Despite not yet winning the Winternationals, Antron Brown is a two-time winner at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona site of the season-opening NHRA Full Throttle Series event.

Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations

Pomona, Calif.–Antron Brown, 24-time NHRA winner, is the only racer in NHRA history to win races and lead the standings in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Last season, the Matco Tools flagship driver raced his Brian Corradi/Mark Oswald-tuned dragster to a category-best six wins en route to a third-place finish in the Countdown to 1. He also earned seven No. 1 qualifying awards and has 21 career poles. In July, he made NHRA history becoming just the third driver in NHRA history to sweep the Western Swing at Denver, Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.

Last February at the rain-delayed season-opening event, Brown earned his second straight Top Fuel pole at the historic Pomona track. It was his 15th career pole. Brown has paced the Top Fuel field at the Winternationals in his only two Top Fuel starts at the historic race. In a semifinal win over Brandon Bernstein, Brown clocked the second quickest pass of the season at 3.778-seconds. The Matco team posted a runner-up finish to 31-time winner Doug Kalitta, 3.822 to 3.847.

"We're pretty amped up and excited to get back to Pomona, especially for the 50th annual Winternationals,” said Brown. “This is a great way to kick off 2010 with such an important race. That gold 'Wally' trophy is one that you want to have in your trophy case on day. I can tell you, our whole DSR Matco Tools team is excited to get back in the swing of things at Pomona. Our goal is to start off the season where we left off last season and that's with a win at Pomona."

Despite not yet winning the Winternationals, Brown is a two-time winner at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Brown has won the Auto Club Finals in both Pro Stock Motorcycle (1999) and Top Fuel (2009). Last November, Brown raced the Matco Tools dragster to the No. 4 qualifying position at 3.813 seconds at 316.15 mph and then raced to his category-best sixth win of 2009 by defeating Spencer Massey in the final round with a pass of 3.801 at 316.90, the quickest pass of eliminations. He also has two runner-up finishes at the season-finale at Pomona.

In pre-season testing at Palm Beach International Raceway near Jupiter, Fla., Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team spent five days preparing for the 2010 NHRA season. The Matco team tested from Jan. 11-15 in South Florida as Brown sped to a testing-best run of 3.815 seconds at a blistering 322.11 mph. It is the fastest 1,000-foot speed that Brown has recorded and his first 1,000-foot run faster than 320-mph.

"We're ready to go racing,” added crew chief Brian Corradi. “It's time to get out of the cold and get to Pomona and get things going. We're excited to hit the ground running strong at Pomona and hope to do as well as we did there last season. We had a lot of success at both Pomona races and a great start to the season is something we're aiming for again this year in 2010. It was cool to win there last November, but it would be even more exciting to win the 50th Winternationals."

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