We just got back from our first Top Fuel race at Pomona so I wanna pick up where we left off. On Feb. 2, we had a baby shower at the house. I want to thank all of our close, personal friends for the beautiful items we received for baby Brown.
The next day, it was the seventh wedding anniversary for Billie Jo and me. Seven beautiful years! It’s been seven years with my beautiful, caring wife. Our anniversary day was filled with a bunch of excitement. We loaded the entire family up in the minivan and headed over to crew chief Lee’s house for a Super Bowl party. We had a great time watching my kids interact with all the adults. They were the hit of the party and after-party. Watching Lee and the others crack up watching my daughter Arianna busting the worm on the living room floor after the game. And, it was funny to see my son give his big, googly eyes to all the ladies at the party.
Before that, at half time, PR Ted and I had to boogie over, in a downpour, to do a TV interview with Dave Calabro at Channel 13. It was a cool time. It was worthwhile to give notoriety to NHRA drag racing and our sponsor Matco Tools. This is an Indy Car town, but we need to make it an NHRA town.
We got back for the exciting fourth quarter of the Super Bowl game to see my home turf Giants, from New Jersey, win the Super Bowl. It gave all us underdogs a little motivation to fly underneath the radar and triumph at the end.
I flew to Pomona on Feb. 5. I could hardly sleep. I was ready to rock and roll. We got into Ontraio around 10:30 a.m. and left the airport and went straight to meet up with one of my Matco distributor buddies, Sean Liske. We visited a few of his prime locations that he services, a Honda dealership and CarMax. I want to thank each of those locations for the business and dedication to Matco Tools. It was awesome to see all the big Matco tool boxes. Sean was the first distributor to let me cruise his tool truck. I must say, he has a really nice ride.
After the ride, we were near Brea, Calif., so I decided to cruise over and visit my old buddies at Suzuki. I must admit, the only thing that comes close to driving a Top Fuel dragster is riding my Suzuki motorcycles in my off time, especially my ’08 Hayabusa. It was cool to tour the whole facility from the R&D room to customer service. I even got some time to speak with Mr. Kato and Mel Harris. My buddy Pat Alexander, director or motorsports marketing, gave me the tour. We want to thank Suzuki for supplying us with pit vehicles for our team.
That night, I got to relax and spend some time with my boy Jeff Michaud at Insane Boats. We went to dinner and I got to stop and hang at his shop. I checked out my brand new RC mono-boat, which is pretty tight. Then I headed back to the hotel to get a little rest.
Late Wednesday morning, Ted and I headed over to The Derby in Arcadia for the press conference. We talked to the media about the upcoming race in Pomona and what we expected to achieve at the race and during the season. The number one question I get is about the transition from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel and what it’s all about. After the presser, we headed back to the track to do the final prep work on the race car and our plan of attack for qualifying. The night, I drove to the airport and picked up my lovely wife, who flew in from Indy. On the way to the hotel, we had to stop and get an In-N-Out burger, and they were good like that.
That brings me to Thursday and our first qualifying run in a Top Fuel dragster. We had great exposure from ESPN and a lot of other media to see what this Matco Tools dragster would do. I thought our plan was good. We went out there and got down the race track and set the tone. We were the second pair out and ran 4.56 at 326 mph, which got us in there. It felt good to get down the track and get my jitters out of the way. It was my first side-by-side run with another competitor. We also got it slowed down right because Pomona is a short shut down. That helped to build my confidence.
Friday morning, it felt good to get back to the roots and participate in the Y.E.S. program and talk to the students about their futures and motivate them to chase their dreams. It’s good to make them stay positive and optimistic about their dreams. It was cool to do it with my teammate Hot Rod and Pro Stock driver Tom Hammonds, the former NBA star.
I knew when Lee got the data from the first run he was going to turn the screws and shoot for a No. 1 qualifying spot. Lo and behold when we went down the race track against Bob Vandergriff, the car launched hard and felt good. At 100-feet, I felt a little vibration and it drove through and the car shot down the track at 4.49 at 330 mph into the No. 1 qualifying position. It was pretty cool to see how that run held up with all the other awesome competitors. I had to sit back and close my eyes and make sure this was all real. It goes to show that all the hard work my team went through and the hours and times of planning that Lee put in was all worth it.
We got a little aggressive on Saturday’s first pass. Then we came to the fourth and final pass and we were still No. 1. It was Saturday night and it got cooler. This was the session to grab that No. 1 spot. Now we’re at the last pair and nobody ran quicker than our 4.495 E.T. The only person we had to worry about was the U.S. Army team. We raced them to the end and it was a good drag race. It was great for the fans. We ran a 4.52 to their 4.53. That concluded our great No. 1 qualifying effort. We went to the tower to speak to the press about our team’s No. 1 qualifier. As my usual self, I told jokes and had fun. I told the media about this Chesterfield, N.J., native’s dreams that were becoming a reality. It goes to show how strong our team is coming out with a new team, driver, and race car to qualify No. 1 at the first race. It’s an honor for me to be just a part of this Lee Beard-led race team. I have to give some credit to my girl Kelly McLear from Go Fast. I was drinking that Go Fast energy drink and we got the pole.
On Sunday, we went out there and raced Urs Erbacher, the European champion. We beat them in a great drag race with a 4.52 to a 4.57. Then we lost to Cory Mac in the second round. All and all, it was a good weekend for the Matco team. In drag racing, you cannot win every race. We’re looking forward to moving on to Phoenix and the goal there is to step up, qualify high in the field, and to win the drag race; taking it a round at a time.
We flew home Monday night on Southwest in business class in the front of the plane. I had my caviar peanuts in my big, plush seat. The service was bar none. I want to also say it was great to visit with Tim Buckley and his family at this race and I want to congratulate him on being a new grandfather. The Buckleys are great people.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to the doctor to schedule the birth of baby Brown which will be on March 8. It’s a C-Section the week before Gainesville. Then, I went to the dentist to have a little warranty work done on one of my fillings that came loose.
Now, we’re catching back up at the shop on racing business. Hey, check out my new website, www.antronbrown.com. My brother, Albert Brown, put it together and it came out superb. Let me know what you all think.
Before I leave, I would like to thank the fans for the incredible support they gave at out first race. We want to give the fans some love, peace and hair grease. I’m out!