Brown leads DSR in Top Fuel class near Houston in Friday qualifying

HOUSTON (April 26, 2013) - Antron Brown and Jack Beckman led Don Schumacher Racing during the first two rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, near Houston.

It was the first time in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season that Don Schumacher Racing crew chiefs were faced with humid weather conditions.

Antron Brown

Photo by: NHRA

"We went out there tonight and the Matco Tools/U.S. Army car made a great run," Brown said. "Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler, so I still feel like we'll have some good conditions where we can step up and try and go for that number one spot. "I'm very happy. All of our guys - Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) and the Matco Tools crew - worked hard, and it's showing right now. This is a race that we want really bad. We're just going to go after it and give it all we got. It's time to dig deep." Spencer Massey sits seventh overnight in the Battery Extender powered by Schumacher dragster while seven-time champion Tony Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster is fourteenth after hazing the tires in the second session.

In Funny Car, Jack Beckman and crew chief Todd Smith were able to make two consistent runs on Friday, getting a good baseline early for Sunday's eliminations where the semifinal and final rounds will be aired live on ESPN2.

"To go out and get a good baseline run is fine but then to come back and make the necessary adjustments and have the car run exactly what we thought it would run is great," Beckman said.

"We could've taken a bigger swing at that and tried to run a No. 1 or No. 2 pass but I think we were really smart with being a little more conservative and saying let's get more data and see if it will go to the finish line again and it did. That gives us the ability to try a couple things tomorrow and even if it doesn't give us the desired results at least we know a direction."

Matt Hagan's Rocky Boots/Magneti Marelli Funny Car is currently qualified in the sixth position, Ron Capps' NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge is eleventh and Johnny Gray sits fourteenth for Pitch Energy.

Saturday's final round of qualifying will be aired live on ESPN2 beginning at 3 p.m. (ET).

Don Schumacher Racing