Highs and Lows for Antron Brown in Brainerd as Indy Looms Large

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 17, 2025) – Antron Brown showed flashes of brilliance and battled through adversity at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, the 13th stop on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series tour. The four-time and reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion thrilled the passionate Brainerd fans with a 3.742-second pass on Friday to claim the coveted ‘Battle for the Rebel Axe’ trophy, but despite the momentum, a tire-smoking pass cut his Sunday short in the opening round of eliminations. The driver of the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster is now sixth in the Top Fuel points standings going into the final race of the NHRA regular season.

Qualifying saw ups and downs for Brown, who went up in smoke early in the first session on Friday but threw down a 3.742-second, 334.90 mph pass in the second session to win the ‘Battle for the Rebel Axe’ bonus payout and its custom guitar trophy. It was the quickest pass of the day and the quickest pass of the session, also earning Brown three bonus points. Saturday brought the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which Brown raced his way into when he made it to the semifinals at the most recent NHRA race in Sonoma. Brown, who won the last two Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges at Brainerd, lost traction and dropped cylinders in his match against Shawn Langdon. In the final session, Brown launched hard but popped the supercharger and coasted through to a 3.945 E.T. at 240.81 mph. He ended up No. 7 on the final qualifying order.

In the first pair of the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations on Sunday morning, Brown met up with Langdon again for a rematch of their #2Fast2Tasty Challenge race on Saturday. This time, Brown took a starting line advantage over the past world champion, but he drove into tire smoke early and had to watch as Langdon made the quickest pass of the round to move on.

“We definitely wanted to show out here in Brainerd,” said Brown, who was the runner-up at the recent Sonoma Nationals. “The weekend started off well. We did really good on Friday. On Saturday, we were just getting aggressive. We’re having some issues that we’re going to work out and we’re just getting it better. We pinpointed it and we know what’s going on, and now we’ve just got to flip that script. The best guys are on it. We’ve got Brian (Corradi), Brad (Mason), and all these Matco boys. We’re going to put the work in, we’ll get some things sorted out, and we’re going to get ready for the U.S. Nationals. That’s our last race to really get ready for this Countdown.”

The next race on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule, the prestigious U.S. Nationals, is set for Aug. 27-Sept. 1 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Brown is a five-time winner of the event, including two victories in Pro Stock Motorcycle and three in Top Fuel.

Qualified: No. 7 (3.742 E.T. at 334.90 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 6.742 E.T. at 93.16 MPH defeated by Shawn Langdon 3.683 E.T. at 334.90 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):