Antron Brown knows a thing or two about when to step it up.

A three-time world champion who has been a part of many late-season points battles, Brown knows that finding your footing in the final few races before the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship can equal major success when it comes time to race for it all. 

And perhaps no one is hotter on the NHRA tour right now than the driver of the Matco Tools/Toyota dragster.

Brown continued that hot streak this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway, collecting his first win in the Mission 2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge specialty race Saturday, followed by his second Wally of the season as he drove around Leah Pruett to win the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals for the sixth time in his career. 

“We always run good at this racetrack, and we always love coming here,” Brown said. “I won here many times on a Pro Stock Motorcycle and won several times in Top Fuel. This race here is the turning point that gets you ready for the championship. 

“We want to be better than we were last year, and we are on that trend right now. We know how this Countdown works. We have come into the Countdown 300 points in the lead and it gets you nothing. So you have to plan for the Countdown and come out and show out. We did that this weekend.”

Brown drove around Pruett in a rematch of the 2017 finals at this race where Brown came up short. This time, however, Brown would not be denied as he piloted his Matco Tools machine to a 3.715-second pass at 326.07 mph to collect his second Wally of the season and the 73rd of his career.

Pruett, meanwhile, fell short in her third final round visit of the year with a 3.757 at 331.12 mph.

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“You know when you are racing those TSR cars it is going to be a challenge,” Brown said. “We knew what they were capable of, and we just went out there and wanted to make another lap. We thought we were going to pick it up a little more, but the track got so good it ate us up a little bit. And I think that is what happened with Leah, it ate them up a little bit, too. At the end of the day, when you look at those numbers, we were very consistent and that is what it took to get the job done.”

Brown was indeed one of the most consistent cars on the property throughout the weekend, and it all began with a win over Brittany Force in the Mission 2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. From there, Brown placed his dragster sixth on the ladder and went to work.

He recorded the quickest pass of the weekend to that point in a round-one win over Shawn Langdon with a solid 3.689-second lap at 334.15 mph. It was a huge confidence boost to begin raceday, with Brown stating, “I heard Shawn leave before me, but by the time I got to the 330 I felt that we were even and it felt like I drove around him. When we saw the win light come on and saw that 68 pop up on the board I was like, ‘That is what I am talking about.’ I think that really set the stage for confidence.”

In round two, Brown survived on a holeshot over Steve Torrence as the driver of the Capco Contractors machine recorded a stout 3.716, but Brown had a big advantage on the tree and drove around Torrence with a 3.738 at 330.63 mph.

“What made the second round so tricky is when we went up there and raced Steve we saw the first couple of pairs in front of me like Justin (Ashley) smoke the tires,” Brown said. “Then we saw the next pair after them and Brittany smoked the tires. So Brian (Corradi) made the call to tune it down. The sun was out, it got a little hotter, and we didn't know what it was going to hold and we ended up running a 73 and Steve ran a 71.”

Brown punched his ticket to the 134th final round of his career with a huge win over Mike Salinas in the semifinals, unseating the man who one round earlier uncorked the third fastest pass in the history of Top Fuel. Salinas set the track speed record in a second round win over Clay Millican with a 3.654 at 338.26 mph, but was unable to equal that performance in the semifinals. Instead, Brown improved with a 3.708 at 332.75 mph and never trailed in driving around Salinas’ 3.710 at 333.74 mph.

“When you see that (second-round run) you think about it, but you are saying to yourself, ‘Thank God we didn’t race him that round,’” Brown said. “When you make runs like that, sometimes they sneak up on you. I saw the trend of his car all weekend. They were running right there close to everybody else, but they were always a couple of ticks behind and I guarantee you (Rob) Flynn and the team just tuned their car up more and it made more power and that thing nailed it. I guarantee you when they got back their driveshaft looked like it was all the track could hold, which is why you see the next round where they peeled back because they didn’t want to throw it away. But in hindsight the track got better and it ate it up.

“You have to race smart and put a run out there that you know (can hold). It is a blessing to race with the team that I have, and we are getting stronger and stronger. I know what we are capable of and I love the direction that we are going in right now.”

Pruett had wins over Tony Schumacher, Brittany Force and Justin Ashley to reach her third final round of 2023.

Following a weekend filled with wild shifts in temperatures and occasional tricky track conditions, Brown was especially proud of the effort of his team to remain so consistent despite the numerous variables and bring home plenty of bonus points and another trophy to add to his collection.

“Every lap that we made we were competitive,” Brown said. “We were top five every run and when we dropped that hole (in qualifying) we could have made a top two or three run without a problem. When we got into eliminations today we knew it was going to be a different day. We knew the conditions were going to get better. Brian and Mark (Oswald), that is where they shine when the conditions change. They make adjustments and know right where to put it.

“We set the tone for the day. We were the quickest and fastest in the first session. Then we just go into race mode where you have to race smart. You aren’t going to throw hail mary’s where you lose a run because you overpowered the track. So we stayed in that zone and that is where the consistency pays off and that is what wins races.”

Brown has now had two final round visits and a semifinal in the past three races as he gears up for the biggest race of the season in two weeks at the U.S. Nationals — a race where he is the defending champion.

“When you go to the U.S. Nationals and when you win that it is like winning the championship inside itself,” Brown said. “We just have to do our work. Our main focus is to get as many points as we can and see if we can make it happen. It is going to be a tough feat, but that is our goal going in.”