Antron Brown has put together a Hall of Fame worthy drag racing career that includes four NHRA Top Fuel Championships in 2012, 2015-16, and 2024.
Despite all the accolades, Brown had never won a national event in Bristol, Tenn. He rectified that omission Sunday, taking home the title at the 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Brown, driving the Matco Tools/Toyota entry he owns, clocked a 3.788-second time at 331.61 mph in the final round. That was enough to edge points leader Shawn Langdon’s 3.801, 334.07 lap at Bristol Dragway.
“It was pretty awesome,” Brown said. “And just how the whole weekend started off, we’ve been struggling. We just kept our heads down, kept on grinding, kept on working. I’ll tell you what, man, that Kalitta [Motorsports] team is no joke. I mean, when I’m telling you no joke, they are definitely like the giants out here. To sneak and get around them and get a win out of this race here … We started off with a great qualifying, getting up in the top five like we wanted to, ending up No. 2, and we just kept getting better and better.
“And even in the hottest part of the day, we had some good runs, but we dropped holes. … [crew chief] Brian [Corradi] and the rest of the Matco Tools team with [co-crew chief] Brad [Mason], John Medlen, they went to work to make sure we stayed lit on all cylinders. And today we stayed lit on every cylinder, every run, and we progressively got better after every run. As it got hotter, we even went quicker. So, that’s a statement in itself, and we know we have a good race car to compete.”
This was Brown’s first win of the season and the 82nd overall in his career – 66 in Top Fuel and 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. The victory was Brown’s first since the 2025 season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
“I stayed in the mid to low 50s [on the Christmas tree] all day long on race day. So shallow stage, so that’s what you need to be competitive out here,” Brown said. “Like, Doug [Kalitta] has been knocking the tree down. He found his way on the tree this year where he’s incredible. Langdon’s always there. And Tony Stewart is doing a great job on the tree. I mean, this whole class, everybody has stepped their game up to get after Justin Ashley. So, with that being said, it feels good to be in that ballpark and go out there and compete on this high level that this class has right now.”
On Sunday, Brown defeated Will Smith, Shawn Reed, Kalitta, and Langdon.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s like we’ve been looking at it the whole time, and I said, ‘We just got to get in the groove. We got to get in the groove.’ The thing about it is, you hear them all talk about the cars that do well all the time, but they don’t pay attention to all the other cars that are right on the [cusp] of doing some great things, like Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher. Tony qualified No. 3 out here and he’s an eight-time world champ. There’s a lot of great cars out here. But for us, I knew once we hit our stride, and I know how consistent our team can be. We’ve done it before, but you have to get to that realm first. And right now, that Kalitta team has been showing everybody the way, brother.
“They can qualify wherever they want to qualify. Look, they’re still in the semis. You got to get that dangerous to compete against them. And I’m feeling that we’re coming there and we’re there. We won today, but we’ve got to keep that going. We’re going to stay humble and hungry, brother. Humble and hungry. And, boy, I’ll tell you what, at the Super Grip Nationals, brother needs a cheesesteak and some pizza because I’m hungry. I’m hungry.”
After winning the 2024 NHRA Top Fuel Championship, Brown’s team had a tough go last season, placing ninth in the points standings with Gainesville as his lone victory.
Adversity never stopped Brown from believing in what his team can accomplish.
“What I’ve known from all the experience that we’ve been in, the only way you beat resistance is with persistence,” Brown said. “You got to see persistence, and you got to stay the course. I know in my heart, I look at all the people on my team. Like, I’m telling you right now, Brian Corradi was ready to jump off a cliff because he’s like, ‘We got to figure this out.’ He’s pulling his hair out. And the thing about it is, I said, ‘Brian, it’s going to be alright.’ He goes, ‘We got something going on here.’ I said, ‘We’re going to figure it out.
“And that’s when you’ve got to lean on all your counterparts, and you look at them and say, ‘Hey, it’s going to be alright. You got this.’ I said, ‘The good Lord is showing us stuff, but we’re just not picking it up yet.’ And then we just started picking away at it, picking away at it, and you start changing things and changing things.
