Antron Brown said last June when he won the Top Fuel trophy at his home dragstrip at Englishtown, N.J., that he wants to make history, wants to make more drag-racing history.

He’s on the verge this weekend at Baytown, Texas, of achieving another milestone.

The Matco Tools /Toyota Dragster driver qualified fifth for the NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway. And when he meets No. 12 JR Todd in the opening round of eliminations Sunday, he’ll be going for his 100th career final-round appearance.

If he meets his goal, he will join Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Pro Stock champions Greg Anderson and Jeg Coughlin as the only active Mello Yello Drag Racing Series drivers to accomplish that.

Brown has ridden a Pro Stock Motorcycle to 32 showdowns. But since 2008, when he redefined himself as a dragster driver, he has earned more than twice as many Top Fuel trips to the final round. He has run for the Wally 67 times in a dragster – with four different team owners.

Propelling him closer to the “100” plateau are back-to-back final rounds at the last two races, where he won at Las Vegas and earned a runner-up finish at Charlotte.

He knows past history guarantees nothing, but it’s fun to note that Brown has reached the finals in Houston in every "even" year since entering the Top Fuel class in 2008 - winning in 2008 and 2014 and reaching the finals in 2010 and 2012.

"We will try to keep that streak alive of going to the final in even numbered years," Brown said. "We're going to go there with our heads down and do what we always do. And that's take it one step at the time. We're just going to try to be efficient, keep doing what we're doing, and be there at the end of race day.

"The key thing is we’re always learning things every time out and we’re always making progress. The Top Fuel class is really challenging right now. Praise to our whole team. We were very versatile in adjusting and able to adapt and get the best out of the car,” he said.

Ultimately, Brown said, “I’m a racer at heart. I’m a competitor at heart. Whatever I do, my biggest deal is I want to win. I’m not the type of person or have the personality or attitude that ‘Oh, I’m just happy to be out here racing.’ ”

What’s remarkable is that Brown, though strongly identified with Don Schumacher Racing (for which he competed on a bike years ago, too), has achieved 99 final rounds with four different team owners – including three in one season.

He began in 2008 with David Powers, then Tim Buckley took over the team. Mike Ashley was his boss for a while, before Don Schumacher brought him into his organization in 2009.

Mark Oswald, who with Brian Corradi has been his co-crew chief for many years, said Brown “is the best there is out there, we feel. What Antron is, in my mind, is somebody who had the natural ability and honed that and made it better. There are some natural drivers out here who are lazy, just status quo. And there are some drivers who work very hard but they weren’t naturally good. I think [Antron] had natural talent. And you see how athletic he is and keeps himself in shape. He eats right and keeps his mind sharp. He’s just honed his skills.”

Oswald said some days Brown saves the team and deserves the credit for the victory, while other weekends it’s the other way around.

“We do it all together,” Brown said.

And the 55-time winner said he had great resources from the beginning of his Top Fuel venture.

He said he inherited a proven car at David Powers Racing and a proven crew chief in Lee Beard. And that got his career in a dragster off to a successful start.

“That car was running good at the end of the previous year with David Baca driving. He went to two finals in a row. The car was already running good when I got there,” Brown said. “We had a really good group of guys. Then at the end of that year, when Brian [Corradi] and Mark [Oswald] came in and Mike Ashley came in, we made the team even better. We had an all-star team. It was truly an all-star team.”

That’s how he describes his current team, for many of those same crew members are still with him, including Brad Mason and Wayne “Red” Waite.

It’s a blessing that each member of the Matco Tools / Toyota team can rely on the predictability of their hard-working mates, because no one has been able to rely on the Houston weather forecasts this weekend.         

Few thought the two Friday qualifying sessions would run because of the dismal extended forecasts. But they did, with Brown grabbing the tentative No. 5 position. But when everyone left the racetrack Friday night, they figured the NHRA’s luck surely had run out. Thunderstorms seemed ready to sweep in and hover over the entire area. However, the unpredictable Gulf Coast spring weather spared Baytown for most of the day. Both qualifying sessions ran without a hitch under sunny skies, and Brown remained fifth in the order.

"We are looking forward to race day because it's going to be hot and tricky," Brown said. "We just have to keep on doing what we do and getting the most out of what the track is going to give us. I think that's going to be the key for race day, to get down that track. It's going to be a tough road."

No wonder he said that - track temperatures reached 130 degrees Saturday afternoon.

But in this first weekend of the year that completes a back-to-back set of races, Brown is making merry. Oswald isn’t far from his Houma, La., home. Brown’s wife, Billie Jo, also is from New Orleans.

Royal Purple Raceway, Brown said, is “kind of like a second home for me. Mark Oswald, all of his friends, and everyone from Louisiana comes out. All of my in-laws come out, and we always have a great time. Always have a little bit of home cooking, a little bit of jambalaya, crawfish. It's always a lot of fun going to Houston and seeing all of the family and friends."

And an additional chapter in Brown’s history book just would add some Cajun spice to his career.

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