BRADENTON, FL – After scoring the pole position aboard his AB Motorsports Matco Tools dragster at the second annual SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout on Friday evening, reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown was looking to keep the momentum rolling into race day. Brown drew his technical alliance teammate Shawn Reed as his first opponent for Saturday’s elimination rounds at Bradenton Motorsports Park via the event’s unique chip draw format.

On race day, Brown nabbed a slight starting line advantage versus Reed, but his machine started losing traction shortly after while his opponent made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance. While he would have preferred to bring home a race day trophy to go along with his No. 1 qualifier trophy, Brown is pleased overall with the team’s outing in Bradenton, which began with two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday before qualifying for the event started on Thursday.

“Testing went well, we learned a lot of different things over these last few days that are areas we can improve on and take with us into the year,” said Brown, who is gearing up for his fourth season as an NHRA team owner.

“Obviously, Q3 was not what we wanted with that tire blowing out on us but to recover from that and bounce back like we did for Q4 and drop low E.T. was really impressive,” Brown said, referring to his unofficial career-best E.T. of 3.644 seconds at 322.11 mph, which moved him to the top of the timing sheets to start race day. Continue reading →

BRADENTON, FL – Reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown powered to the No. 1 qualifying spot on Friday night at the SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout. Brown took his Matco Tools dragster to the Bradenton Motorsports Park finish line stripe in 3.644 seconds at 322.11 mph in the fourth and final session of qualifying for the eight-car field.

The run was an unofficial career-best E.T. for Brown, whose official NHRA career best stands at 3.655 seconds, and it was clocked in the team’s backup car. The four-time series champ suffered rear tire damage during the third qualifying pass, leading the team to switch to their spare car for the final session.

“It’s been a good weekend,” said Brown, who has spent much of his off-season at the Bradenton, Fla. facility keeping his driving skills sharp behind the wheel of a Pro Modified car. “We came back down here to Florida, did a lot of testing earlier in the week, and feel like we got ahead. It’s a bummer that we beat one car up, but we took our other car, which was actually last year’s championship car, and it showed out. Hats off to (crew chiefs) Brian Corradi, Brad Mason, and these Matco boys. They all stay resilient, dig deep, and keep working. Continue reading →

Reigning NHRA Top Fuel World Champ Extends Partnership with Matco Tools, Continuing One of the Longest Primary Partnerships in Motorsports

BROWNSBURG, IN – A month after securing his fourth NHRA world championship, Antron Brown and his AB Motorsports team continued speeding towards success, this time off the track, as Brown and tenured primary partner Matco Tools announced today an extension of their relationship, which spans more than 20 years.

Brown joined the Matco Tools Racing team in July 2003 when Don Schumacher Racing assumed ownership of the U.S. Army Pro Stock Motorcycle team of Brown and Angelle Sampey before the Mile-High Nationals near Denver. Less than five years later, Brown was named the driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster in the fall of 2007, after concluding a successful decade in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category that saw the New Jersey native win 16 races and claim 11 No. 1 qualifying awards.

Entering year 18 as the flagship driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster, Brown has amassed an imposing resume that features four NHRA Top Fuel world championships, 64 Top Fuel race wins, 39 Top Fuel No. 1 qualifiers, and 631 Top Fuel round wins. His 64 Top Fuel wins rank second in the category’s history and his 80 overall national event victories and 852 career round wins rank sixth all-time. Continue reading →

BROWNSBURG, IN – Good things happen to good people. Mark Oswald is proof of that. After making a career in the high-speed sport that dates to the 1970s, Oswald has said goodbye to life on the road criss-crossing America on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour. The veteran driver/tuner, who has served as Antron Brown’s co-crew chief since 2008, leaves the sport from the perfect perch, a champion.

Oswald, a native of Cincinnati, has compiled a resume that impresses even the most accomplished in auto racing. He made racing history in 1984 winning both the NHRA and IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) Funny Car championships. Dubbed the “Ice Man” for his always calm demeanor, Oswald owned the IHRA flopper circuit claiming five consecutive titles from 1983-87.

He added his name to the NHRA record books becoming the second driver to win races in both nitro categories, Top Fuel and Funny Car, following only racing icon Don “the Snake” Prudhomme. Oswald traded his steering wheel for a computer and crew chief tuning duties in the late 1990s to team up with another Buckeye native, Brian Corradi, forming one of the more lethal tuning duos in nitro racing. In 16 years helping call the shots on the Matco Tools dragster, Oswald guided Brown to 62 Top Fuel race wins and 36 No. 1 qualifying positions en route to four NHRA world championships (2012, ’15, ’16 and ’24). Continue reading →

BROWNSBURG, IN – Many eye a flight to a warm tropical destination to relax after a grueling ten-month racing season that culminated with the NHRA Finals in Southern California on Nov. 17, but not newly crowned four-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown. The 80-time NHRA winner will get plenty of Florida sun this offseason and find comforts behind the wheel of a Lexus RCF Procharger-powered Pro Mod as Brown will compete in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series of events at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

Brown, the second-winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history with 64 wins, will make his debut behind the wheel of the red Team Buginga Lexus SC Pro Mod, dubbed “Jerome,” at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, Dec. 6-8, at the popular central Florida track. He also will compete in the U.S. Street Nationals, Jan. 24-26, and the World Series of Pro Mod, Feb. 27-March 1, also in Bradenton.

