The wait is over for Antron Brown.
The Top Fuel star driver is once again an NHRA world champion eight years after he captured his last title.
Brown, who arrived at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals this weekend in second place in the points standings, 44 points behind Justin Ashley, captured the crown by claiming the race victory.
Brown capped his memorable Sunday by defeating Doug Kalitta in the finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona (Calif.) Dragstrip. Brown clocked a 3.681-second elapsed time at 330.55 mph to edge Kalitta’s 3.710-second run at 331.94 mph.
“It’s super special. Had a dream a little while ago, and I remember talking to Don Schumacher, the great late Don Schumacher, and just telling the vision I had and going through those walks of life of making AB Motorsports a reality. And then getting all the right people together with Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald, who’s leaving us and retiring this year,” Brown said. “He’s the one that really kept us going and always motivated; never down, always cool, calm, collective. And Brad Mason, who’s been the glue behind the scenes, keeping the whole program together.
“I was literally fine all day, and the only thing I knew I could do was go out there, give it my best, and let the chips fall where they fall. And they fell on our lap,so that right there is just a testament of never losing faith and just giving it up, just letting it happen. Truly, truly a blessing today.”
Brown finished 62 points ahead of Kalitta, who was the 2023 world champ.
This was Brown’s 80th Wally – 64 in Top Fuel and 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It was his sixth win of the season.
Brown, driving the Matco Tools Toyota dragster, made history in 2012 by becoming the first African American driver to win a major U.S. auto racing championship. The fan-favorite driver went on to score back-to-back titles in 2015-16. Those championships all came during Brown’s time at Don Schumacher Racing.
Sunday was historic for Brown again since it was his first championship as the owner of his AB Motorsports team. The team made its on-track NHRA debut in 2022.
Brown’s quest for title No. 4 wasn’t made easy as he qualified No. 12. Not to be derailed, Brown scored a huge win over Ashley in Round One to set his championship mission in motion. Brown clocked a 3.696-second ET at 331.53 mph to outlast Ashley’s 3.704, 330.31 lap.
“When we came in this weekend, we thought we found something in testing and came in and we shot ourselves in the foot. We only had two qualifying rounds trying to rotate the Earth, and it didn’t go our way,” he said. “We qualified No. 12 and had to line up against Justin Ashley. But then we looked at each other (Saturday night) and we literally said, ‘This is what you have to do to win a championship. It goes through Justin Ashley. He’s got the points lead.’
“We went up there, we just wanted to do a real good representable run and doing that 3.69 out there and then being right on the tree, getting back to AB of old form. Brian and Mark are pressing once we got past that round.”
Brown acknowledged that ending Ashley’s championship dream to help realize his own was tough.
“I looked at Justin and I knew what we had to do to win. But the thing about it is, that’s him, his dad, his mom Mindy, and his sister Alexa. I mean, they’re family. Brother, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if it wasn’t for Mike Ashley putting our team together with Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald, Brad, and myself, and all of us together and giving us that deal where you just never lose hope like you always think the best, you do the best,” Brown said. “And that’s his mindset. And when we raced him, it’s like I’m racing my little brother, and I want to see him do good. He deserves a championship. He lost a championship these last years prior; always there to the end winning a whole bunch of races. When he took over the points lead from us, I saw the way they’re going and I’m like, ‘Justin, all they have to do is be close and he makes up the rest.’
“Mike Green and (those guys) are a great team and I was just like, ‘Man.’ I go, ‘Alright. You did it to us in Dallas.’ But the thing about it is, I said, ‘Line him up. I’ll give him my best shot.’ He gave us his best shot, and we were tied neck and neck all the way down the racetrack, and we broke free a little bit from halftrack to the finish line, and it gave us the win. And that right there is how our whole race season has been. We’ve never had any gimmes. We’ve just had these races that you have to do the unthinkable to get it done. And I’m so proud of my team for getting it done.”
Brown followed that up with wins over Shawn Langdon, who was third in the points standings, and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force in the semifinals to clinch the world championship.
Brown had a stout 3.693-second run to defeat Force, who slowed to 8.740 seconds.
