Antron Brown, three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion and owner of AB Motorsports, has joined the lineup of featured speakers for the 5th Annual Race Industry Week, taking place Monday through Thursday, December 2–5, 2024.
No charge to attend. Click here to register. Race Industry Week is brought to you by EPARTRADE, RACER, and SPEED SPORT. For more information, please click here.
About Antron Brown:
Antron Brown dreamed of driving one of the world’s most iconic racecars, but never truly believed that one day he would, let alone win three world championships.
His vibrant personality, perseverance, intelligence, athleticism, and deeply held religious convictions helped plot the course to getting a job driving in NHRA drag racing’s ultimate category of Top Fuel in 2008. And just four years later, the New Jersey native was crowned the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel world champion along with his Matco Tools teammates while driving for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR).
Achieving that championship milestone enabled Brown to become the first Black driver to win a major U.S. auto racing season championship. That accomplishment, coupled with his commitment to helping young Americans, earned him two prestigious honors in 2013.
In January 2012, he was selected to NBC’s 2013 edition of ‘theGrio’s 100’ list that features Black industry, sports and community leaders. He was featured on a segment of NBC’s Today show to help celebrate Black History Month. Eight months later, he was at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City along with Terry Bradshaw, James Worthy, Dave Winfield, Nick Faldo, Shawn Johnson and other renowned athletes at the 28th annual Great Sports Legends Dinner to benefit The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.
“I never sat back and thought about it, but if I can be an inspiration for kids out there – not just African-Americans, just Americans period – and give them somebody they can look up to that’s positive who actually never settled in life for things that people told them they may not ever achieve then it makes this accomplishment even more special.
“Even some of my own family members told me that I could never be a professional racer. I even doubted myself that I would someday be a Top Fuel or Funny Car racer because it just seemed to be so far out of reach.”
Brown lives in Pittsboro, Ind., with his family. He is active in several community activities including church, NHRA Jr. Drag Racing, and various youth-related programs.
Brown grew up at dragstrips when he tagged along with his father, Albert, and uncle, Andre, who were – and continue to be – avid NHRA Sportsman racers. They followed the lead of their late grandfather, Albert Brown, who began drag racing in the 1960s and passed the passion to Brown’s father and uncle.
In 2013, Brown passed the sport to his oldest son, Anson, and daughter, Arianna, by introducing them to NHRA Jr. Drag Racing, which is for children as young as five driving one-half scale dragsters.
Anson became the first fourth-generation Brown to compete in drag racing when he began driving an NHRA Jr. Dragster. He proved to be a fast learner by winning six race titles as a rookie in 2013. In 2023, he graduated to the Super Comp category and won a big-money $75,000 payout race in St. Louis in only his second event. Arianna is the first Brown woman to compete in drag racing, while youngest son Adler joined his brother and sister and is now an avid competitor.
Prior to making his debut in the Top Fuel category in 2008, Brown found success in Pro Stock Motorcycle from 1998 to 2007.
Brown first operated a motorcycle at age four shortly after learning how to ride a bicycle with training wheels. When he was 12, he began competing on 80-cc bikes in motocross.
His first competitive action on the dragstrip came during his senior year of high school aboard a Suzuki GSXR 1100 that Brown routinely guided to quarter-mile runs in 9.20 seconds at nearly 160 mph.
His passion for motorcycles never waned.
While in his college dorm, he fielded a phone call from star NFL cornerback Troy Vincent, who asked if Brown was capable of riding a Pro Stock Motorcycle. Vincent, who was married to one of Brown’s cousins, started Team 23 Racing a year later and Brown’s dream of racing professionally became a reality. Another member of the team was famed NHRA rider Dave Schultz, who mentored the animated rookie. In 10 seasons on his Suzuki, Brown amassed 16 PSM victories in 33 final rounds, 11 No. 1 qualifying awards, and twice finished second in the points standings (2001 and 2006).
After a decade as one of the premier riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category, Brown signed with David Powers Motorsports to drive the Matco Tools dragster in 2008.
