Race Weekend Central

Antron Brown, Ron Capps, Greg Anderson Win Rain-Delayed New England Nationals

Persistent rains washed out the NHRA New England Nationals from New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. yesterday, forcing postponement of the Mello Yello Series eliminations to Monday.

Everything went off without a hitch though on the makeup day, with Antron Brown, Ron Capps and Greg Anderson taking home the wins.

Brown faced off against Steve Torrence in the finals and took the holeshot victory with a pass of 3.769 seconds (314.61 mph) to Torrence’s faster but losing mark of 3.778 seconds (325.30 mph). It was his first victory at New England Dragway.

Brown had a solo pass in round one due to a short Top Fuel field, then beat teammates Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher en route to the finals. Brown was the No. 1 qualifier for the event as well.

“We had a couple of rounds today that went our way and it felt good to have that on our side and it felt good to be able to capitalize on that in the final round,” Brown said. “We had a really, really tough race against Steve Torrence and that Capco team.

“It feels really good to get on at this race up here in Epping. This is a race that we haven’t won and it feels good to bring that Wally home from New England. Especially being up here on the East Coast, only growing up about three and a half hours from here.”

Don Schumacher Racing also took home the trophy in Funny Car, the 52nd time the team has doubled up and won both Nitro classes, with fellow No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps defeating teammate Tommy Johnson, Jr. Capps ran a 3.923-second (325.61 mph) lap to beat Johnson’s 3.947 seconds (322.11 mph). Capps took on Dave Richards, Courtney Force and John Force in the earlier rounds.

“All the fans who showed up at New England Dragway by cutting work or cutting school today saw some great racing. There were so many side-by-side nail biters like our last run with Tommy,” Capps said. “It was a fun day. We got to knock out some big names in our sport.”

In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson continued the KB Racing run although for the first time this year teammate Jason Line was not in the finals. Anderson ran 6.598 seconds (210.44 mph) to beat Allen Johnson, only the third non-KB car to appear in a final this year. Johnson ran 6.679 seconds (208.71 mph) in a runner-up effort. Anderson also beat V. Gaines, Alex Laughlin and Line on his way to the matchup with Johnson.

About the author

A writer for Frontstretch since 2002, and editor since 2006, Toni heads up the NHRA coverage for the site. She’s responsible for post-race coverage in the weekly Pace Laps multi-series round-up along with the weekly Nitro Shots column featuring news and features from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. An award-winning former writer for the Presbyterian Church, Toni works in web design and freelances with writing in North Carolina.

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