Brown plays proud father on weekend off before switching roles to Matco Tools dragster pilot this week at Brainerd Raceway

Antron Brown plays many roles as the driver of the Matco Tools dragster but none are more cherished as a father to his daughter Arianna and sons Anson and Adler.

He smiled bigger than after a 330-mph run as a proud father this past Saturday night while watching his daughter, 10, participate in the American Coed Pageant in Indianapolis. 

Arianna, much like her father, exceled in interviews and stage presence en route to placing first runner-up in her category and third overall.

"I was her escort in the pageant," said the proud father. "She was all dressed up and looked so beautiful. I was just there watching her do her thing on stage.

"In her category there were about 13 girls and she was the youngest. It was funny to see her on the stage because she was so tiny and small but she held her own."

Brown will have his opportunity to own his stage this weekend as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series heads 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Brown and the Matco Tools team are the defending event winner at Brainerd International Raceway.

"It's always a good track to go to," Brown said. "I really enjoy going up to Brainerd. It's one of those racetracks that is refreshing. The weather is always right and it's going to be cool this weekend. 

"It's a place that has always been good to me, even dating back to when I was riding a Pro Stock Motorcycle," he said of winning four motorcycle titles there from 2000 to 2006. "That track is always tight. You're able to run hard and strong up there and that's what this Matco team is all about."

Brown also pointed out that Brainerd has something unique throughout the weekend, "The Zoo," a notorious campground site where NHRA fans gather. 

"The fans at 'The Zoo' are some of the best on the NHRA tour," he said. "They love their drag racing and it shows. Plus, 'The Zoo' helps take your mind off of all the pressures. It puts you in a comfortable state of mind."

Beckman stays busy prior to NHRA drag racing event at Brainerd, cautiously optimistic with revamped Valvoline NextGen Funny Car

It's that time of the season when even if Beckman's Goodyear tires aren't revolving, Beckman never stops moving.

Following NHRA's three-race "Western Swing," Beckman has been a busy man, juggling his time between family and sponsor responsibilities.

"It's been non-stop since the Swing," Beckman said. "After Seattle, I went to the world's largest, by sales volume, Harley-Davidson dealership to do an appearance for Valvoline signing autographs. 

"We were probably about 25 miles from Sturgis (S.D.) so after the signing I hopped on a Harley and went to Sturgis and did a lap there just to say that I've been there and crossed it off my bucket list now. I didn't want to be that close and not do it, so it was cool," he said of annual motorcycle rally.

Beckman is not the only one that hasn't stopped working since the last NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event two weeks ago in Seattle. His Valvoline NextGen team has been hard at work at the Don Schumacher Racing headquarters outside of Indianapolis.

"We've been running well on a consistent basis and we made a decision to front half our chassis," he said. "Typically we would like to take it out and test it one time and right after the Brainerd race we are going to have a two-day test session in Indianapolis. We just don't have the time with all the other teams in the shop to get the front half put on our car after Brainerd."

Beckman is looking forward to seeing how his Valvoline NextGen Funny Car performs at the upcoming event 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis. 

"I'm cautiously optimistic going into Brainerd," he said. "It basically just kind of sets everything back to zero runs on the car. There shouldn't be any sort of surprises on it though. 

"Our goal is to win a championship so we feel like doing it now and running this chassis throughout the rest of the year gives us the best chance to do that."

 

Beckman is also looking forward to the cooler weather that is forecasted for Brainerd.

"We're going to actually have a race where it's less than 100 degrees for all three days," he said. "It looks like it's going to be cool weather. It should be enjoyable for the fans and a reprieve for the crews and the drivers to not have it that hot."

Capps wants points lead for NAPA at Brainerd to let momentum continue to build for pending NHRA Countdown

When Ron Capps and Don Schumacher Racing's NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car team headed to Brainerd, Minn., a year ago it was not solidly qualified for the Countdown to the Championship.

Capps made it into the Countdown tied for fifth in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing points and settled for sixth in the final standings. His team never got on track toward the end of last season.

But when the NAPA AUTO PARTS team gets to Brainerd Raceway Friday afternoon it will have already clinched a spot in the Countdown as one of the top-10 teams that will contest for the Funny Car world championship over the last six events of the 23-race national tour.

But Capps and crew chief Rahn Tobler will not arrive at the track located about 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis without another lofty goal to shoot for, a goal that no one thought possible when Tobler and his crew joined Capps after this year's fourth event.

The NAPA AUTO PARTS team had failed to qualify for the event at Las Vegas. At the following race and first with Tobler, Capps advanced to final round of the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway after qualifying No. 2.

