Never sleep on Antron Brown.

The veteran Top Fuel driver/owner always seems to find himself in the mix for wins.

Brown, who won NHRA Top Fuel world championships in 2012, 2015-16, celebrated again on Sunday.

Brown won the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brown, who pilots the Matco Tools/Toyota Dragster, clocked a 3.760-second elapsed time at 319.75 mph to defeat Steve Torrence (3.774 seconds), Brittany Force (3.769 seconds) and Josh Hart (3.791 seconds) in the final round quad.

“I’m just super pumped and super proud because we were working on our stuff this offseason to make it better,” Brown said. “We didn’t stay like we did last year; we changed even more stuff. We just want to get better and better.”

Sunday's triumph was Brown’s 56th career NHRA Top Fuel win and his 72nd national event victory, with the other 16 coming in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. This was Brown’s fourth time he won the spring race in Vegas (2011, 2016-17, and 2022) and it is his sixth win overall in Sin City.

Brown, who guides AB Motorsports, entered Vegas ninth in the points standings with a 3-3 elimination-round record through three races. He moved up to fourth in the points standings.

Brown finished second in is his first-round quad with a 3.780-second run and was second again in his second-round quad with a 3.769-second lap. That set the stage for his win in the finals, his first win of the season.

“You have to remember we are at the Four-Wide,” Brown said. “When you go to the Four-Wides, everything is crazy. It is a battle royal, and we showed it there in that final. Every round was a tough match-up. Everything was really tight. In the final, all four cars were right there with each other.

“In the final round, people out there have won races and won world championships; it was a battle royal. To come out with that win, that was definitely a statement for our Matco Tools Lucas Oil Toyota, and all our guys. That was a heck of a win.”

A year ago, Brown claimed three race wins and finished second in the points standings.

“We know when the Countdown comes, you have to be strong,” Brown said.

Brown has won in the Four-Wide format in his career, but these events aren’t his best, so he was glad to find Victory Lane again.

“We were relentless,” he said. “We never gave up. We didn’t qualify where we wanted to (ninth at 3.769 seconds). We want to qualify in the top five all the time. We thought we were going to do that the last qualifying round, and we went out there and 40 feet out, we dropped a hole. The crazy part is our driveshaft came up and looked good like we were going to run a 71 or 72 as we did in Pomona. We were right there. First round, it got a little tricky. We saw cars smoke the tires, and we backed it down and got down the track.

“That’s what I love about our team is that we evolve as time goes on. We do not stay the same. As the day went on, the track got tricky. It got hot. The track got hot, and if we had slipped up, we would have lost. In the final, when the track got better, our TRD boys were talking on the radio (to his crew chiefs) Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald), and that’s what is so special about Toyota Racing, they were telling us to step it up a little bit, and it picked up at half-track. The car did exactly what it needed to do to get the win. I was looking up; Lord have mercy. It was just a blessing to do that at the right time when we needed it. It was a complete team effort. That’s what it is going to take to win races this year and win championships.”

In 2022, Brown’s team was seemingly in an uphill battle until it got on a heater in the six-race Countdown and nearly won a world championship. Now, Brown hopes to ride the wave of an early season win.

“The thing about it is if we get more laps, we learn more, and the more we learn, the better we get,” he said. “If we go into the Countdown and go in there as a top-tier team, we will not have to play catch-up. That’s the game plan. We want to go in there in the top three. We are going to work our tails off to try and make that happen, but there are so many great teams like Mike Salinas, all the Kalitta cars, and Clay Millican. There are over 12 cars that could win on any given Sunday. It could be anybody’s race. Tony Schumacher’s team is coming around. Our main focus right now is to keep improving and getting better, turn on win lights, and get in the winner’s circle. If you can do that, you will learn from every lap that you go.

“Who will be there at the end is who gets the most laps and learns from them and be there at the end.”

Brown acknowledged he would enjoy his latest trip to the winner’s circle.

“We are going to party like it is 1999,” he said. “We are going to rock Prince tonight, trust me. Then we are going to come back, and if we can keep on winning rounds and building momentum, that is the key to winning championships.”

It wasn’t lost on Brown that he’s moving up the Top Fuel all-time victory list and that he’s only six behind Larry Dixon’s 62 race wins.

“Larry was my rival, and at one time me and we didn’t like each other too much,” Brown said. “We didn’t talk a couple of times, but he’s always been my hero because the man has grit. He races hard, and we have six more to get to that 62. Larry isn't done racing. Don’t be surprised to see him back out here. He’s just the cream of the crop. He always carried himself with dignity, honor, and integrity, and that’s why I have great respect for him. I love him like a brother. He will always be my hero. We are going to try and get there to (62 wins).”

Brown also touched on NASCAR legend Tony Stewart getting his first drag racing win as he was victorious in the Top Alcohol Dragster class in Vegas Sunday.

“Trust me, that day is coming,” said Brown about having a rivalry with Stewart in Top Fuel. “Smoke is coming. The only thing that is a little quicker than Smoke and is a little thicker is that black smoke. I got something for you, Tony. I’m just joking.

“Tony is super competitive. He didn’t win this race today in Top Alcohol because he had a great car. He won it because he had a great team and he was a great driver. I watched Tony in everything he did, from Sprint Car to Late Models, Indy Cars, dirt cars, NASCAR, Truck Series. When Tony got in drag racing, he is a pure student of the game. No matter what he races, he studies it and breaks it down to every fraction, and he gets better. He elevates the game for everybody.”