This weekend, NHRA Top Fuel dragster superstar Antron Brown returns to the Texas Motorplex, where he’ll be competing at the Texas NHRA FallNationals. Brown, driver of Matco’s ‘Tools for the Cause’ Top Fuel Dragster, is eagerly chasing a monumental 75th national event victory, aiming to secure his place further in NHRA history.
Brown is a two-time Texas NHRA FallNationals event champion, securing titles in 2012 and 2016. In 2022, Brown showcased impressive feats by qualifying fourth and reached the semifinals, notably defeating drag racing champions Tony Schumacher and Spencer Massey.
In the previous event at the Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Brown qualified third and achieved a quarterfinal finish. Brown stands at 18 races this season with three wins, two runner-up finishes, and one No. 1 qualifier position.
A special highlight for this month is Brown’s participation in supporting Matco’s ‘Tools for the Cause’ initiative with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Sporting a pink livery for the second time in three races, 15% of the sales from select TFC items sold in October will benefit BCRF. Since its inception in 2012, ‘Tools for the Cause’ has generously contributed over two million dollars towards breast cancer research.
Honoring his significant achievements and contribution to the sport, Brown was recently designated a Texas Motorplex Legend and will be commemorated with unique ‘Legend spurs’ on Friday night preceding the weekend’s inaugural nitro qualifying session. This acknowledgment recognizes Brown’s distinctive record of victories in two different professional categories: Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel. His first triumph in the NHRA national event was at the Texas Motorplex in 1999, where he defeated AB Motorsports Accelerate Program’s Angelle Sampey.
Reflecting on his journey and the upcoming race, Brown stated, “I’m especially looking forward to returning to Dallas this year. I’m being inducted into their Legends of Texas Motorplex Hall of Fame, which is really exciting. My first win ever was at that racetrack in 1999 when I was competing in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and I actually beat Angelle (Sampey) in the final. Now, fast forward more than 20 years and we’re coming back there to kick butt and take names.”
With 74 national event victories under his belt, Brown is resolute in seeking his 75th victory this weekend. The No. 5 ranked driver and second-year team owner is fervently pursuing a fourth series title and aims to achieve the first for AB Motorsports.
“Our Matco Tools team is hoping that Dallas could be our pivotal turning point in the Countdown,” continued Brown. “We’ve been performing well lately, it’s just time now for us to put it all together on race day. We’ve been qualifying well, top five, top two, top three, dropping low E.T. of the round; I’m just really proud of the performance of our team. We’ve been putting the hard work in, we just need to put all of the right puzzle pieces together on race day.”
This story was originally published on October 12, 2023. 
