MADISON, Ill. (AP) Antron Brown raced to second straight Top Fuel victory and fourth in a row at Gateway Motorsports Park on Sunday in the NHRA Midwest Nationals.
Brown beat Dave Connolly in the final for his sixth victory of the season, 53rd overall and fifth in the event, finishing in 3.721 seconds at 325.92 mph.
''There are two words - truly blessed,'' Brown said. ''When Curt Francois and Chris Blair brought this track back (in 2011), they brought it back better than ever. You can put a slew of runs together that are quick and fast, because you're not worried about the track not being there. The class is so competitive right now that you're going home if you throw out a high-.70.''
Brown won the Countdown opener last week in North Carolina and has a 77-point lead over teammate Tony Schumacher with four events left.
''We have to keep marching right now,'' Brown said. ''We had a 200-point lead in 2012 and almost lost the championship at the end. We're off to an incredible start.''
Del Worsham won in Funny Car, Drew Skillman in Pro Stock, and Hector Arana Jr. in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Worsham outran Matt Hagan for his second consecutive victory in the playoffs, finishing in 3.964 at 320.13 in a Toyota Camry. Worsham also earned a 20-point bonus during the event when he set a national elapsed time record of 3.899 seconds during qualifying.
Skillman raced to his first career victory, beating teammate Erica Enders in the final. Skillman powered to a 6.529 at 211.63 in a Chevrolet Camaro.
Arana Jr. raced to his second Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season, beating father Hector Arana in the final with a 6.860 at 196.50 on a Buell.
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