GAINESVILLE, FL – An incredible two-ten thousandths of a second margin of victory sent Antron Brown into the second round of eliminations at the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series season-opening NHRA Gatornationals Sunday morning at Gainesville Raceway. Tire smoke in the second round ended the weekend earlier than planned, but Brown is excited about the direction his Matco Tools Top Fuel team is heading as he begins his sophomore season as a team owner.

Brown, who finished the 2022 season ranked No. 2 in the Top Fuel points standings, qualified in the top half of the 16-car field, ending up No. 6 with a 3.734-second best after three sessions in rain-shortened qualifying. His qualifying results also included a 3.753-second pass, the fourth-quickest run during Saturday’s first session.

Along with qualifying in his 330-mph Top Fuel dragster, Brown also took time on Saturday to help Toyota unveil the new Toyota GR Supra Jr. Roadster. Designed in a collaborative effort between TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Half Scale, the GR Supra Jr. Roadster will soon be available to the sport’s rising young stars in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League.

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Gainesville, FL – 2023 marks Brown’s sophomore season as an NHRA team ownerAB Motorsports finished 2022 ranked second in the standings at the conclusion of its rookie season. The No. 2 ranking solidified Brown’s 25th consecutive Top 10 finish.

Antron made his NHRA debut at the 1998 Gainesville event while competing in Pro Stock Motorcycle. On Thursday leading into the race weekend, Brown and his new AB Motorsports partner, Fire Department Coffee, will visit a local Gainesville fire station to meet with the firefighters and deliver a donation of Fire Department Coffee. Sadly, there has been a recent spike in firefighter suicides in the Alachua and Marion counties of Florida.

For fans looking to support the initiative, funds raised from Fire Department Coffee’s new Charity of the Month Shirt Club will help cover the costs for firefighters in the Gainesville community needing rehab or other support services to help them overcome substance abuse.

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INDIANAPOLIS – Factory Motor Parts (FMP) and its FVP brand of automotive products, which has been the “Preferred Battery of NHRA” since 2019, is excited to join AB Motorsports and three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, it was announced today during the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show.

FMP will feature its FVP brand prominently on the sides of the AB Motorsports Matco Tools dragster and anticipates strong participation in the team’s pitside hospitality experience, with more than 1,300 guests invited to join FMP trackside during the 21-race NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

“We’ve had a great experience working with the NHRA and their team and we’re very proud to join Antron’s team as we continue to invest in the sport of drag racing and grow the FVP brand,” Clay Johnson, Senior VP of Sales for FMP said. “Antron’s values and vision align effortlessly with our brand.”

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BROWNSBURG, IN – With more than 70 wins to his resume, three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown knows the importance of starting race day with the proper fuel in his belly and the right nutrition to power to the winner’s circle. The fan-favorite racer has partnered with Sturdiwheat, the Red Wing, Minn.-based maker of all-natural dry baking mixes, and its Bottomless Breakfast program, it was announced today.

“The Bottomless Breakfast pancake promotion is perfect for NHRA Drag Racing and is an awesome Christmas gift for any racer or regular traveler,” Brown said. “NHRA is a family sport and so many racers, families, and fans stay at the track in their motorhomes and campers, and what better way to start your morning than with the best pancakes on the market, Sturdiwheat.”

The Bottomless Breakfast program consists of four annual shipments. The first includes a mobile griddle, four two-pound Sturdiwheat pancake mixes, two 16-ounce syrup bottles, and accessories. The final three batches also include pancake mix, syrup, and additional surprises to easily complete your family hotcake brunch at home or on the go.

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POMONA, CA – Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown went into race day Sunday at the NHRA Finals as a longshot for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series championship, but that didn’t stop Brown and the Matco Tools team from finishing off AB Motorsports’ first season with an exclamation mark. The veteran driver and rookie team owner raced to a runner-up finish, taking runner-up in the championship points standings as well.

Starting the weekend fourth in points, Brown qualified No. 7 with a 3.696-second pass down the historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, setting up a first-round matchup with technical alliance teammate and championship contender Justin Ashley. Brown powered past Ashley with a 3.704-second pass before winning the second round over Ron August Jr. The starting-line-savvy driver then used a holeshot advantage and a 3.725 E.T. to eliminate Josh Hart, moving up to second in points in the process. Brown and co-crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald stepped up for the final round with their quickest pass of the day, but their 3.701 E.T. at 320.74-mph wasn’t enough to hold off Austin Prock and his 3.641-second pass.

