Antron Brown, though fresh from his drought-ending Top Fuel victory at Topeka, said as the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals approached, said, “We have some things to show and prove.” 

He showed Monday that he and his Matco Tools / Toyota Dragster team are peaking at prime time after he has “put all the pieces in place.” And he proved that he can outmuscle Top Fuel’s “best at their best.”   

With a 3.706-second elapsed time at a 321.65-mph speed on the 1,000-foot course at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Brown interrupted No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force’s momentum in the final round.  

That denied her a final coup in her achievement as regular-season leader as well as the historical distinction of being the first woman in 40 years (since Shirley Muldowney in 1982) to win the U.S. Nationals in Top Fuel. 

Brown earned his 54th Top Fuel victory and 70th overall. And it evened his U.S. Nationals success at Indianapolis with two triumphs in both the Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes. He won the Top Fuel final also in 2011 and won in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class in 2000 and 2004. 

It also completed a Toyota sweep of the nitro classes, as he shared the winners circle with fellow first-year team owner Ron Capps, winner of his first Funny Car trophy at the U.S. Nationals and the class’ inaugural Pep Boys All-Star Call-Out. 

Other winners Monday were Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson, who became only the second in NHRA history to log at least 100th triumphs, and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith, a two-time winner of this race. 

Brown powered past Gatornationals winner Tripp Tatum, four-time and current champion Steve Torrence, and rising star Justin Ashley to reach his career 129th final round. 

Tatum he called “a giant killer.” Torrence had said the night before, after winning $80,000 in the Pep Boys All-Star Call-Out, that “we need to get out there and start wrecking heads,” so he was in a mood to throw down. And he knew full well what Ashley was capable of right from the launch on. 

Then Brown aced his biggest test of the day against the driver he called “a juggernaut” (Force) and the crew chief (Dave Grubnic) he playfully dubbed “the mad scientist.”  He said he knew “they run big speed and come on the big end with a hard charge.” 

So it was no Labor Day picnic for the Matco Tools / Toyota Dragster owner-driver. He said the final “was like the longest 3.7 seconds in my entire life” and even said, “It felt like a car accident” in slow motion.

“And when that win light came on, I was like, ‘Man, look what this team has come through, where we’re at, from start to finish . . . All of our guys put that work in to get those results. And that is a testament to all of our guys and gals. We’re doing this as a family. We never lost the faith. We never gave up [even while] people go, ‘When you going to get that first win?’ 

“With the Countdown being right in front of us and us being 11th or 12th three races ago, to be at No. 6 . . . I think we’re in the conversation. We just want to go out there and compete for that championship. We want to compete at a high level,” Brown said. 

“All I ask for is that we give it our all and let the chips fall where they fall. Don’t talk about it – let the racetrack do the talking. We’ve got to stay humble. We’ve got to stay poised. We’ve got to stay fierce. And we’ve got to go out there and give it all we’ve got – because that’s what everybody else is going to do. And we’re going to let the win lights do the talking.” 

Brown said of the John Force Racing team, “They're No. 1 in our class for a reason. I mean, did you see when the sun was out in the middle of the day? What did they throw out that racetrack? A 3.640. So we knew that going in. And we're just saying, ‘OK, well, we just got to be consistent, stick to our game, don't get overwhelmed. And you got to go out there and do what you do.’ 

“I have nothing but faith with Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald. I don't know if you look at their track record, they won a lot of championships, and we actually had the first car to ever run in the .60s period, when everybody was still running the mid-.70s. So it's just a matter of time for us to get to where we need to be,” he said. “But definitely Grubnic has set the bar, and the whole Monster team, the whole team, they're juggernauts. And Brittany's doing a great job driving, period. When you can go up and race them and take them out, you've done something special for the weekend. But this whole class is just ridiculous right now – the whole class.” 

When the Countdown starts two weeks from now at Reading, Pa.’s Maple Grove Raceway with the Pep Boys Nationals, Force still will be in first place in the standings and Brown sixth. Nos. 2-5, in order, are Mike Salinas, Ashley, Torrence, and Josh Hart. 

Brown said he got some sage advice from a long-time friend this weekend: “Ken Veney, who won a lot of championships with a lot of different drivers in his race car, a lot of races, set a lot of world records . . . Shouldn’t be letting the secret out. He came over to me this race. He says, ‘Antron, my mom used to play basketball, and when she took a foul shot, she says, ‘Take a deep breath, smell the roses, and then blow the candles out.’  So this race is definitely dedication to Ken. He came over and told me that. My lights somehow went from .060s to .040s to .030s all day long. And he woke up a sleeping giant. Ken Veney, I'm going to be smelling the roses and blowing out their candles for the rest of the year.”