Antron Brown has won championships, the U.S. Nationals, and some of the other biggest races in drag racing. Bristol Dragway wasn’t on that list.
He took care of that Sunday.
The four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion crossed another track off his career checklist, defeating points leader Shawn Langdon in a side-by-side final-round duel to claim his first Thunder Valley Nationals victory and the 82nd win of his career.
Brown’s 3.788-second pass at 331.61 mph in the Matco Tools dragster was enough to hold off Langdon’s 3.801 at 334.07. The victory capped Brown’s strongest weekend of the season and moved him to fifth in the Top Fuel standings.
The win didn’t come easily.
Brown defeated Will Smith, Shawn Reed, and reigning NHRA champion Doug Kalitta to reach the final round. Against Langdon, he left first – by a miniscule 2/1,000ths of a second – and never surrendered the advantage.
“We’ve been struggling at the beginning of the year, but we kept our heads down, kept grinding and kept working. Today, it all came together,” Brown said. “The Kalitta cars are the giants out here right now. To sneak around them and get a win, that says a lot about what our team accomplished today.
“The only way you beat resistance is with persistence. You’ve got to stay the course. We know we’re capable of winning another championship, but we’re not there yet. We still have to keep improving. Getting my first Bristol win after 82 career victories is pretty special. This place has always been tough on me. To get a Diamond Wally during NHRA’s 75th anniversary season, they can never take that away from you; that’s something special. To be standing here with this trophy is unbelievable.”
Langdon advanced to his seventh final round of the season with victories over Jasmine Salinas, Leah Pruett, and Tony Stewart. Despite the loss, he maintained a 114-point lead over Kalitta.
Funny Car belonged to Matt Hagan.
The four-time champion used consistency to earn his second victory of the season, defeating Daniel Wilkerson, whose car went up in a cloud of tire smoke almost immediately.
Hagan posted a 4.125-second run at 310.91 mph in collecting career win No. 57. He reached his 100th career final round after defeating Jon Capps and reigning champion Austin Prock.
“I always call myself an old plow horse – hook me up to the plow and I’ll just go out there and get the job done,” Hagan said. “For Leah [Pruett] to finish off the New England win here on Friday, and for us to come back and win on Sunday, it was a special weekend” for Tony Stewart Racing.
“Bristol is a special place for me. I’ve got a lot of home tracks, but this one has always felt like home. The last time I won here was Father’s Day weekend, and I was crying like a kid. That one was emotional, and this one means a lot, too. This weekend was challenging. Daniel Wilkerson was driving his butt off. His day is coming.”
Wilkerson reached the third final round of his career by defeating J.R. Todd, Jack Beckman, and points leader Ron Capps. Capps remains atop the Funny Car standings, 24 points in front of Hagan.
Matt Hartford continued one of the strongest stretches of his Pro Stock career.
One day after winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Hartford defeated Greg Anderson in the final round with a 6.672-second run at 205.60 mph. The victory was his third of the season and the first Bristol triumph of his career.
“I’ve been racing at Bristol since the early 2000s and never managed to win here. To finally get a Bristol trophy is an awesome feeling,” Hartford said. “We had a great race car all weekend. Winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and then winning the race is about as good as it gets.”
Anderson advanced to the final round and moved into the Pro Stock points lead by 11 points over teammate Dallas Glenn.
Gaige Herrera completed a near-perfect weekend in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
The two-time NHRA champion earned his second victory of the season and the 30th of his career, defeating teammate Richard Gadson in the final round with a 6.838-second run at 198.47 mph.
“After Maryland, me and Andrew [crew chief Hines] were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out what happened. It felt like we had some bad luck hanging over us, but it feels good to come here and get the win,” Herrera said.
“I wouldn’t say, ‘I’m back,’ but it definitely feels good to get the win and build some confidence heading into Norwalk. As we get closer and closer to the Countdown, I feel like my bike is back where it needs to be. Winning with Richard in the final was pretty cool. It reminded me of last year when he got his first win. We’ve got a lot of fun with it, but I’m glad to be the one taking home the trophy this time.”
The next NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series event is June 25-28 at Norwalk, Ohio.
