MOHTON, Pa. (AP) Antron Brown remained perfect in the first three Countdown to the Championship events, winning the NHRA Keystone Nationals on Sunday.
Brown had a 3.717-second pass at 328.46 mph in his Top Fuel dragster to beat teammate Tony Schumacher.
With a 12-0 round record, Brown broke the Chase-opening mark of 12-0 set by Funny Car driver Robert Hight in 2009. Brown, the 2012 season champion, has six victories this season and 54th overall - 38 in Top Fuel and 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. He leads Schumacher by 94 points with three events left.
''You don't go into the Countdown believing you're going to win the first three races,'' Brown said. ''That's what you hope to do. Charlotte was tough, but this race was also tough because you go into eliminations without any runs down the racetrack. When we came out today, it was pretty much the first session of qualifying for us. Getting a good, clean run down the track helped us a lot and the track got about eight times better by the second lap.''
Jack Beckman won in Funny Car, Chris McGaha in Pro Stock, and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Beckman beat Chad Head in the quickest Funny Car final in history, driving to a 3.910 at 326.79 in his Dodge Charger R/T. Beckman, the 2012 season champion, had career-best seven victories this year and 22 overall. Beckman also broke the national record for elapsed time for the third time this year with a 3.897 in the semifinals, giving him a 20-point bonus. He trails points leader Del Worsham by 16 points.
McGaha picked up his third victory of the season in Pro Stock, powering his Chevy Camaro to a 6.492 at 213.64 against four-time season champion Greg Anderson. McGaha is third in the standings, 104 behind defending champion Erica Enders.
Hines picked up his third win of the season and second in the Countdown, running a 6.794 at 197.25 on a Harley-Davidson against Chip Ellis. Hines, the four-time and defending season champion, has 41 career victories. He extended his points lead over teammate Eddie Krawiec to 89 points.
