Antron Brown And Greg Anderson Maintain Leads; Top Funny Car Goes To Tim Wilkerson

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POMONA, Calif. -- Antron Brown needed only four competitive passes in a Top Fuel car to earn low qualifier honors in the season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals.

A 10-year veteran in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Brown has adapted well following his rare move from two wheels to four and the fastest accelerating machine in the world, as evidenced by his 4.49-second quarter-mile clocking at 330 mph.

In Funny Car, standalone driver Tim Wilkerson surprised all of the mega-teams by joining Brown on Auto Club Raceway's low qualifier podium. Wilkerson used the final qualifying session Saturday to post his 4.79 at 325 mph.

Greg Anderson maintained control of Pro Stock, but had to reset both ends of the track record to do so, running a 6.62 at 209 mph.

This marks the 12th time Brown will lead his class into Sunday's eliminations. His other 11 low qualifiers occurred aboard a Suzuki. Now, the Matco Tools pro will try to become the third driver in the last 11 years to win his first Top Fuel race in his inaugural event in the class. Darrell Russell accomplished the feat in 2001 and Gary Scelzi in 1997.

"The whole weekend is crazy and it's getting more and more insane,” Brown said. “We got back to the pits and this big crowd was there chanting my name. I was like, check this out, we got our own cheering section. It's just such a wild deal and to be No. 1 is just an awesome deal for the entire Matco team."

Larry Dixon made the most concerted run at Brown on Saturday, driving Don Prudhomme's dragster to the second spot with a run of 4.497 at 325.14 mph.

Class dominator Tony Schumacher was relegated to third when he failed to improve on his previously posted 4.513 at 331.53 mph. Fifth-place qualifier Hillary Will impressed with her top speed of 334.65 mph. The number matched the track record held by Schumacher and tied her for fifth on the all-time list.

FIA European champion Urs Erbacher drove his dragster to the 16th position with a laboring 4.859 at 296.11 mph. Erbacher will face Brown in Round 1.

Wilkerson is one of the last independent racers in the Funny Car class, but years of experience tuning his own hot rods and a new alliance with Prudhomme paid off for him, as the driver of the Chevrolet Impala SS notched his 11th low qualifier award Saturday. Wilkerson waited until the final session to run a 4.790 at 325.22 mph.

"We're obviously pretty happy with that run," Wilkerson said. "We left some on the table this morning and we knew we had some room to improve this afternoon, so we were ready with three tuning scenarios depending on whether we were in the show or not when we ran. When we knew we couldn’t get bumped out we went for the throat and it worked.

"This is partly the result of our new alliance with Prudhomme. I've been over to his shop numerous times working on their blower and clutch dynos and learned a lot. I've had a good relationship with [Prudhomme crew chief] Donnie Bender for a long time, so it's a good fit. Working with them increases my chances of running better everywhere we go instead of just sporadically. That and Dick Levi's support will take us a long way this year."

Jerry Toliver matched Wilkerson's E.T. but wound up second due to his slightly slower top speed of 320.51 mph in his Dodge Charger R/T. Melanie Troxel, a rookie in the category after racing Top Fuel dragsters for six seasons, ended up third with a 4.810 at 327.90 mph in her Dodge.

The largest applause of the day was reserved for returning 14-time champion John Force of nearby Yorba Linda. The sport's most prolific drag racer was outside the field entering Round 4, but managed to post a 4.823 at 321.58 mph in his Ford Mustang, which eventually placed him fifth overall. His daughter, Ashley, was next with a 4.828.

Anderson set a double track record in Saturday's first session, claiming the first low qualifier award of the season with his 6.629 at 209.39 mph in his Pontiac GXP. Anderson won this event in 2007.

"We thought that as the weekend went along and the track got better that we'd be able to improve and we did," Anderson said. "You always want it to go that way, but we all know that anything can happen. This time we did our job, although I'm still trying to figure out the right-hand lane because we can't do anything over there.

"Still, there are more positives than negatives. We're at Pomona and we're the No. 1 qualifier, so that's a pretty doggone good way to start the year. I can see already that it's going to take an exceptional effort to earn that championship trophy back because there are so many great cars in this class once again."

Defending series champion Jeg Coughlin, who won the last race held at Pomona in November, jumped to second with a 6.644 at 208.23 mph in his Chevrolet Cobalt. The man he bumped down a spot, Kurt Johnson, posted the exact same time and speed as Coughlin, but since Coughlin did it first, he received the higher ranking.

Rookie Matt Hartford successfully qualified for his first professional race in his fourth attempt, taking David Nickens' Dodge Stratus to the No. 12 spot.

Former Funny Car driver Johnny Gray earned the final spot in the field with a 6.718, becoming the first driver ever to have qualified for this event in a Funny Car and a Pro Stock car. His reward is a first-round date with three-time champion Anderson.

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Courtesy of NHRA