Jr, 273; 4.  Hector Arana, 259; 5. Karen Stoffer, 238; 6.  Jim Underdahl, 224; 7.  Scotty Pollacheck, 207; 8.  (tie) Jerry Savoie, 198; LE Tonglet, 198; 10.  Angelle Sampey, 193.