You cannot take the hometown out of the boy. 

The starry-eyed kid named Antron Brown, who grew up in Chesterfield, New Jersey, came home last weekend, kinda-sorta. 

Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, NJ, hosted its last national event drag race in 2017. In 2018, Maple Grove Raceway, outside of Philadelphia, became his new home track. It’s 88 miles from where he grew up. 

But, in the interest of fair reporting, Brown, who admittedly has never met a stranger, has a home wherever he goes. 

Sunday, the race fans from both back at home and far away had a chance to see their favorite son drive his way to the win at the opening race of the 2024 Mission Foods Countdown to the Championship. 

Home is where you hang many things, but for Brown, he hung a quantum leap into second place from fifth in Top Fuel points standings, just one point out of first. 

“[This win was] extremely very, very, very special because it was hometown for me and so many hometown fans,” Brown said. “I’m the hometown boy. I think they were cheering so loud because they saw me waving at them as I was going by.”

No, Brown wasn’t waving at them. But, it would be believable considering how much of a people person he is.  

“I always played a joke like that,” Brown admitted. “People say, ‘Hey, man, did you see me?” 

“I say, ‘Yeah, I was waving right at you.” 

“But it’s a lot of fun when you come to a place like this and when you can win in front of your family and your closest friends, your high school. I even had somebody that I went to kindergarten with and I graduated high school with came up to me. 

“Remember me?” I’m like, “Oh, my God. Yes, I do.” And it makes it so special. And this is what this sport’s all about.”

Credit the NHRA’s up-close and personal access mantra, which allows fans to walk up into the locker room without the athletes disrobed and all sweaty. 

“The NHRA access where they come down between the rounds and they come in the pit, no matter where you’re at, they’re there to cheer you on,” Brown explained. “And this whole weekend, it felt so good that I knew I was home because my pit had a bunch of people wrapped around it stretched out all the way to the other pits. 

“And people were like, ‘What is this here?”

“I said, ‘AB’s just home. I’m just home.” 

“It makes it feel so much special. I’m truly blessed to have that kind of support when I come home like that.”

Home also brings Brown closer to his biggest fan who could not attend the race. His father, Albert, lives in an assisted living facility close to his childhood home in New Jersey. The elder Brown, who introduced his son to drag racing, suffers from dementia. 

“All my dad ever did was drag race,” Brown said. “That’s all he ever loved was drag racing. That’s what he lived, lived, ate, and slept and lived for, brother. So, like him and my Uncle [Andre], they were bracket racers before I was born. They were racing before I was born. I’m the youngest of all the siblings. I have an older brother, six years older than me. My cousin, Andrea, is two years older than me, and my uncle’s daughter is two years old. 

“So we all grew up as brother and sister, even though she was our first cousin. And all we did was grow up at the race track, my brother and me.”

Brown understands the battle his father faces but does his best to keep his father engaged. 

“He just keeps getting a little bit worse and worse and worse, and all I do is keep him some fresh National DRAGSTERS to keep him going,” Brown explained. “His short-term memory is not there. So he’s really took a step for the worse. I ship them to my brother. And he brings them to him and my dad opens the magazine and he’ll look up. He goes, ‘Oh, there’s Brian Corradi.” 

“Or he’ll look over here go, “There we go, that’s John Force.” 

“And he goes, “Oh, look at Ant. Ant, you won this race?” He goes, “I remember back in 2012 when you came out here and you ran.”

For Brown, life has always been about finding the silver lining in a dark cloud. 

“It makes me smile because the old memories are still there, and he’s still cheering us on,” Brown said. “And when I go there, he’s always wearing one of our Macro Tools jerseys every day with his hat, just like I wear mine – military style. I joke around him just like him when I wear it like that. Dad, this is for you. Love you. And I’ll be seeing you really, really soon again. I just wish that he could be out here for sure.”

There was a time when Albert never left his side at the track, whether he was racing Pro Stock Motorcycle or the pinnacle of drag racing – Top Fuel. And there’s a reason why. Albert and Andre admittedly have lived vicariously through the baby boy. 

“I was living their dream,” Brown said with a smile. “Still am.”

The brothers Brown might have steered him towards the straight-line spot, but Grandma Lossie [Doloris] passed in 2022 and steered the family ship following his grandfather’s unexpected passing at 47. 

When Brown first approached her with the idea of going Top Fuel racing, she was on her way out of the door of the house, but not before offering, “Boy, are you out of your bleeping mind?”

Grandma Lossie returned home to encourage Brown to examine all the details carefully before proceeding, which he did without looking back. 

Brown has made them all proud, scoring 78 career national event victories in 519 races. The majority of those wins have come in a Top Fuel dragster, which he graduated from straight from Pro Stock Motorcycle. And remember, there’s the long Drag Radial win in his debut. 

Brown walks the fine line between being too big for his britches and not too small. His content is medium because he knows what could happen. 

Brown is still cautious about stepping out of line, fearful Grandma Lossie might somehow “slap him upside his head.”

But coming home, even if it’s a new home at Maple Grove Raceway, soothes the soul of what many consider the most down-to-earth drag racer in Top Fuel. 

If anyone has captured why Brown has become that hometown hero/drag racing fan favorite, muscleandhealth.com summed it up in a 2023 article.

“A lot of my peers and people I have raced with always say, ‘AB, everybody loves you.’ And I go, ‘Well, they love me because you have to give them love for them to love you in return,” Brown said in the article. 

“I think that’s the one thing that’s so easy to give. Many people treat people for who they are – their status – and for me, I don’t care who you are, where you come from or what you do. I cherish each and every person around me. I show them kindness and love every day.

“I’m just a normal guy who is a fierce competitor on the track. I brought my happiness and gave them experiences in life that they can hopefully share with others.”

And Brown might not have been waving as he passed physically, but in his heart, he was.