(Jeff Burk photo)

NHRA at St. Louis

Courtney Force makes history again

Results compiled by Kay Burk
Photos by Jeff Burk and Ron Lewis

A large St. Louis area crowd saw Courtney Force race to her second consecutive Funny Car victory in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs Sunday, Sept. 28, at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis in the third of six playoff races.

(Ron Lewis photo)

TOP FUEL

Antron Brown won his sixth NHRA Wally trophy of the year Sunday and his third straight in the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park, but more importantly he and his Matco Tools Top Fuel team climbed back into the Countdown to the Championship battle at the midway point of the six-race playoff.

After losing in the first round the past three races, including the first two in the Countdown, the Matco Tools team broke out with its category-best sixth Mello Yello Drag Racing Series title that allowed it to move from eighth to fourth in points in the six-race Countdown, and cut its deficit to Don Schumacher Racing teammate and points leader Tony Schumacher from 153 to 80.

"This was a big day for us," said Antron, the 2012 Top Fuel world champion. "We came to this race and knew our backs were against the wall. The last four races, we've been working hard but, no matter what we did, our car was just not cooperating with us. But we got it back. Now, our car, we're close, we're competitive and we pulled off this win today."