MADISON, IL – Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown entered this weekend’s Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway with the points lead for the first time since 2017. Powered by back-to-back victories to start the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship, Brown ran into a slight bump in the road to a fourth world title Sunday afternoon when he lost to eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher in the quarterfinals. A faulty sensor shut off his Matco ‘Tools for the Cause’ Toyota dragster before the finish line, stopping his Countdown win streak at nine rounds. Still, Brown maintained his points lead with three races left in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Brown’s AB Motorsports dragster kicked off the weekend with a new pink look, as St. Louis was the first race in Brown’s annual ‘Tools for the Cause’ campaign. The special livery raises awareness for Matco Tools’ initiative supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Throughout October, 15% of the sales from ‘Tools for the Cause’ items will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Matco Tools has donated more than $2 million to breast cancer research since the first ‘Tools for the Cause’ campaign in 2012. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – A week after starting the 2024 NHRA Countdown to the Championship with a win at Maple Grove Raceway, Antron Brown charged to another victory Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Carolina Nationals. Now the winningest Top Fuel driver at zMAX Dragway with seven victories, Brown also took over the points lead on his way to defeating Doug Foley in the final round. It was Brown’s fifth national event win of the season and the 79th of his career, counting Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel event titles. With four races left in the Countdown, Brown is chasing his fourth world championship and the first for AB Motorsports.

Brown was on the outside looking in after the first qualifying session on Friday, but he rebounded in the second session by recording a 3.752-second pass at 324.90 mph to move into the No. 10 spot. Brown charged hard off the starting line in Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, though he had to step off the throttle early due to traction issues. He held on to the No. 10 position going into race day.

In the last pair of Top Fuel’s first round of eliminations on Sunday, Brown matched up with four-time world champion and fellow Toyota driver Steve Torrence. It was the first time the two multi-time world champions met in the first round since 2021. Brown jumped off the starting line first with a sizable holeshot advantage, which he paired with a 3.829 E.T. at 325.30 mph to beat Torrence and his 3.817-second effort on a holeshot. He followed that up with an identical .054-second reaction time in the second round to leave ahead of Torrence’s father and teammate, Billy Torrence. Brown reached the finish line first with a 3.869 E.T. at 321.12 mph to take out Torrence and his 3.892 E.T. A third consecutive .054 reaction time and a 3.873 E.T. put Brown ahead of reigning world champion Doug Kalitta and his 3.876 E.T. in the semifinals. Continue reading →

Brown Scores First Top Fuel Win of 2024 Countdown to the Championship

READING, PA – Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown and his AB Motorsports operation left the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals with two trophies Sunday afternoon. Racing at Maple Grove Raceway, Brown drove his Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster to his fourth national event win of the season, while AB Motorsports Accelerate athlete Angelle Sampey earned her first Top Alcohol Dragster victory. Brown, who started the NHRA Countdown to the Championship fifth in points, moved up to second with just one point separating him from point leader Justin Ashley.

Brown, a New Jersey native who counts Reading as a home race, started qualifying with a traction-troubled pass in the first session and a clean 3.784 E.T. at 326.87 mph in the second session on Friday. On Saturday, Brown earned three bonus points when he fired off the quickest pass of the third session, a 3.770-second run, to move up to No. 11. He then moved up to the top half of the field in seventh with his 3.755 E.T. in the final session, collecting two more bonus points for the second-quickest pass of the session.

Brown’s march to the winner’s circle began with a first-round victory over rookie Jasmine Salinas, with Brown moving first and setting low E.T. of the round with his 3.723 E.T. Brown met former teammate Tony Schumacher in the second round, where the two drivers left the starting line together. Schumacher drove into tire smoke, while Brown made it through the challenging round with a 3.881-second effort. Brown and semifinal opponent Dan Mercier struggled to navigate the tricky track surface, but Brown’s holeshot advantage and expert pedaling helped him reach the finish line first to advance to his fourth final round of the season and the 139th of his career. Continue reading →

INDIANAPOLIS – Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driver Antron Brown rolled into Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Monday morning looking to make it a ‘threepeat’ at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals after scoring back-to-back Indianapolis wins in 2022 and ‘23. Brown qualified fourth for the final event of NHRA’s regular season but saw his chances for a fourth 2024 victory go up in smoke when he lost traction in the opening round of eliminations.

With 20 cars vying for a spot on the 16-car Indy Top Fuel elimination ladder, crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald came out of the gate swinging. The Matco Tools team unleashed a 3.759-second at 330.63 mph pass during Friday night’s opening qualifying session, which held up to be the second-quickest run of the round and earned the team three bonus points. Brown continued to impress during qualifying, clocking three more quick and consistent passes, including his best run of 3.723 seconds during Saturday’s first round. By the time the fields for the 70th running of the ‘Big Go’ were set, Brown had amassed a class-best total of 11 bonus points to place fourth on the eliminations ladder to start race day. Continue reading →

BRAINERD, MN – Antron Brown went into race day at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals hoping to repeat his double-up victory at Brainerd International Raceway last season. An unexpected bout of tire smoke in the opening round of eliminations prevented Brown from moving on to add the overall event victory to his Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge win from Saturday night. Still, the six-time Lucas Oil Nationals winner leaves Brainerd fifth in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series points standings with just one race left before the Countdown to the Championship begins.

