BRADENTON, Fla. (February 7, 2025) – Reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown powered to the No. 1 qualifying spot on Friday night at the SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout. Brown took his Matco Tools dragster to the Bradenton Motorsports Park finish line stripe in 3.644 seconds at 322.11 mph in the fourth and final session of qualifying for the eight-car field.
The run was an unofficial career-best E.T. for Brown, whose official NHRA career best stands at 3.655 seconds, and it was clocked in the team’s backup car. The four-time series champ suffered rear tire damage during the third qualifying pass, leading the team to switch to their spare car for the final session.
“It’s been a good weekend,” said Brown, who has spent much of his off-season at the Bradenton, Fla. facility keeping his driving skills sharp behind the wheel of a Pro Modified car. “We came back down here to Florida, did a lot of testing earlier in the week, and feel like we got ahead. It’s a bummer that we beat one car up, but we took our other car, which was actually last year’s championship car, and it showed out. Hats off to (crew chiefs) Brian Corradi, Brad Mason, and these Matco boys. They all stay resilient, dig deep, and keep working. It felt good to get that No. 1 qualifier but the coolest part about it was, we made our quickest pass ever. And actually, the car was on a 63 run but I shut it off a little early. All in all, it’s been a hard, rough, but great weekend all in one, and we’re going to regroup for tomorrow and see what we can do out here with all of the competition.”
Through the event’s unique ‘chip draw’ format, which has drivers randomly select their race day opponent via numbered chips, Brown drew his technical alliance teammate Shawn Reed as his first-round competition. Brown, who scored six event wins during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Series season, including the NHRA Finals, will look to keep his win streak going on Saturday when eliminations get underway at 1:45 p.m. ET.