Antron Brown Holds On To Second-Place Points Position After Second-Round Exit in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (November 3, 2024) – Antron Brown’s effort to earn more points towards a fourth NHRA Top Fuel world championship at the NHRA Nevada Nationals hit a snag in the second round when he lost a close race to reigning world champion Doug Kalitta. Brown and the Matco Tools team kept themselves in the hunt, though, as he moved past the opening round that saw several other drivers drop out of contention Sunday morning at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the Matco Tools Toyota dragster will move on to the final race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship ranked second in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel standings.

Brown started qualifying in Las Vegas sitting second in points, just 44 points behind leader Justin Ashley. He hazed the tires in the first qualifying session, then threw down a flame-throwing 3.735-second pass at 321.65 mph in the second session to move up to No. 7. It was also the third-quickest pass of the round, giving Brown one bonus point. He matched that E.T. in the third session on Saturday, but slipped to ninth in the qualifying order. Finally, severe tire shake forced Brown to shut the car off early in the final qualifying session. He ended up No. 11 on the final order.

Brown paired up with motorsports icon Tony Stewart in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. The AB Motorsports driver and team owner moved first with a .053-second reaction time and ran a 3.724 E.T. at 330.39 mph to hold off Stewart’s 3.735 E.T. In the second round, Brown nearly repeated his first-round performance with a 3.728 E.T. at 330.72 mph, but Doug Kalitta beat him to the finish line with a 3.692 E.T.

“We were fighting all weekend,” said Brown, who’s the class leader in terms of race wins this season with five, including two in the Countdown. “We had a good first round, then second round, lost a good race to Doug Kalitta. Right now, everybody is still all in and we still have a good shot for the championship going into Pomona. Our main focus is to stay after (the race), get right, get tight, get tested, get ready, and we’re going to go after it in Pomona and just leave it on the table and see where we end up.”

Along with testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Monday, Brown will stay in Las Vegas for the SEMA Show, where he will lead the event’s prayer breakfast on Weds., Nov. 6 from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. To attend the breakfast, visit: https://theprayerbreakfast.com/#rsvp

The battle for Brown’s first world championship as a team owner and fourth overall will wrap up at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Nov. 15-17, at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif.

Qualified: No. 11 (3.735 E.T. at 323.27 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.724 E.T. at 330.39 MPH defeated Tony Stewart 3.735 E.T. at 328.94 MPH
E2: 3.728 E.T. at 330.72 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.692 E.T. at 336.23 MPH

Note:
After a lengthy track cleanup following the Top Fuel semifinal round, it was decided to postpone the remainder of the race until Monday morning. Top Fuel points as they stand now are below. Updated points can be found on NHRA.com following the conclusion of Monday’s elimination rounds.

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


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