Brown made a seamless transition to the Top Fuel class, earning the pole in his first career Top Fuel race at the 2008 Winternationals at Pomona with a blast of 4.495 seconds when racing was at a distance of 1,320 feet. He won in just his fourth Top Fuel start by edging three-time series champion Larry Dixon in the final round at Houston Raceway Park becoming the first driver in NHRA history to win races in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories.
In 2009, Brown drove for three different Top Fuel team owners, including Mike Ashley who sold his operation to DSR late in the season. That was a pivotal year for Brown because it was his first with crew chief Mark Oswald, the 1984 NHRA Funny Car champion.
That year, Brown won seven No. 1 qualifying positions and six event titles after advancing to the championship round 10 times.
Brown, who had ridden a Pro Stock Motorcycle for DSR from July of 2002 through the completion of the 2007 NHRA season, was back in the DSR stable driving for the organization’s newest Top Fuel team. He continued to drive for DSR until the end of the 2021 season. During that time, Brown won two more series championships (2015, 20216), and racked up dozens of race wins, including becoming the fourth driver in NHRA history to achieve 50 Top Fuel victories in 2018. Brown’s successes while at DSR led to him being named Autoweek magazine’s ‘Top Fuel Driver of the Decade’ for his dominant performance throughout the 2010s.
In early 2020, Brown announced the formation of AB Motorsports, a single-car Top Fuel operation with Brown at the helm calling the shots. He intended to make his team owner-debut at the start of 2021, and planned to spend the 2020 NHRA season transitioning from his role as ‘hired driver’ for DSR to the role of driver-owner for his new team. His plans suffered a bit of a roadblock when COVID-19 hit, delaying his 2021 team launch to 2022.
Brown’s core crew from DSR joined him on his new endeavor. Co-crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald continued to assume the tuning responsibilities on his 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster, with car chief Brad Mason leading the crew.
The 2022 Menards NHRA Nationals in Topeka, Kansas went down in the books as victory No. 1 for the new team. Two races later, the Matco dragster was back in the winner’s circle when Brown won the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals at his home track in Indianapolis, winning NHRA’s biggest race for the fourth time in his career. He went on to win a third event in Charlotte before ultimately earning the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard to close out AB Motorsports’ rookie season.
In 2023, the second-year team owner-driver secured his 50th No. 1 qualifier award in Epping, N.H., won his 800th competition round in Bristol, Tennessee, and competed in his 500th event during the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.H. where he also reset his career-best E.T. (3.655 seconds). The AB Motorsports team won three wins in five final rounds, including a fifth U.S. Nationals triumph. His 74 overall triumphs (16 in Pro Stock Motorcycle) rank seventh most among NHRA’s four professional categories.
Also 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 competed in three Top Alcohol Dragster events in 2023 with plans to run a full-season campaign in 2024 as she progresses toward the premier Top Fuel class where she will become a teammate of Brown’s.
When the 2024 NHRA season kicks off in Gainesville, Florida in March, Brown will begin the pursuit of his fourth series title with the support of longtime partners Matco Tools, Toyota, Hangsterfer’s, SiriusXM, Streamlight, and Western Tech. Lucas Oil, Summit Racing Equipment and Fire Dept. Coffee return for their third year with the AB Motorsports team, while Factory Motor Parts and its FVP brand will be along for the ride for a second season. GovX.com and Genesis Attachments join the team for the first time in 2024.
Brown has spoken to thousands of students as part of NHRA’s Y.E.S. (Youth Education Services) program as a representative of the U.S. Army, and regularly speaks with students at Western Technical College in El Paso, Texas. He also hosts groups of Western Tech interns, who join the AB Motorsports team on the NHRA circuit, throughout the year. Brown always makes it a point to stress the importance of setting goals and working to achieve them.
Brown excelled in football, basketball, and track and field at Northern Burlington County Regional High School in Columbus, N.J.
He earned an Associate of Arts degree in business administration from Mercer Junior College. While at Mercer, he competed on indoor and outdoor track circuits in multiple events including the long jump and 100-meter dash. He was quick enough in the 100 to receive an invitation to the 1998 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Brown was offered an athletic scholarship by Long Island University in 1997 but opted instead to pursue his professional drag racing dream.