​​In a drag racing career full of countless memorable moments Antron Brown added another one Sunday.

Brown, driving his AB Motorsports Matco Tools dragster, captured his 75th career NHRA national event win – 59 in Top Fuel to go along with his 16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Brown claimed the milestone victory with a 3.838-second run at 324.75 mph to edge Shawn Langdon’s 3.869-second lap at 322.04 mph.

“Seventy-five wins is huge,” Brown said. “That’s a testament to our whole AB Motorsports organization and all the partners that help us – Matco Tools, Lucas Oil, Hangsterfer’s, FVP Batteries, Toyota, Sirius XM, FVP and everyone else who’s been a part of this over the years.

“This Top Fuel field is no joke. We won the Callout race and one of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges in Las Vegas, but getting those points on the board with a win like this is important," he added. "Our team has kept our heads down and qualified well, but on race day, we've been overly aggressive or we haven't been aggressive enough. This track today was tricky. We were going down the track and trying to run mid-3.80s every run. We just kept dropping holes or doing this or doing that. We just stuck with it. Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald, Brad Mason and all the Matco Tools/Lucas Oil boys never quit. We got it from the starting line to the finish line (against Langdon) to pull that win off.”

This was Brown’s sixth career win in Chicago – fourth in Top Fuel (2012, 2014, 2016 and 2024) to go along with his two in Pro Stock Motorcycle in 2000-01. Brown tied former Pro Stock world champ Jeg Coughlin for most wins at the facility.  

Brown defeated Jasmine Salinas, Justin Ashley, Steve Torrence and then Langdon on Sunday. Brown qualified No. 6 at 3.775-seconds at 331.36 mph.

“This track was medieval this whole weekend, and it was one of our first hot tracks we raced on,” Brown said. “We thought we could run this and we thought we could run that, and it was tricky. We didn’t go down the track in the first qualifying run and Friday night was the thing that set the field. Brian (Corradi) and Mark (Oswald) and all those Matco boys knew what to do. We went up there and tried to run a mid-70, and it got through the clutch a little bit and it slowed up to a 77. We were trying to run a 75, but it got us in the show. On race day, we knew it was going to be hot and we picked seventh pair, and a lot of people weren’t making it, and we went out there and Jasmine smoked the tires, they were pressing against us.

“We lost our ignition system. We only had half our ignition, so that’s why we shut off early because it was dropping holes. We got through that one. We went 89 and got past Justin Ashley, who spun the tires early, and then we got Steve Torrence, who spun them off the starting line.”

The win was extra special for Brown as drivers paid tribute and honored the late NHRA legendary owner Don Schumacher throughout the weekend at what was the Chicago native’s home track. Schumacher passed away in December at age 79.

Brown joined Don Schumacher Racing, first in Pro Stock Motorcycle and then in 2009 in Top Fuel. He won NHRA Top Fuel world championships in 2012 and 2015-16 for DSR. Brown established AB Motorsports in 2019, and he made his on-track debut as the team owner in his Top Fuel dragster in 2022.

“For Don Schumacher, our boss, our guy that got us all out here, I'm dedicating this to him and his family,” Brown said. “I got to share the winner’s circle with my old teammate (and Funny Car victor) Matt Hagan today. It was like one of those old school DSR double-ups; it brought a tear to my eye.

“Every time we came to Chicago, it was Don’s hometown. I remember winning races here for Don and he said, ‘Thank you. You won my home race.’ I know he is looking down on all of us right now, seeing Matt in the final and seeing him win and us win. That was like old times.”  

Brown moved up one spot to fifth in the season points standings. He is now just 20 points behind third place, where reigning world champion Doug Kalitta is positioned. Justin Ashley and Langdon are 1-2 in the points as the tour heads to Epping, N.H., on May 31-June 2.

“When you get a win and you go through adversity like that it makes you think of all the things you went through (and your team) didn’t skip a beat,” Brown said. “We didn’t let it get us down. We got through it, and we stayed focused for the job on hand. It was a total team effort of everybody digging in and getting the job done.”