Antron Brown powered to his first Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier in nearly six years on Saturday, claiming the top spot at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.
Funny Car’s Chad Green also qualified No. 1 at the seventh of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Saturday’s second qualifying session, as well as the finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, were canceled due to weather. No points were awarded in the challenge and the bonus prize money was divided among the participating competitors.
Sunday’s eliminations were also bumped up to a 10 a.m. ET start from New England Dragway.
With a near 40-degree temperature drop from Friday, Brown, a three-time world champion, made one of only two three-second runs during Saturday’s lone qualifying session with an impressive pass of 3.729-secomds at 329.99 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster. It is Brown’s 50th career No. 1 qualifier, but first since 2017 in Seattle, where he also won the race.
Brown, who won earlier this year in Las Vegas, has impressed in varying conditions this weekend, making a run in the 3.80s during the heat on Friday, and following it up with another strong run in considerably cooler conditions on Saturday.
"It feels really good today. What made it feel so good is just how our team was so good to adapt to all the different conditions,” Brown said. “Today, we were able to bounce back and be one of the only cars that made it down because the track got super tight. I'm super proud of my guys. It makes me feel good to see where we're at the way we can adapt to so many different circumstances.
"Our main focus through this whole journey that we've been on is to constantly get better. We never really harped on qualifying. We've been just working on it steadily to get better and better and to pick up those bonus points. We made the right judgment calls and ended up No. 1. Do we want to qualifying No. 1 more? Heck yeah. But we have to keep working to know how we got there and not throw shots at it."
Shawn Langdon made the only other three-second run on Saturday, qualifying second with a run of 3.738 at 327.66. He’s looking for his first win of the 2023 campaign, as is Leah Pruett, whose 3.856 from 319.37 put her third heading into Sunday’s eliminations.
Clay Millican and Pruett advanced to the finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, with Millican collecting the biggest share of the bonus purse after making the quickest winning run in the first round of the bonus race.
In Funny Car, Green held onto the No. 1 spot on a tricky day, with his run of 4.100 at 310.98 from Friday in his 11,000-horsepower Bond-Coat, Inc. Ford Mustang holding up. It gave Green his first career No. 1 qualifier as he continues to enjoy a strong season in the Funny Car ranks.
After a string of semifinal appearances this season and now claiming his first career No. 1 qualifier, Green, who is currently sixth in points, will aim for his first career Funny Car victory on Sunday.
"It feels pretty great, it's pretty unexpected,” Green said. “When I woke up this morning, I never thought that our run yesterday would hold up for No. 1 today. I'm very proud of my crew, my team for navigating the track yesterday and be able to make that run to get us in this position. Tomorrow is going to be another day like today. We'll put our heads together and see what we come up with.
"I haven't had really No. 1 qualifier on my mind as much as I've had winning a race. There are some really tough teams out here, it's really tough to be No. 1. I'm definitely happy about it and proud of my guys."
Points leader and defending event winner Matt Hagan stayed second with his 4.123 at 309.13 from Friday as he looks for his NHRA-best fifth career win at New England Dragway. Alex Laughlin, in his first year in Funny Car, moved to third with a run of 4.190 at 289.63.
Ron Capps and Tim Wilkerson advanced to the finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, with Capps collecting the biggest share of the bonus purse after making the quickest winning run in the first round of the bonus race.
Eliminations for the NHRA New England Nationals are set to begin at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday at New England Dragway.
