Antron Brown Advances to Final Elimination Quad in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) – Antron Brown advanced to the final elimination quad on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, effectively improving his standing on the Top Fuel leaderboard by three positions.

The newly minted team owner was looking to rebound after a frustrating outing at the most recent NHRA race in Gainesville, Fla. and this weekend’s event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway appeared to be the ‘get healthy’ weekend Brown had been seeking. The three-time Top Fuel world champ posted the third-quickest run of the final qualifying session to place the Matco Tools dragster in the top half of the field, starting from the eighth seed on Sunday morning. Brown was first out of the gate during the first elimination round, and used that holeshot advantage to help him cross the finish line first, setting up a meeting with Clay Millican, Austin Prock, and Tony Schumacher in the second elimination quad. Once again, Brown’s machine-like reaction time coupled with a solid 3.749 E.T. helped him claim one of two win lights and earn a bid to round three.

The final elimination quad featured a juggernaut of heavy hitters with each lane occupied by a current or former world champion. Against Schumacher, Brittany Force, and Steve Torrence, Brown was quick off of the starting line but lost traction shortly after and was forced to give up the round win to Force and Torrence. By recording a semifinal appearance, Brown advanced into the Top 10, but he’s most impressed with the way his team was able to rebound and put together consistent full pulls throughout the weekend.

“I’m super proud of all of my guys this weekend here at Vegas for the Four-Wide Nationals. We put those Matco Tools to work and the Lucas Oil was cooking,” said Brown, a five-time winner on ‘The Strip.’ “I thought we had something for them in the finals the way this car has been running this weekend. To that point, we made it down the track six straight times and got quicker each lap, but as soon I hit the gas, I felt a cylinder go out, and I knew it dropped a hole because it felt real lazy to the 60-foot and then it shook the tires. That being said, we did a great job this weekend. To go down the track and be so consistent and improve the performance on each lap after what happened in Gainesville is just the awesome rebound weekend that we needed. That first win is right around the corner and we can’t wait to get to Houston.”

Brown and the Matco Tools/Lucas Oil/Toyota team compete next at the NHRA Spring Nationals in Baytown, Texas, April 22 – 24.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.762 E.T. at 324.98 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.754 E.T. at 328.86 MPH defeated Tony Schumacher 3.880 E.T. at 310.13 MPH, Mike Salinas 3.779 E.T. at 326.32 MPH, BYE
E2: 3.749 E.T. at 320.20 MPH defeated Austin Prock 3.783 E.T. at 327.59 MPH, Clay Millican 3.786 E.T. at 323.89 MPH
E3: 5.086 E.T. at 154.65 MPH defeated by Brittany Force 3.718 E.T. at 338.000 MPH, Steve Torrence 3.756 E.T. at 326.71 MPH

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Point Standings (unofficial):