Antron Brown became just the seventh driver in NHRA history to complete a sweep of the tour’s “Western Swing,” which includes Seattle and Denver, by taking the Top Fuel championship in the 22nd annual FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.
Brown, in just his second season in Top Fuel after a successful Pro Stock Motorcycle career, edged Cory McClenathan in a highly competitive final, 3.990 seconds (299.06 mph) to 4.002 (290.82).
McClenathan took Top Fuel in Sonoma in 1997, the year he won the Western Swing. The other five to win the Western Swing are Joe Amato (Top Fuel 1991), John Force (Funny Car 1994), Larry Dixon (Top Fuel 2003), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock 2004) and Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel 2008).
“It’s great to be a part of history,” Brown said. “I never dreamed (of having this much success). It’s unbelievable.” It was his fifth win of the season for the Top Fuel points leader, who also won his 12th consecutive final-round match. He’s reached eight finals this season and now holds a 199-point lead over defending series champion Schumacher (1,283 to 1,084).
“I know now that we have a bulls-eye on our back, but so be it,” Brown said. “This is a great position to be in.”
Other champions crowned on Sunday were Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycles).
Wilkerson won for the second straight competition, edging Tony Pedregon 4.249 (284.45) to 4.322 (259.81). It was the 13th career win for the 48-year-old from Springfield, Ill., and his second win at Infineon (the other was 2004). He beat Pedregon in the finals in Seattle last week.
Wilkerson said prevailed despite having a “fatigued car,” one with 75 runs on it this season. “We can live with it, that’s for sure,” he said. “It was a great win, we’re running well and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Line edged teammate Greg Anderson to win the Pro Stock championship with a holeshot victory 6.639 (208.33) to 6.632 (208.71). Anderson was after his first win of the season and fourth at this track. Line won for the fourth time this season and 19th time in his career, including a championship at Infineon in 2006.
It was the 12th time the teammates met in the finals, with Line winning for just the fourth time. Line chalked it up to “Birthday Karma” after turning 40 on Friday. “It’s always great facing Greg in the finals, but it’s usually bad news for me,” he said. “I was confident today. I felt the way the car was running it was kind of my time.”
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines won for the second time this year with a slim victory over teammate Ed Krawiec 6.972 (189.82) to 7.014 (187.23). It was the 17th career win for the 26-year-old from Brownsburg, Ind., and second at Infineon, winning in 2005. Hines was also runner-up here in 2008 and 2003.
Krawiec leads the season points over Hines, 837-767. It was the third straight race the teammates met in the finals, with Hines winning in Norwalk and Krawiec prevailing in Denver.
“Facing off in the finals three (competitions) against Eddie is not something I could really dreamed of,” Hines said. “We’re really starting to shine. We’re doing our jobs and riding the wheels off these Harley-Davidsons.”