But points leader Robert Hight of John Force Racing won the Four-Wide title and left with a 246-point lead over Capps, who was seventh in points.

However, when qualifying begins at Brainerd, the NAPA AUTO PARTS team will be second only to Hight and only 31 points from passing Hight for the top spot in the standings.

If it doesn't happen this weekend, Capps will have the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend to overtake Hight. But Capps doesn't want to wait.

Moving to first, if only for a race, would mark a remarkable comeback. It also will provide a 30-point bonus for the points leader after Indy when points are reset to start the Countdown.

"That would be huge," Capps said of passing Hight. "Those 30 points are 10 more than we get for winning a round in eliminations."

Perhaps even more important to Capps, is what his team has accomplished whether it goes into the Countdown ranked No. 1 or No. 2.

"The most important part for the team is the momentum you have to have when the first of the six Countdown races starts, and I believe we have that now.

Capps was runner-up at Brainerd a year ago to DSR teammate Johnny Gray and in 2009. The last of his two titles at the track was in 2001.

"We've had good success there," Capps said. "A driver does well at certain tracks because of several factors including the mojo he gets from the fans. I've always done well there and enjoy it because I have family near there."

Capps' wife, Shelley, also is making the northeastern trek from their home in Southern California.

"Shelley's aunt lives about an hour east of the track near the Wisconsin border so a couple hours after we finish at the track on Sunday night we'll sitting on her aunt's dock at the lake."

It could be the last days of the season when momentum won't matter to Capps.

Round wins, consistency on Torrence’s Norwalk to-do list

A cautiously optimistic Steve Torrence said five months ago that he hoped his new Torrence Racing Top Fuel team would be able to run with the best teams in NHRA’s Full Throttle series and, perhaps, be in the top five when the last cars go down the track on November 11.

Eleven races into the 17-event regular season, the driver from Kilgore, Texas is one of the hottest on the circuit.  He has been to three final rounds in the last five races, winning at Atlanta and Englishtown, N.J.  His runner-up finish last Sunday at Joliet, Ill. put him a solid fourth in points going into the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, Friday through Sunday, in Norwalk, Ohio

“It’s always a good weekend when you make the final round,” said Torrence.  “The car was consistent and crew chief Richard Hogan and the guys were great.  But that race is over, now we are concentrating on Norwalk.

“We want to keep everything going the way it has been.  Richard has been doing a good job tuning the car in the hot weather . . . and we hope to take advantage of that.  It looks like it will be hot and humid again in Norwalk.”

Although he prefers to not look too far into the future, Torrence realizes that – barring any unexpected incidents – he will be one of the 10 drivers to qualify for the six-race Countdown to the Championship that begins Sept. 16.

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“We’re looking forward to that,” he commented,” but we want to see how well we can do in the next seven races (before the Countdown begins).  There are a lot of really good teams out there.”

He is one of only two-one car team drivers in the top 10 point standings.  Torrence has 775 points and Clay Millican is 10th with 490.

Torrence trails DSR teammates Tony Schumacher (879), Antron Brown (876) and Spencer Massey (868).

Beckman, crew chief Smith producing plenty of Funny Car noise as Schumacher Electric/Valvoline team move to third in points

Jack Beckman continues to climb up the NHRA Funny Car standings.

Beckman and crew chief Todd Smith speak the same language, although Smith does so at a much slower pace.

"I enjoy working with Todd. Just look at how our team has done since he took over with a crew and driver he had never worked with before. That says a lot for him as a person.

"It's obvious he's a very smart, talented man. Just look what we've been able to do on the track."

The duo produced the strongest performing Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing last weekend at Route 66 Raceway at Joliet, Ill.

The team, running a special Schumacher Electric Corp. paint scheme, advanced to the semifinals that enabled them to move up one spot to third in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series standings heading to this weekend's event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

The track just south of Lake Erie and Sandusky has been good to Beckman. He won the Funny Car title there in 2009.

Smith joined as his crew chief after the third event this season and has progressed steadily. Other than the team's victory three events later at Topeka, Kan., the team might have had its most impressive showing at Joliet.

After qualifying third, Beckman and Smith produced the second quickest run in the first round of eliminations and then the quickest in the second round. In the semifinal, Beckman was edged by eventual event titlist Jeff Arend.

Brown, Matco Tools Top Fuel team serve up the icing on cake to celebrate Don Schumacher's Hall selection

Antron Brown is all about family whether its wife Billie Jo and their three beautiful children, or his "boys" on the Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster team at Don Schumacher Racing. 

