ANTRON IS SERIOUS ABOUT DRAG RACING'S RECOVERY FROM PANDEMIC ECONOMICS

by Bobby Bennett, Photos by Roger Richards    Thu, 2021-03-11 09:43


Antron Brown didn’t have to have the coronavirus to see how devastating the pandemic was on its victims and the world around him.

Brown, who is working towards being a team owner, watched as the virus brought the drag racing world to its knees. He was one of the many who wondered back in April if he’d get to drag race again.

Friday, Brown hit the track with a new marketing partner in Sirius XM was a sign NHRA Drag Racing is headed in a good direction.

Brown understands it’s easy to dwell on the negative, but looking to the positive always has it’s positives.

“I didn’t have COVID. What I’m saying is, is through all the struggles that we had last year, through the darkest of times where partnerships were hard to get. And to literally come through this time and have a partner come on, like Sirius XM Radio to come on through this time, it’s been incredible.

“But it was rough. When it was dark, I know the Lord always knows, God’s out there, but boy, he answered every one of our prayers to get through this.”

Bringing in a non-automotive sponsor is a real gem, at least that’s how Brown sees it.

“We got the oils, we’ve got the automotive manufacturers, we got all that. But to bring in a big time media, like I think Competition Plus needs a show on Sirius XM.”

Some lofty thinking on Brown’s behalf. Maybe, Maybe not.

“One thing abig-timethat I can tell you right now is that’s one thing that NASCAR has got their channel,” Brown said. “That’s one thing I’m looking for as far as Camping World sport of drag racing to have their channel.

I could always, always tell people that when the times get to us deepest or when one door is closed, there’s always opportunity. You just got to look for that opportunity.”

Brown hopes to never see the world, especially his, get shut down again like it did last March.

“It was like shutting my life off,” Brown admitted. “You know what I mean? Like a lot of people realize that drag racing is not just a sport. It’s a way of life for a lot of us. This is our life.

“Like when we wake up, we just don’t eat it and sleep it or dream about it. We walk it. We feel it. We carry it on our shoulders. We carry it our back and this is our livelihood.

“Last year it was rough. It was rough for everybody. It was rough for a lot of people. But in our world, we’re like, “Oh Lord.” You think about it, where you go, ‘Man, we just got to survive this.” Brown believes it can be easy to take some aspects of professional drag racing for granted. However, he said he’s never taken it for granted. “I am a man that never took nothing for granted,” Brown said. “Never took it for granted. And I work hard every day of my life. I always put OT in, baby. OT is like a normal 40 hours a week. You know what I mean?

“When you come into this year now, and you’re seeing that coming back on, it like hammers down. And I know one thing. NHRA fans have been the best. But one thing about it is, I lost a part of my family literally for over a year. “We were coming to the tracks, and it was dim and grim where you couldn’t see the people flourishing, coming up. And now come here to this, PRO Winter Warm-up, man, you’re seeing the people come out, everybody’s looking alive.” Brown said the biggest lesson he learned during the pandemic, is he’s not built to be at a desk.

“Antron Brown is not a good person to be a business person, to sit at a desk for eight hours a day,” he said with his trademark laugh. “Can’t do it. You’re talking about ADD and fidgeting. I have fidget spinners, going through emails, my eyes are locked up on the white screen typing stuff, doing different things and also trying to survive. You know what I mean?”

 

 
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