On a day that summed up just how incredible the competition is in the Top Fuel category, Antron Brown’s fourth world championship – and first as a team owner – came only after a remarkable run through a loaded field at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Eight years after he won his third title, Brown had to earn every bit of his fourth championship at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, knocking off Justin Ashley, Shawn Langdon, Brittany Force and Doug Kalitta to cap off one of the biggest days in his spectacular career.
It was necessary work to win a title, but by no means was it easy work for Brown and his standout team. Ashley entered the weekend as the points leader, Langdon was third (one point behind Brown), and both Kalitta and Force were in championship contention. An early defeat would have ended Brown’s championship dreams, but the four-time champion embraced the moment – as he always seems to do in pressure situations – and slipped past Ashley in a side-by-side thriller in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster.
He then got past Langdon and clinched the championship against Force, going 3.693-seconds to claim NHRA’s ultimate prize. For good measure, Brown finished the weekend with his 80th career win, the final brushstroke on a championship that puts the amazing Brown in even more elite territory.
“This is what you have to do to win a championship,” Brown said. “If you look at the Top Fuel class right now, it’s incredible. You can keep going down the list. I’m telling you, pound-for-pound, Top Fuel is the toughest class out there. Just winning the first round now is like winning a final round.
“You’ve got to be at a top-notch level no matter who you’re racing. We’ve done our fair share of winning this year and once we got in a groove, it really helped our confidence. But no matter what, this is a team that stays humble and stays hungry, and we’re always learning to improve. That’s what we did Sunday in Pomona.”
All year, Brown and his team rose to occasion. By winning a fourth championship, he joins Tony Schumacher, Steve Torrence and Joe Amato as the only Top Fuel drivers to win four or more championships, while his 80 wins are good for sixth-most in NHRA history.
This season was filled with highlights for the fan-favorite, starting the year with a victory and a huge payday at the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout. Brown then won regular-season races in Chicago, Norwalk and Sonoma, entering the Countdown to the Championship fifth in points.
He was a dynamo to open the postseason, winning back-to-back races in Reading and Charlotte to jump into the points lead. But as quickly as things came together, adversity came in the loaded Top Fuel field, as Brown post just two round wins at the next three races, falling to second in points.
Nobody, though, could take command in that stretch – another nod to the incredible competition in the class – giving Brown an opportunity to finish the job in Pomona. He did that and more, knocking off the points leader and three world champions to capture his first championship since officially forming AB Motorsports.
“This is super special,” Brown said. “We just never lost faith. It’s truly been a blessing. It hasn’t been easy and we’ve had those races where you’ve had to do the unthinkable to get it done, and I’m so proud of my team for getting it done. We’ve been through these moments time and time again to win a championship. That’s where the experience kicks in and it was a lot of fun to go through them.”
It was certainly a difficult road, as Brown qualified just 12th in Pomona to set up the marquee matchup with Ashley right off the bat. Brown was stellar on the starting line and had just enough to squeak past Ashley, going 3.696 to his 3.704. After a 3.693 against Force, Brown closed out the day with a 3.681 to defeat Kalitta and claim his sixth victory of the season.
Brown was perfect in final-rounds in 2024, again rising to the occasion when the situation called for it. He remained firmly focused on a championship all season, but now that it’s here, the champion was thrilled to take a minute to reflect on what he accomplished and the road it took to get there.
“I’m not one of those people to look at all those accolades. I’m always hungry for the next, so this championship is going to sit well this off-season,” Brown said. “This class is only going to get tougher, so we’re going to have to keep working harder. Looking at all the things we’ve done the last three years, it’s been incredible. I’m just so blessed to be on a team with the group of people we have. Everyone on this team digs in deep and we have so many key people who make this happen. That’s a testament to all the work we do together. We have a lot of strong links and we have a group that never quits.”
The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 6-9 with the NHRA Gatornationals at legendary Gainesville Raceway. For more information about NHRA, including the 2025 schedule, please visit www.NHRA.com.
NHRA PR