“We’ve been friends with Manny and the Buginga family for some time now and have raced with them in the past, so when Manny called and said I want you to drive our red Lexus RCF Pro Mod, it was an easy decision for me,” Brown said. “It’s been a work in progress for some time and I really enjoy going to Bradenton during the off-season and doing some eighth-mile racing and now, with these three events in December, January, and early March, I’m super-excited. I feel like an NBA player who hoops at the Drew League in the summer. Continue reading →

Brown also scores 80th career win at In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals

POMONA, CA – Eight years after winning his third NHRA Top Fuel world championship, Antron Brown secured his fourth NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series title Sunday afternoon during eliminations at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. Brown eliminated two of the other four drivers in contention before winning his semifinal match to clinch the first world championship for AB Motorsports. He then went on to win the season finale at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, earning his 80th career Wally counting victories in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel.

Brown went into the weekend just 44 points behind point leader Justin Ashley and was one of several Top Fuel drivers who didn’t get to make a qualifying attempt on Friday due to rain. The third-year team owner threw down a 3.725 E.T. at 318.09 mph to slide into the No. 9 spot in the first full session on Saturday, then smoked the tires in the final session to wrap up qualifying in the No. 12 position.

Brown’s pressure-packed race day started in a bizarre way, as a small plane crashed into the Pomona pits just before Brown was set to face Ashley in a crucial first-round matchup. After a two-hour break in racing action, the two championship contenders returned to the starting line to battle it out. Brown left first by just .002 seconds and powered to a 3.696 E.T. at 331.53 mph to finish ahead of Ashley and his 3.704 E.T. Brown moved first again when he faced Shawn Langdon, who was just one point behind Brown going into the event. Both drivers quickly lost traction, but Brown recovered quicker and won with a 5.031-second pass. With the championship on the line in the semifinals, Brown threw down a 3.693 E.T. at 330.88 mph to defeat Brittany Force, clinching the title in the process. Continue reading →

BROWNSBURG, IN – Three-time NHRA world champion Antron Brown is so close to securing his fourth title, he can taste it. But the driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster has his work cut out for him as he sits in second place, only 44 points (approximately two rounds) behind the lead, held by Justin Ashley. Fellow former world champ Shawn Langdon is breathing down Brown’s neck with only one point separating the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, while the fourth and fifth place positions are held by another pair of Top Fuel titans, Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence who are tied at 2,390 points (-85 behind Ashley). Competition in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel category will come down to the wire at this weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, as these drivers battle it out at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Statisticians and super fans have been crunching the numbers since the conclusion of competition in Las Vegas less than two weeks ago, and as with anything in drag racing, there are a myriad of potential scenarios that could happen. All drivers will earn points-and-a-half at the NHRA Finals, with each round win worth 30 points this weekend. Qualifying and bonus points will also hold more weight, and an exemplary qualifying outing could provide the necessary boost for Brown to finish his weekend at the top of the leaderboard. As it stands now, Brown will need to go two rounds further than Ashley on race day. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Antron Brown’s effort to earn more points towards a fourth NHRA Top Fuel world championship at the NHRA Nevada Nationals hit a snag in the second round when he lost a close race to reigning world champion Doug Kalitta. Brown and the Matco Tools team kept themselves in the hunt, though, as he moved past the opening round that saw several other drivers drop out of contention Sunday morning at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the Matco Tools Toyota dragster will move on to the final race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship ranked second in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel standings.

Brown started qualifying in Las Vegas sitting second in points, just 44 points behind leader Justin Ashley. He hazed the tires in the first qualifying session, then threw down a flame-throwing 3.735-second pass at 321.65 mph in the second session to move up to No. 7. It was also the third-quickest pass of the round, giving Brown one bonus point. He matched that E.T. in the third session on Saturday, but slipped to ninth in the qualifying order. Finally, severe tire shake forced Brown to shut the car off early in the final qualifying session. He ended up No. 11 on the final order.

Brown paired up with motorsports icon Tony Stewart in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. The AB Motorsports driver and team owner moved first with a .053-second reaction time and ran a 3.724 E.T. at 330.39 mph to hold off Stewart’s 3.735 E.T. In the second round, Brown nearly repeated his first-round performance with a 3.728 E.T. at 330.72 mph, but Doug Kalitta beat him to the finish line with a 3.692 E.T. Continue reading →

ENNIS, TX – In a tense first-round battle between two NHRA Top Fuel championship contenders, three-time world champion Antron Brown lost a close match to fellow Toyota driver Justin Ashley Sunday afternoon at the Texas NHRA FallNationals. Brown in his Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ Toyota dragster laid down respectable numbers at both ends of the Texas Motorplex 1,000-foot racetrack, but Ashley was just a bit quicker to move on to the second round at the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Brown, who started the weekend as the points leader, slipped to second with two races left in the season.

Brown’s first qualifying attempt netted a 3.793-second pass at 320.19 mph to move into the middle of the 19-driver pack looking to qualify for the 16-car field. Crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald guided Brown and his Matco dragster to a 3.737 E.T. at 326.75 mph in the second session on Friday to move up four spots to No. 5 going into Saturday. Brown had problems late in the run in the third qualifying session on Saturday, and a similar run followed in the final session. Saturday’s warmer conditions challenged many of the other teams, though, and Brown maintained his No. 5 position for race day.  Continue reading →