| The wheels have been set in motion for the defending back-to-back Top Fuel event champion Antron Brown to make it a ‘three in a row’ at the Spring Las Vegas race. After powering the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster to a 3.772-second pass during Friday’s second qualifying session, Brown propelled himself to the top spot to close out the day. “I think everybody underestimated the track in Q1, but this track is top notch,” said Brown of the newly revamped Las Vegas track which boasts a four-wide dragstrip for the first time. “We were weak the first round, and actually I think all of the cars were weak because we didn’t think there’d be that much traction. We just came back up second round and got it back close to being a normal setup, and I tell you what, that Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota/Papa John’s car went right down the race track, just smooth, easy.” Brown is hoping to parlay his first provisional No. 1 qualifier of the year into his first win of 2018. The three-time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion is hoping history will repeat itself and the Matco Tools team, which currently sits in the No. 2 Mello Yello rankings, will change their race day luck at the event that has ended with a trip to the Winner’s Circle for the past two years. “The track looks really good, and we’re trying to stay in the top half of the field. That’s the game plan tomorrow. “Vegas has always been a breakout race for us, and we’re hoping that it is again this weekend. If we can hit our stride and get to where we need to be, we’ll start plucking off some round wins. And if you can get round wins, you know what happens after that, you get race wins.”
Q1: 5.082 E.T. at 147.49 MPH
Q2: 3.772 E.T. at 324.83 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session) Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 1 Bonus Points: Three | 