Brown, who was also the runner-up at the 2021 NHRA Finals, started the 2022 season as a first-year team owner with his AB Motorsports operation. The newly formed team didn’t hit their stride until late in the NHRA regular season, picking up their first win of the year in Topeka, Kans., before winning again two races later at the prestigious U.S. Nationals to enter the NHRA Countdown to the Championship sixth in points. A third win followed at the Carolina Nationals near Charlotte, with Sunday’s runner-up finish marking the team’s fourth final-round appearance of the season.

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Pomona, CA – While it would be a bit of a longshot, first-year NHRA team owner Antron Brown enters the NHRA Finals still in contention to make a run for the 2022 Camping World Series Top Fuel title. The three-time Top Fuel world champion begins the weekend 78 points – or three round wins – behind No. 1 ranked Brittany Force.

No. 4-ranked Brown is seeking his best season-ending points finish since he won his third world championship in 2016. Since that time, Brown’s best finish has been fourth place (2017)Currently, Brown sits 12 points behind No. 3 Mike Salinas, and 71 points behind his technical alliance teammate, No. 2-ranked Justin Ashley.

At the 2021 NHRA Finals, Brown raced to a runner-up finish after defeating Ashley in the first round.  The owner/driver of AB Motorsports has collected three race wins and four semifinal finishes in his rookie season as a team owner.

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LAS VEGAS – Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown left The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a little earlier than planned after a second-round loss Sunday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals. Still, the first-year team owner remains hopeful in his fight for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series world championship. He sits 78 points behind leader Brittany Force going into the final race of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

The AB Motorsports owner and driver, who’s raced to victory at three of the last seven races (Topeka, Kan., Indianapolis, Charlotte), entered the Nevada Nationals third in points. He was 84 points behind former point leader Justin Ashley and two points behind Brittany Force in second.

Brown, co-crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, and the Matco Tools team made three solid passes in qualifying, the best of which was a 3.710-second pass at 330.47-mph in the fourth session to qualify ninth.

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Las Vegas  – Brown will continue his bid for a fourth NHRA Top Fuel championship title, and first as a team owner, when the NHRA Camping World Series season resumes this weekend for the second-to-last race of the year. The AB Motorsports team begins the weekend ranked third in the standings with an 84-point margin separating Brown from his technical alliance teammate and No. 1 ranked Justin Ashley.

Brown has enjoyed a late-season surge, which has seen him race to victory at three of the last seven events (Topeka, Kan., Indianapolis, Charlotte), and advance to the semifinals at the series’ most recent event near Dallas. For the final time this year, Brown will campaign the bright pink ‘Tools for the Cause’ livery. This October paint scheme helps to support Matco’s ‘Tools for the Cause’ initiative with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF): Throughout October, 15% of the sales from select TFC items sold will be donated directly to BCRF. Since ‘Tools for the Cause’ began in 2012, Matco has donated over two million dollars to breast cancer research.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to achieving prevention and a cure for breast cancer. They provide critical funding for cancer research worldwide to fuel advances in tumor biology, genetics, prevention, treatment, metastasis, and survivorship.

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ENNIS, TX – Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown came up just eight-thousandths of a second short from reaching his second final round of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship Sunday night at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex. Brown in his bright pink Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ dragster lost a side-by-side race to Austin Prock in the semifinals at the fourth race of the playoffs. Another late-round finish combined with early exits by other championship contenders allowed Brown to move up from fifth to third in points.

Brown made four sub-3.70-second passes throughout the weekend, including his 3.693 E.T. at 331.93-mph in the second qualifying session that put the AB Motorsports owner and driver in the No. 4 spot going into Sunday’s rain-delayed eliminations.

Brown kicked off eliminations with a 3.684 E.T. at 330.54-mph to eliminate former teammate Tony Schumacher and his 3.715-second effort. Later in the round, Mike Salinas and Steve Torrence lost, allowing Brown to pass Salinas and close in on Torrence. A 3.699-second pass followed in the second round, which knocked out Texas native Spencer Massey and his 3.879 while allowing Brown to pass Torrence in the process.

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MADISON, IL – Antron Brown’s pursuit of a second consecutive event win ended in a first-round pedalfest on Sunday during the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis. Despite the early exit, Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team remain solidly in championship contention. While Brown and the AB Motorsports squad have fallen to fifth on the Top Fuel leaderboard from their previously held second place ranking, the competition is tightly packed, and only 29 points – or less than two round wins – separate the No. 2 through No. 5 ranked drivers.

Before qualifying started on Friday, Brown debuted a new bright pink Matco “Tools for the Cause” livery, which he will continue to run throughout October in conjunction with Matco Tools’ fundraising partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The Top Fuel field was one of the quickest of the season, with Brown’s best E.T. of 3.707 seconds at 331.85-mph ranking No. 9 after three qualifying sessions. That set up a first-round meeting with No. 8 qualifier Clay Millican, who posted a 3.703 in qualifying.

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