NHRA PHOTO
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 7, 2025) – Four-time and defending Top Fuel
world champion Antron Brown powered to the first provisional pole of the
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season on Friday night at the
NHRA Gatornationals.
Under the Gainesville Raceway lights, Brown took his Matco Tools Top
Fuel dragster to the No. 1 spot when he powered to a 3.685-second at
334.24 mph pass during the second qualifying session at the series’
season opener. Top Fuel pilot Tripp Tatum also recorded a 3.685-second
pass, but Brown edged past to move to the top of the timing sheets
thanks to outpacing Tatum’s speed of 326.56 mph.
“This is our brand-new car that we had in Bradenton (Fla.) from the
PRO Superstar Shootout that got messed up when we cut a tire,” said
Brown. “We put a new front and back half on it. We weren’t trying to
go out there and kill it. We knew the track could hold a 64 or 65, 66,
anywhere in the mid-3.60 range. We just wanted to get high up in the top
half of the field, that was our goal. We didn’t want to shoot
ourselves in the foot. It felt smooth all the way down, didn’t try to
drift left or right, just went straight as an arrow. I got to the finish
line, shut it off, and saw that 68 on the board, and I thought okay,
that’s a good, solid run. We’ve got a good starting point.
“We were one of the first teams to run, and we had all those heavy
hitters back there. You’ve got Brittany (Force), you’ve got (Steve)
Torrence; Tripp Tatum threw down a stout run, we just nipped him on the
mile-per-hour. As the cars were going down the track, I saw my teammate
Shawn Reed go 69, I saw half the field run in the 60s. That just shows
you how mean this field is right now, and it’s only going to get
tougher, but it felt good that we held everyone off and my hats off to
my crew chief Brian Corradi, Brad Mason, and our whole Matco Tools team.
We did like we always do. We wanted to come in and qualify in the top
half of the field, ideally in the top three. That’s what our goal is
each and every weekend, and between here and Bradenton, we’ve done
that so far.”
With two more qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday, Brown will
play defense as he prepares to maintain his No. 1 position. If he can
stave off the competition, he will score his 51st career pole and third
at Gainesville Raceway. The fourth-year team owner will also attempt to
clinch his second consecutive Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout
win on Saturday after having won the specialty ‘race within a race’
in 2024. He will face former Top Fuel world champ Shawn Langdon in round
one of the Callout, which will be contested during the day’s first
qualifying round, scheduled for 12:15 p.m. local time.
Brown, a six-time winner in 2024, has one prior win at the facility
where he made his NHRA debut aboard a Pro Stock Motorcycle in 1998.
About AB Motorsports:
Established in 2019, AB Motorsports is a single-car NHRA Top Fuel team
owned and operated by four-time world champion Antron Brown. The team
competes on the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series circuit
thanks to the support of Matco Tools, Lucas Oil, Toyota, Factory Motor
Parts and its FVP brand, Hangsterfer’s Metal Working Lubricants,
Summit Racing Equipment, Streamlight, Western Technical College, and
Genesis Attachments.
Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, AB Motorsports made its on-track
debut in 2022 and has collected 12 wins throughout its first three
seasons.
Brown, who serves as both the driver and owner of the AB Motorsports Top
Fuel dragster, is the only competitor in NHRA history to have won races
in both the Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories. In addition to
his 50 No. 1 qualifier awards, Brown is an 80-time NHRA national event
winner and became the first Black driver to win a major U.S. auto racing
championship when he captured his first NHRA Top Fuel series title in
2012. He made history again in 2024 when he captured his first Top Fuel
crown as a team owner, becoming the first Black championship-winning
owner/driver.
In 2023, Brown launched the AB Motorsports Accelerate Program, an
all-encompassing driver development initiative aimed at helping racers
advance in their careers. Three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion
Angelle Sampey was the first athlete to join the Accelerate Program. She
made her Top Alcohol Dragster debut in October 2023 and continues to
compete in the category as she progresses toward the premier Top Fuel
class.