Brown, Hagan, Skillman, Krawiec Win in Texas

Antron Brown

Antron Brown furthered his points lead in Top Fuel on Sunday by racing to victory at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners in their respective categories at the 22nd event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals is the fourth race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Brown, the No. 1 qualifier, sprinted to a 3.744-second pass at 321.12 mph to defeat Steve Torrence's 3.750 at 323.12. This is Brown's 61st career win, seventh of the season and third at the Texas Motorplex. He extended his lead over second-place Doug Kalitta by 150 points with the win. Brown outlasted Chris Karamesines, Kalitta and J.R. Todd in the earlier rounds.

"We had a great drag race out there," said two-time and reigning world champion Brown. "It could've went either way. We were both close on the tree, but we snuck one out there. Nobody is blowing people out anymore. The only way you win is by inches. To win that final was monumental for our team. We needed to do that. We're still not done working yet."

Matt Hagan

Hagan pushed his Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T to a 3.913 at 327.03 to beat points-leader Ron Capps' 3.906 at 322.19 on a holeshot in the Funny Car final round.

Hagan, who won at Dallas in 2010, claimed his fourth victory of the year and 22nd of his career. The Virginia cattle rancher moved to third in points, trailing Capps by 88 and second-place Tommy Johnson Jr. by 24. He defeated John Bojec, Houston winner Courtney Force and No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in the earlier rounds.

"That was a huge round," said Hagan, a two-time world champion. "It's just unfortunate that we're facing [Ron Capps] so late in rounds. In Reading I had him in the semi's and he spanked me on the tree, and this time I was able to get a little payback. I actually try to minimize everything out of my control and just focus on leaving on time, keeping it in the groove, and turning on the win light, and let the rest take care of itself. We can't worry about who might mess up or how many rounds someone might go; we just need to do the best job we can and turn on as many win lights as we can."

Drew Skillman

In Pro Stock, Skillman notched a 6.661 at 209.36 to knock off Alex Laughlin's 6.708 at 208.30 in the final. Skillman, who won earlier this year in Brainerd, Minn., tallied his third career win with the performance. This was his first final round appearance and win at Dallas. The 2015 Rookie of the Year award winner moved to sixth in points. He eliminated Chris McGaha, points leader Jason Line and Shane Gray in the earlier rounds.

"We have struggled so badly with this race car," said Skillman. "We were lost, and going into the Countdown that's the worst time of the year to be lost. We had some luck on our side this weekend. I drove decent, and the car at least went. We're going the right direction, I think. We need to test again. We're going to get back out there. We're going to hit these last two races hard, so that's where we're going to go."

Krawiec rode to a 6.880 at 196.36 in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round to cross the finish line before Jerry Savoie, who posted a 6.856 at 196.76. Krawiec claimed his fifth win of the season, 36th of his career and second at the Texas Motorplex. Krawiec beat Karen Stoffer, Hector Arana and LE Tonglet to appear in his seventh final round of the season.

"Anytime you've got to race [Savoie], you've got to be focused," said Krawiec, who now has a 17-point lead over teammate Andrew Hines. "As a matter of fact, you have to be focused for just about anybody out there. When you look at this category as a whole right now, it's some of the best racing that there could be. You see LE (Tonglet) came up from nowhere and took Andrew out, then I've got to run him, and we run almost neck and neck with each other. You have to be on your game every single round here, no matter who you're racing and who's in that other lane."

The NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship continues at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 27-30, with the NHRA Toyota Nationals.

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