“Then you feel like the quicksand is making you sink, sink ’til you get down to where your head is almost below the quicksand. And then finally you start taking little steps where you start coming up and coming up. And now we’re at feet level. So now we’re there. Now we got to start walking, and then we can start running. Once we start running, then we’re going to be up there. We’re going to get dangerous. I think we’re getting to that point right now.”
The fact Brown eliminated both Kalitta cars is noteworthy since Langdon has won four races and Kalitta, the reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion, has one, too.
“Well, the championship goes through Kalitta, no matter which car you pick,” Brown said. “Doug, Shawn, it doesn’t make a difference. Those cars are the frontrunners right now. They’re one and two in the points. They’re the only ones that won the majority of the races this year. And rounds, you can tell it by the points. The thing about it is, you got to look at that and say, ‘That’s who you have to go through to get a championship.’
“So, we’ve got to keep our heads down. We know we’re capable of it. We’ve always been at a high level. We went through them back in 2024. We won it. And Dougie came out and won it the next year. … We’ve got to stay poised, and we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have got to keep improving. Like, we’re not there yet, OK? If anybody goes like, ‘Hey, we’re there. We’re going to win a championship,’ man, when those points get reset, it could be anybody’s ballgame. It is going to come down to who’s going to come up for those last six races [the Countdown to the Championship] and be the most dangerous. That’s what we’re working towards right now. We’re working to be one of those teams that have a chance to get to that last race and have a shot to win it like we did in 2024. That’s our gameplan.”
During his winner’s press conference, it was brought to Brown’s attention that this weekend was the first time NHRA competed at a NASCAR-shared facility since the passing of Kyle Busch on May 21, at age of 41.
Brown was quick to talk about his ties to Busch.
“Well, a lot of people probably don’t know this from the drag racing world, but when Kyle raced for Toyota, me and him were at the forefront of the Toyota group,” Brown said. “He had a long tenure there and so have I. So, me and Kyle got to do a lot of things together, man. And one thing we share, Kyle had the grit. Everybody knows he was a racer through and through. And you could see how he was so focused on what he did and just his passion he had for it. And he and I shared the same thing.
“Ed Laukes ran Toyota Motorsports, head of marketing for all the years, he was kind of the godfather of motorsports for Toyota. I sent Ed a text this weekend just sending out, like, you know, heartfelt, just talking about Kyle, and what Kyle has done for all realms of motorsports. I’ll tell you, man, he’s looking down right now, brother. And I mean, this is definitely going to him and his family, his wife [Samantha], his son [Brexton], his daughter [Lennix]. I mean, that’s heartfelt. And his son is right in his footsteps, and he’s going to be another great name that’s going [to be known] here in the coming years for sure. Kyle will always be missed. But it was just one of those deals where just getting mentioned with his name is just a true honor, without a doubt.”
Brown picked a great time to win his first career Bristol race since it also allowed him to take home NHRA’s Diamond Wally, a silver-plated statue that sits on a sleek diamond and black-wood base, made in honor of NHRA’s 75th Anniversary.
“It was huge. I was looking at this trophy when y’all brought it out. And I’m not going to lie to you, brother, I said, ‘I got to get one,’” Brown said. “I looked at it and I said, ‘Brother needs one. I need that bling.’ The thing about it is, is that when you see these special things that come out and to be mentioned as [one of NHRA’s] Top 75 drivers, I mean, for me, this is a dream come true because I was that kid from Chesterfield, New Jersey, who just dreamed this to be a racing professional one day.
“And to come up here and do the things that we’ve done in this sport with this incredible team that we have is unbelievable, man. To get this for 75 years and be a part of it and say you got one, they can never take it away. It’s special. It’s very special. This is like winning a championship inside of itself right here, without a doubt, man. I’m not going to cry here. I ain’t going to cry. Don’t get me to cry. Y’all trying to make it happen. It ain’t going to happen.”