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TOP FUEL
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Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd
1 2 Antron Brown, Pittsboro IN, DSR-DSM 3.729 329.99 329.99
2 9 Shawn Langdon, Danville IN, Kalitta-AJPE 3.738 327.66 327.66
3 777 Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City AZ, DSR-DSM 3.856 319.37 319.37
4 7 Josh Hart, Ocala FL, MLR-AJPE 3.902 317.27 317.27
5 182 Dan Mercier, St-Michel PQ, McKinney-TFX 4.024 278.69 278.69
6 7211 Mike Salinas, San Jose CA, MLR-TFX 4.067 229.39 229.39
7 3 Austin Prock, Pittsboro IN, JFR Fam-JFR 4.075 239.27 239.27
8 6 Steve Torrence, Kilgore TX, MLR-TFX 4.191 212.73 212.73
9 51 Clay Millican, Drummonds TN, DSR-AJPE 4.497 174.91 174.91
10 4 Justin Ashley, Farmingdale NY, DSR-AJPE 4.807 155.61 155.61
11 1 Brittany Force, Yorba Linda CA, JFR Fam-JFR 4.907 149.88 261.32
12 10 Doug Kalitta, Saline MI, Kalitta-AJPE 6.711 109.59 109.59
13 356 Tony Schumacher, Lakeway TX, DSR-DSM 9.359 57.60 57.60
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FUNNY CAR
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1 473 Chad Green, Midland TX, '19 Mustang 4.100 310.98 310.98
2 14 Matt Hagan, Christiansburg VA, '23 Charger 4.123 309.13 309.13
3 40 Alex Laughlin, Bluff Dale TX, '22 Charger 4.190 289.63 289.63
4 1 Ron Capps, Carlsbad CA, '22 Supra 4.483 199.88 199.88
5 2 Robert Hight, Yorba Linda CA, '23 Camaro 4.624 186.74 186.74
6 9 Tim Wilkerson, Springfield IL, '18 Mustang 4.766 170.88 170.88
7 6 Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg IN, '22 Charger 5.403 136.26 136.26
8 373 J.R. Todd, Jupiter FL, '22 Supra 6.374 119.51 119.51
9 5 John Force, Yorba Linda CA, '22 Camaro 6.623 96.42 96.42
10 7 Alexis DeJoria, Austin TX, '22 Supra 6.816 102.35 102.35
11 4 Bob Tasca III, Cranston RI, '23 Mustang 8.546 79.50 79.50
12 256 Blake Alexander, Charlotte NC, '19 Mustang 9.042 86.15 86.15
13 121 Terry Haddock, Temple TX, '18 Mustang 12.865 77.08 77.08
14 703 Jim Campbell, Long Beach CA, '05 Monte Carlo 13.419 72.42 72.42
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PRO MOD
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Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd
1 6911 Mike Thielen, Olympia WA, '18 Camaro 5.837 244.16 244.16
2 203 Jose Gonzalez, Ball Ground GA, '19 Camaro 5.841 247.11 247.11
3 1 Kris Thorne, Mims FL, '21 Camaro 5.845 247.70 247.70
4 44 Mike Castellana, Muttontown NY, '69 Camaro 5.889 247.25 247.25
5 9 Doug Winters, Pleasant Garden NC, '69 Chevelle 5.927 221.27 221.27
6 200 Tylor Miller, Odessa TX, '20 Camaro 5.953 243.94 243.94
7 212 Stan Shelton, Albamarle NC, '19 Mustang 5.967 243.99 243.99
8 1955 Ken Quartuccio, Wallingford CT, '55 Chevy 6.101 219.22 219.22
9 2890 Eric Dillard, Wallace NC, t'69 Camaro 6.739 124.25 147.36
10 321 Jason Lee, Swanton OH, '18 Camaro 6.752 159.53 159.53
11 327 Khalid alBalooshi, Dubai AE, '21 Camaro 6.964 154.10 154.10
12 8333 Dmitry Samorukov, Moscow RU, '69 Camaro 6.968 148.71 148.71
13 288 Sidnei Frigo, San Paulo BZ, '69 Camaro 7.126 138.68 138.68
14 176M Manny Buginga, Bridgewater MA, '18 Camaro 7.308 171.45 171.45
15 5 JR Gray, Ridgeville SC, '21 Camaro 7.708 120.17 120.17
16 6280 Justin Bond, Misson BC, '69 Camaro 8.319 130.47 130.47
------------ Not Qualified ------------
17 1262 Chuck Little, Atkinson NH, *'63 Corvette 9.088 99.28 99.28
18 260 Paul Daigrepont, Statesville NC, '18 Camaro 9.469 98.36 98.36
* = Supercharged Engine
t = Turbocharged Engine
w/ NHRA Communications