National Hot Rod Association

Since 2007, when NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoff format was introduced, all that really matters is how drivers perform in the Countdown, the final six races of the year.

Already staked to an almost insurmountable points lead in 2009, Brown then proceeded to sweep last year’s Western Swing – the back-to-back-to-back events in Denver, Seattle, and Sonoma, Calif. – and won six races overall. With this year's Swing set to get under way Friday, he enters the second half of the season in a completely different position.

He's winless on the year – not that he hasn't been successful. Brown has been to the final round four times (five, if you include the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, where he finished third in the four-way match and was credited with a semifinal finish), but has yet to score.

"It's taken some time to get settled, to work out all the brand-new stuff we brought out this year," Brown says. "We could have done it the easy way: We could have run the same car we used last year and probably won a couple of races by now. That car was right up in the top of the trailer; we could have pulled it out at any time. But that wouldn't have helped us if we hurt it. After I crashed in Phoenix [at the second race of the season], we didn't just go back to the old car; we brought out another brand-new one, and it's a good thing we did."

With it, Brown has advanced to the championship rounds at Gainesville, Houston, Englishtown and the most recent event, Norwalk. He also has numerous No. 1 qualifying spots and a 21-13 win loss record (.618) – just no event titles.

"It's great that we made it to the final four times in the first half of the season, but we're not happy, not by any means," Brown says. "We want to win. But you can't get down on yourself or call a runner-up a bad weekend because it's not. The other 15 other guys would love to be in that position, wouldn't they? The problem is, [Larry] Dixon has been stealing all the close races. We need some of those close ones to go our way, and sooner or later, they will."

In Norwalk last month, Dixon, driver of Alan Johnson's Toyota-supported Al-Anabi Racing dragster, overcame a final-round starting line advantage by Brown to win by two-thousandths of a second – literally one foot.

"We're focused on winning rounds, not just races," Brown says. "Everything we do is to gear up for that Countdown. Our goal is be in the top three when it starts."

Brown currently is fourth in the Full Throttle standings, 101 points (about five round-wins) behind third-place Cory McClenathan and 327 points behind leader Dixon, who has reigned atop the rankings for months.

Dixon, reigning NHRA champion Tony Schumacher, and early season leader Cory McClenathan have combined to win every race this year – seven for Dixon, four for Schumacher, and two for McClenathan. It's the first time in Top Fuel history that through the first 13 events of the season just three drivers have won a race. Brown is joined by veteran Doug Kalitta as a four-time runner-up in 2010, but if either starts winning when the Countdown begins with the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend, all will be forgotten.

"We peaked during the Western Swing last year," Brown says. "We started strong, ran well throughout the year, ran almost flawlessly in every round of eliminations during the Swing, then had a couple of bad races in the Countdown that cost us the championship.

“To be able to win on the Swing, you need a car that performs on hot tracks, and that's just what we had in Englishtown and Norwalk, and we got to the final both times. Sweeping the Swing again would be awesome, but it's not our priority. What did it get us last year? We went so many rounds that we ran out of good clutch discs by the time the Countdown started, and in the end, that really killed us."

This year, the order of events in the Western Swing has been changed, and Brown hopes his fortunes after the Countdown will change, too. Instead of Denver-Seattle-Sonoma, as it's been for years, Seattle is first, then Sonoma, then Denver.

"We're getting right where we need to be," Brown says. "That Al-Anabi team is the team to beat right now, obviously, but we're right there with them. We're starting to get into our zone again. The way I look at it, we're just flying under the radar. Nobody's watching us, and we want to sneak up on them, I think we'll be peaking at the perfect time: in the Countdown."