Goodyear, NHRA at Englishtown

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Brown wins at Englishtown, collects 50th NHRA professional victory

 ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 7, 2015) – Antron Brown collected his 50th NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victory when he won in Top Fuel at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Brown is just the 10th racer to collect 50 wins in the NHRA professional categories. He was one of four drivers to race to victory on Goodyear tires at Englishtown. The others included Matt Hagan (in Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) in the Mello Yello Series for professional teams and Arnie Martel (Competition Eliminator) in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series for sportsman teams. “You couldn’t write a better script,” Brown said. He added, “I grew up at this track.” Brown’s victory was his first in Top Fuel at Englishtown, which he considers his home track. He had four generations of family members on hand Sunday. “I tried to put everything this race means to the side,” Brown said of his pre-race mindset. Brown’s win was his third this season and put him on top of the championship standings with 751 points. Tony Schumacher is next with 633. Brown beat Brittany Force in the final round at Englishtown. Hagan’s win was his third of the season and his second at this track. He beat John Force, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Ron Capps before he defeated Alexis DeJoria in the final round. “It gets tougher and tougher every weekend,” Hagan said. “When you go out and run a 3.99 (seconds at 1,000 feet) and you’re fourth (in qualifying), that’s tough.” Hagan leads the Funny Car standings with 692 points. Capps is second with 653. Anderson’s win was his sixth at the track and his second win of 2015, but it was his first win here since 2012. He beat Allen Johnson in the final round.  “It’s been a while,” Anderson said. “I didn’t even remember where the Media Center is, to be honest.”

 The victory also gave Anderson, a four-time Pro Stock champ, the points lead for the first time since 2012. “It’s joy, it’s a relief,” Anderson admitted. “Every win I get feels like the first one.”  Anderson leads all NHRA professional drivers with 781 points. Defending champion Erica Enders-Stevens is next in Pro Stock with 759.  Martel’s victory was his 16th in national event races.  Goodyear employs about 69,000 people at manufacturing plants and facilities in 22 nations. Based in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear is among the largest tiremakers in the world and is the worldwide leader in race tire innovation.