Brown, who has been blessed with a father and uncle who have served as lifelong role models, could consider Don Schumacher a godfather. 

And Brown provided a perfect end to a perfect day for Schumacher, who started the day by being surprised when he was told that he was selected to be a member in the 2013 class to be inducted into the prestigious International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala. 

The Matco team, led by crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi along with assistant crew chief Brad Mason, won the NHRA Route 66 Nationals title Sunday night about an hour from where Schumacher grew up and 10 hours after he learned of his pending induction.

"Starting out the day by being told that I was elected into the International Hall of Fame was overwhelming," Schumacher said. "That was a big surprise.

"And then to have Antron win Top Fuel capped off a perfect day for me. It's like I said after Bruce (Ramey of the Hall) told me I made it in that I am going in because of our drivers and all the great people I'm surrounded by at DSR.

"It's a day I'll remember and for it to happen near where I grew up and started to race is more than I could ever have imagined."

It is the 33rd NHRA pro title in 250 NHRA events for Brown and one he'll never forget. And not just because it's the second of the season for his Matco team and moved him to second in points and just three points behind DSR teammate Tony Schumacher.

"It was very special to be able to be there this morning when Don was told he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year," Brown said. "Don has given me everything I ever could have wanted as a professional racer.

"He makes sure we have all the best people and parts and the safest race cars he can build. We are a big family over at DSR. Just look what happened after we blew an engine in the semifinals. A lot of our teammates on the U.S. Army car came over to help. I have great crew chiefs and great crew guys on our Matco Tools team but those Army guys were a big, big help."

Brown moved from third to second in the standings, passing teammate Spencer Massey who lost in the second round. Tony Schumacher held onto the points lead despite losing in the first round with a violent engine explosion.

Only 11 points separates Schumacher from Massey as DSR continues to hold the top three spots.

Don Schumacher honored Funny Car pioneer, owner of current NHRA 'super team' voted into prestigious International Motorsports Hall

The Chicago area was the perfect location for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame to inform Don Schumacher that he has been selected for induction into the prestigious body's 2013 class.

Bruce Ramey, manager of Hall in Talladega, Ala., told a very surprised Schumacher and members of the Don Schumacher Racing team, family and sponsors on Sunday morning before the start of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals near Chicago, where he grew up.

"It was such a great honor when Bruce told me I had been nominated," an emotional Schumacher said. "This is overwhelming. Wow."

Ramey traveled to Joliet to personally tell Schumacher of the honor and that he will be the 12th member of the drag racing fraternity to be inducted into the Hall that includes the biggest names in all motorsports from throughout the world.

Schumacher could have remained on the ballot for five years but adding to the prestige, he was inducted on a first-ballot vote by an international panel of 120 motorsports journalists.

Schumacher, 67, grew up near Chicago. In the late 1960s he began drag racing and became a pioneer in the experimental Funny Car category. He worked out of a garaged behind his parent's house and won five NHRA national event titles while campaigning up to three Funny Cars on match-racing circuits throughout the country.

In NHRA as a driver, he won five NHRA events, including the prestigious 1970 NHRA U.S. Nationals. He won about 70 percent of 560 races from 1968 to 1974, nine International Hot Rod Association event titles and the 1973 American Hot Rod Association World Championship. In 2007, he was inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Today, he employs 120 at his 120,000-square-foot speed factory outside Indianapolis in Brownsburg, that includes shop space for 14 transporters - two for each team - and machine and fabrication shops, hospitality operation along with media, marketing, graphic design and merchandising departments.

DON SCHUMACHER: DRIVER/OWNER (1966-1974)
- 5 National Hot Rod Association national Funny Car event titles
- 9 International Hot Rod Association national Funny Car event titles
- Won about 390 of 560 Funny Car match races 
- 1970 NHRA U.S Nationals Funny Car champion 
- 1972 Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars Funny Car champion
- 1973 American Hot Rod Association Funny Car series champion
- 2007 Drag Racing Hall of Fame inductee

DON SCHUMACHER: NHRA TEAM OWNER (1998-present)
In Don's first full season as a team owner in 1999, he won the NHRA Top Fuel season championship with son Tony Schumacher driving.- 9 NHRA Season Championships
- 7 in Top Fuel Dragster: 1999, 2004-09 (all with driver Tony Schumacher)
- 2 in Nitro Funny Car: 2005 (Gary Scelzi), 2011 (Matt Hagan)
- 183 NHRA Event Titles