“I was like, ‘I can’t let (Justin) down and lose to Shawn. The stakes are up even higher, and then we threw at it because that car’s no joke. And we made it farther than he did and got through that round, and in the semis, I hear Brian and Mark say, ‘We want to go down track and make a 68 or 67 run.’ And we tried and we went a 69 against Brittany. And they didn’t make it down the racetrack, so we won that round.
“So, we went to the final. We’re like, ‘Alright, we just won the championship.’ And we said, ‘It doesn’t make a difference what Doug does.’ We didn’t want to be on the other side of that Alan Johnson fairytale story where he does all this stuff and wins the race and we’ll be watching it for years on TV. I’m like, ‘Oh, Lord, don’t make us part of this.’ When we got through that semifinal round, I mean, I just looked up and I said, ‘God, you’ve been driving it, tuning it, making this thing happen, and it’s in your will.’ We just never lost faith, and it happened, man. And I looked at all of our guys and they were like, ‘How are you so calm?’ Everybody, ‘You all, right?’ I’m like, ‘I’m fine.’
“Well, to be honest with you, when we got back, I just didn’t want to sit there in a moment because when we were sitting in the race cars and when they told us we can get out the cars, then they told us really, really quick that we can go back and they let us know when we come back up when we moved back to the trailer. I went into hibernation. Where I’m usually out with the crowd signing autographs, I didn’t. I actually stayed in my lounge for the first time, and I laid on the couch with a hat over my head just to take my mind away from everything and just to breathe and say, ‘You know what? Just getting ready for another qualifying round.’ That’s what I told myself, just to keep my mind in that zone of just where I’m coming up to the line, I just want to react and do what we have to do. And it worked out for the best.”
Before Brown battled Ashley, the race was delayed for nearly two hours when a plane crashed near the dragstrip apparently while attempting to land at neighboring Brackett Field Airport. Three people were transported to a local hosptial with non-life-threatening injuries.
Although Brown was dealing with the pressure in his own way – and succeeding – the same couldn’t be said for people on his team.
“I was laughing because all the girls on my team were throwing up. All these people. I’m looking at Jackie Corradi, and they all know I’m looking at them. They were nervous. I’m like, ‘Y’all in the car.’ You know what I mean? And it was hilarious. But it was a lot of fun to go through those moments and we’ve been through these moments time and time again to win championships. I think that’s where the experience kicked in. And it didn’t bother Justin. That’s a champion in making.
“So, we go up there and I got him by a couple thousandths. Imagine that, imagine that. So that’s what it was all about, going up there, doing our best, doing what we need to do and making it happen. And it was definitely a true blessing to make happen.”
Brown compiled a 33-14 elimination-round record for the season.
“If you look at the Top Fuel class right now, everybody’s incredible. It’s not just Brittany (Force), it’s not just Justin, it’s not just Shawn, it’s not just Doug. You’ve got Steve Torrence. You can keep Clay Millican around 65,” Brown said. “Gary Pritchett came out running 71 and took out (Steve Torrence) first round. I’m telling you, pound for pound. Top Fuel’s the toughest class out there right now. I mean, when you look at the field at the U.S. Nationals, you had some people who didn’t even qualify. Doug (Kalitta) didn’t even qualify. You know what I mean? When you look at a class, how stacked it is and how incredibly competitive it is, just to win the first round now is (like) winning the final round now. No matter who you line up, you ain’t got no gimme rounds no more.
“And you look at it like, man, what do you have to do, how you have to do it, you gotta be at the top-notch level every time you come to the starting line. And for us, when I come up there, it doesn’t make a difference who I race, I give it my all. But one thing that I look at is that we’ve been silent but deadly. Shawn’s been to nine finals and won two races this year. We’ve been fortunate because we’ve been in six finals and won six races this year. So, we did our fair share of winning this year. But the thing about it is, once we get in that groove, we become one of those teams that we start getting that confidence developed but we always stay humble and stay hungry no matter what we do. I think that’s what gets us to the next round and we’re always learning to improve. If you look at us, we improve throughout the whole race day and we’re getting better at learning how to run on a really, really stout track.”