Brown in his Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster returned to Brainerd as the defending event winner, who also earned his first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win at Brainerd last season. He posted a 3.768-second pass at 330.31 mph in the first qualifying session to sit fifth. Following the run, Brown got to add his name to the ‘Countdown Clinched’ board. Brown went up in smoke early in the second session, but he came back in the third session on Saturday and raced to a 3.814 E.T. to get past two-time world champion Brittany Force in the first round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Brown’s 3.842 E.T. in the second round wasn’t quick enough to improve on the qualifying order, but it was enough to defeat four-time world champion Steve Torrence to claim Brown’s second Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win of the season and the third of his career. Continue reading →

BRAINERD, MN – One year after doubling up at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Antron Brown in the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster raced to victory in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge Saturday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway. The race-within-a-race win came with three championship bonus points and a $10,000 prize, and it kept Brown in the running for another double-up victory as he chases a second consecutive Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Wally on Sunday.

Brown rolled into Brainerd with momentum from his win at the most recent race on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, the Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. His final-round win over Steve Torrence in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at Brainerd was further proof that Brown and the Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald-led AB Motorsports team are primed for a title run in the Countdown to the Championship, which begins in just two races.

“It’s always been a plan in motion to try to peak at the right time,” said Brown, who earned his first-ever Mission #Fast2Tasty Challenge win when he won at Brainerd last year. “Our car has been running exceptionally well. That’s just a tribute to our team. They’ve been working really hard at this. We’ve got a good combination. Continue reading →

SONOMA, CA – Aboard the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster, Antron Brown powered to the winner’s circle for the third time in 2024 when he defeated motorsports legend Tony Stewart in the final round of the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Brown clocked a winning 3.746 E.T. at 329.67 mph to claim his fifth Sonoma Raceway trophy and 77th overall on Sunday afternoon.

Brown’s weekend in wine country began with an impressive qualifying outing, which saw his Brian Corradi/Mark Oswald-led team go four-for-four with consistent full pulls. He opened the weekend with a solid 3.765-second pass to place him fourth leading into Friday night’s session under the Sonoma Raceway lights. He stepped up to a 3.688 E.T. in round two and improved upon that even further when he recorded a 3.685 E.T. at 336.40 mph during Saturday’s first session. Brown then closed out qualifying by taking his AB Motorsports Matco rail straight down the groove with the quickest pass of the session, a 3.719 at 333.66 mph, to earn three bonus points. Following four good runs, Brown settled into the No. 7 position on the Top Fuel ladder and brought that same consistency with him into Sunday’s elimination rounds.

The third-year team owner and driver started race day with a first-round matchup versus his technical alliance teammate Shawn Reed. Brown scored a slight starting line advantage and never trailed for the win, crossing the finish line in 3.728 seconds to advance while Reed lost traction early into the run. Round two found Brown squaring off with his Toyota teammate Steve Torrence, a battle that featured seven world titles between the two former champions. Continue reading →

KENT, WA – Coming off of his second win of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Antron Brown was excited to return to Pacific Raceways this weekend for the 35th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals, an event he’s won four times in the past. A fifth event win wasn’t in the cards for the talented Top Fuel pilot and team owner, however, as Brown made an uncharacteristic early exit in the first round of competition today at Pacific Raceways.

Brown’s qualifying efforts started off strong when the three-time world champion made an impressive pass of 3.843 seconds at 320.28 mph, the second-lowest elapsed time of the first session, to earn two bonus points. For the first time in Pacific Raceways history, fans got to experience a nighttime qualifying session at the iconic facility. Brown laid down a crowd-pleasing 3.746 at 329.42 to land his Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster in the No. 7 position.

Brown faced No. 8 qualifier Josh Hart in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. Hart got the starting line advantage and although it was a tight drag race all the way to the stripe, Hart managed to hold on to the lead and defeat Brown by only 13-thousandths of a second. Continue reading →

NORWALK, OH – Three-time NHRA world champion Antron Brown secured his 60th win in Top Fuel and 76th overall today at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals when he defeated reigning series champ Doug Kalitta in the final round. This is Brown’s second victory of the season and his second win at the iconic Summit Motorsports Park located just outside of Norwalk, Ohio.

The annual Ohio event is considered to be a homecoming race for Brown and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team. Matco’s corporate headquarters are located approximately 75 miles east of the track in Stow, Ohio, and Summit Racing Equipment’s headquarters is located in Tallmadge. Additionally, crew chief Brian Corradi is an Ohio native and the owner of the popular Master’s Pizza restaurant with multiple locations in the Cleveland area, while assistant crew chief Mark Oswald originally hails from Cincinnati.

“To come here to Summit Motorsports Park, this is one of my favorite tracks to race, we have so many Ohio connections on our team” said Brown. “The Bader family and NHRA, we are building new fans. I met so many kids this weekend who had never been to a race before and they were hooked. When you hear that, it shows you what our sport is, we are reaching out and gaining new, young fans. The Bader family knows how to do the outreach and get new fans out here. The crowd today was so special. This is like a hometown race for us. You just look at all of the people involved from this area. That’s part of what makes it so special to win here. It’s just a dream come true.” Continue reading →

NORTH DINWIDDIE, VA – A consistent Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster carried Antron Brown to a semifinal finish Sunday evening at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Brown and his AB Motorsports team battled hot conditions through three Saturday qualifying sessions and two rounds of Sunday eliminations before a rainstorm cooled off the Virginia track, allowing Brown to make one of the quickest passes of the event in his semifinal loss to Shawn Langdon. Brown, who has one national event win and two specialty race wins in the first nine races of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, moved up one spot to fifth in the Top Fuel championship points standings.

Brown raced to the provisional No. 1 spot in the opening qualifying session when he was the only driver to dip into the 3-second zone with his 3.903-second pass at 318.62 mph. Brown collected three bonus points in the process. He lost traction in the second session, but still held on to the No. 1 spot. A consistent 3.908 E.T. followed in the final session to put Brown in the No. 5 spot on the final qualifying order. Continue reading →