Matco Tools Racing Update 8.28.14

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NEWS FROM MATCO TOOLS AND DON SCHUMACHER RACING

Brown goes for fourth U.S. Nationals title while Matco Tools team not giving up on leading regular season to be No. 1 into Countdown

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Aug. 26, 2014) - Antron Brown and his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster team want nothing more than to win this weekend's 60th annual U.S.

Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis.

Considering the track is within 2 miles of Don Schumacher Racing headquarters and he lives a few miles away in Pittsboro, Ind., the biggest event of the year will

enable Antron and his crew to have family and friends attend what for most will be their only NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event of the year.

But the popular driver and his championship team with crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald along with assistant Brad Mason won't be looking for a partyuntil Monday afternoon's championship round and a trip to the winner's circle.

"It's survival of the fittest," Antron said. "You know you can't make a mistake because everyone is bringing their best. Everything is so crucial and nobody is

guaranteed a spot at Indy; you have to qualify to race on Monday.

"There's a lot of strategy involved and you just have to make a lot of good runs. You have to be like a surgeon and it definitely takes a lot of precision over the

entire weekend. At Indy, everybody brings their 'A' game and brings all their best parts. That's what Indy brings out and that's what makes it special."

Antron will start racing Friday evening ranked second in the Top Fuel standings in the last regular season race of the season. He trails points leader Doug Kalittaby 92 points in a battle for the points lead heading to the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins in two weeks near Charlotte.

It's a longshot for him to overcome Kalitta, but the leader going into the Countdown will carry a 30-point lead over No. 2 when points are reset for championship

contenders but Antron and his Matco team haven't given up on the chase.

"We're all geared up, hyped up and feeling good about what is going on," Antron said. "The Top Fuel class is at an all-time high and a lot of people are on point.

It's ridiculous how strong everyone is. If you win you know it's something special and if it's Indy, it's even bigger."

Antron, who won the 2012 Top Fuel world championship and leads the category this year with five event titles, knows how it feels to win Indy. His only Top Fuel



title in the U.S. Nationals came in 2011, which was after he won the Pro Stock Motorcycle category in 2000 and 2004.

"What gets you excited is just the prestige of Indy. It's how deep of a field it always is, the history behind it and just the excitement surrounding the event.

"It's one of those deals where winning at Indy always sticks out. You know when it happened, how it happened, who you beat and what it took to get there.

Looking at things this year, we know what we have to do to succeed and we will have a good game plan heading into it. We're Countdown-minded right now and

we want to run the best we can every time."

An added bonus for the nitro teams is the third annual Traxxas Nitro Shootout that will pay the winning Top Fuel team a $100,000 bonus. The first seven drivers

who won Mello Yello titles this year earned Shootout spots with the eighth determined partially by a fan vote.

"With the Traxxas Shootout and then the race, it's just a big, historic weekend. You know whoever wins is 'the' team."

And Antron wants to show that his Matco Tools squad is "the" team.

Antron Brown, Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster Last event Brainerd (Aug. 17): Qualified No. 1; lost in semifinals to Morgan Lucas

A year ago at U.S. Nationals: Qualified No. 1; lost in first round to Morgan Lucas

Career at U.S. Nationals: Wins 3 (2011, 2004, 2000); Runner-ups 0; Poles 3 (2013, 2011, 2009)

Pts Events Titles Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ Win/Loss

2014 2nd 17 5 2 4 2 4 3 0 35-12

CAREER 303 46 40 62 84 68 37 3 511-254

Best Time, Speed: 3.701*/** sec. (10- 8-12, Reading, Pa.); 328.78 mph (10-8-12, Reading)

* Quickest ever/** NHRA record

NHRA MELLO YELLO STANDINGS

(Official after 17 of 24 events; DSR drivers in CAPS; * clinched spot in Countdown to the Championship)

TOP FUEL

driver (wins) points behind

1.* Doug Kalitta (2) 1,446 ------

2.* ANTRON BROWN (5) 1,354 -92

3.* Shawn Langdon (1) 1,204 -242

4.* TONY SCHUMACHER (2) 1,075 -3715.* Steve Torrence 971 -475





Brainerd DBRs of the Race

LEFT: The DBR team of Andy and Jane Kronholm of Lindstrom, Minn. with Antron Brown at Brainerd, Minn. on Aug. 16.

RIGHT: Scott and Carrie McWilliams with the Matco Tools dragster at Brainerd Int’l Raceway before race day on Aug. 17.

Antron Brown and Matco Tools to Continue ‘ Tools for the Cause’ Campaign to Drive Awareness and Resources for Susan G. Komen

Matco Tools to Launch #IDriveFor Awareness Program

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Aug. 25, 2014) – Antron Brown and Don Schumacher Racing’s Matco Tools Top Fuel team will again race for a cause more important than

NHRA Wally trophies this October, helping raise awareness and funds for Susan G. Komen ® during national breast cancer awareness month.



Building on the momentum of the Matco Tools ‘Tools for the Cause’ program that has raised more than $425,000 for Komen, funding breast cancer research and

lifesaving community programas, Matco will launch the ‘I Drive For’ and #IDriveFor social media campaign from Aug. 14-Sept. 15.

Brown’s Matco Tools dragster will again feature a special pink paint scheme at the Reading, Pa., and fall Las Vegas races during the month of October, but with a

unique twist. Those that have fought or are fighting breast cancer can share their stories on Matco Tools’ facebook (www.facebook.com/MatcoTools) and

Twitter (www.twitter.com/MatcoTools) pages and add the name of a loved one to ride along on Brown’s 320-mph dragster.

Brown will drive for his mother-in-law, Linda Matranga, a breast cancer survivor, as ‘I Drive For… Linda’ will adorn his f iresuit and side of his race car. Matco willaccept name submissions through Sept. 15, 2014.

“October is a very important month to our series because it’s right in the middle of our Countdown (to the Championship) playoffs, but October means even

more to our Matco Tools team here at DSR,” Brown said. “My wife’s mother is a breast cancer survivor and this disease has aff ected our family as it has many

other.

“I’m excited for the ‘I Drive For’ campaign to drive for Linda, and to drive for all those touched by this disease. I hope we receive thousands of names that will

ride on our pink Matco Tools dragster and we can continue to drive awareness for such a great cause.”

The Matco Tools for the Cause program is focused on raising money to aid in the fight against breast cancer. When Matco customers purchase limited editionpink tools, Matco donates 15 percent of the sale to Komen with a guaranteed minimum donation of $100,000.

“This is a partnership that everyone in our company is very proud of and has strongly supported from the very beginning,” Matco Tools President Tim Gilmore

said. “We have worked with Komen for nearly two years and being able to contribute to an organization that supports such a great cause means a lot to our

distributors, employees and to our customers.”

Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team first adorned the pink Komen colors during the month of October 2012 when he set the NHRA elapsed time national

record at 3.701-seconds at Maple Grove Raceway. The record lap helped vault Brown to the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel World championship. Last October, Brown put

his Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ dragster in the winner’s circle at the fall Las Vegas race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

http://www.facebook.com/MatcoTools



http://www.twitter.com/MatcoTools







The Matco Tools ‘ Tools for the Cause’ dragster in the winner’s circle at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last October.

-Tools for the Cause-

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Matco Tools Racing Update 8.28.14