Press Release from NHRA:

Antron Brown and the Don Schumacher-owned Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel team will sport a new look for the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway March 25-28. The 24-time NHRA winner’s dragster will fly the colors of Valvoline during the first four-lane NHRA race at the Bruton Smith-owned facility.

The team’s customary blue and red 2010 Matco Tools paint scheme will return for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, site of Brown’s first Top Fuel win, in 2008. Brown’s Matco Tools/U.S. Army team will shed its 2010 paint scheme four times this season beginning with the spring Charlotte race. Valvoline is an official DSR sponsor and backs the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Funny Car of “Fast Jack” Beckman and the Valvoline Suzuki of Craig Treble.

“We at DSR are proud to showcase Valvoline on all the cars we race,” said Schumacher. “We have had a long relationship with this iconic brand that provides high-quality performance-enhancing products. Featuring Valvoline on the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown at the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is just one way of showing our loyalty to them for their continuing support.”

Brown, the only driver in NHRA history to win races and lead the standings in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, ranks fifth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings following three of 23 races on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule. The Matco Tools flagship driver earned his 22nd No. 1 qualifying award and 11th in Top Fuel at the last race, the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, and advanced to his 49th final round, where he fell to DSR and U.S. Army Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. Brown also raced to a career-best 1,000-foot speed (321.04 mph) in Gainesville.

“It’s great to represent Valvoline at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals, along with Matco Tools and the U.S. Army,” Brown said. “It’s cool to see Valvoline in the primary sponsorship location for such an exciting race. This is a really big deal for NHRA Drag Racing, and Valvoline is a product that is not only the choice of top mechanics, but it’s the choice of Antron Brown. I run Valvoline in my personal Toyota Sequoia, and we couldn’t put a better product in our 7,000-horsepower nitro motors than Valvoline oil.”