NORWALK, Ohio (June 29, 2025) – Four-time and current NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown experienced a bit of déjà vu in the opening round of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals today as he faced Doug Kalitta in the first round of eliminations for the second consecutive time. The two Top Fuel titans gave fans an exciting side-by-side drag race, but it was Kalitta who crossed the finish line first for the early round victory.

The Matco Tools team, led by tuner Brian Corradi, started qualifying off on a strong note, laying down a solid run of 3.864 seconds at 328.30 mph on Friday afternoon. Later that evening, in front of packed grandstands at Summit Motorsports Park, Brown launched his 12,000-horsepower dragster into the night with header flames blazing as he raced to the finish line, recording an impressive run of 3.755 at 333.33 mph. It was the second-quickest lap of the session, earning the team owner and driver two valuable bonus points. While Saturday’s qualifying sessions didn’t get any traction for the two-time event winner, that blistering pass from Friday night kept Brown in the No. 2 qualifier position on the ladder.

Facing fellow Top Fuel world champion Kalitta in the first round of eliminations, all eyes were on the two competitors as they faced off against each other. It was a brilliant Top Fuel showdown nearly all the way to the stripe with Kalitta ultimately outpacing Brown to turn on the round one win-light.

“The weekend started off great,” said Brown. “Qualifying went well. We got where we wanted to, and, lo and behold, we didn’t think that by qualifying second, we would have to run Doug Kalitta (who qualified 15th). We threw what we had at it, but we’ve still got some work cut out for us. We had a disc that ran out on us, so we nuked the clutch out of the car on that run. We slowed down way more than we should have. I think we would’ve needed to run 3.80 in order to get the job done and we were trying to run a 3.84. Hindsight says we’ve got to keep going and keep working. Our main focus right now is that we’re going to work on getting our car to act like we want it to act and get more aggressive in our runs. We got something sorted out because we had a better 60-foot time on that run. That’s been plaguing us for a little bit. Now we’re going to get ready for Seattle. We’ll have four qualifying laps there. Our main focus right now is to get better and better before the Countdown.”

The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals are especially significant for AB Motorsports, as several team sponsors are based in the Ohio area.

“Last year was huge for us because we won here, and we really wanted to come back and do it again,” added Brown. “It was still a good outing here with all our partners involved. We love catering to the folks here from Matco Tools, Summit Racing Equipment, and Race Winning Brands. They are all based in Ohio. It beats you up a little bit because the day came to an end a little bit shorter than we would have liked. That’s how racing goes. You get the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We’ve just got to get out of this funk. We have three races with a first-round loss. I think going into this next one, we’re going to pull out some wins. We are capable. It’s got to be the right place at the right time.”

The Matco Tools Top Fuel team will have two weekends off before they head west to Seattle for the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, July 18-20.

Qualified: No. 2 (3.755 E.T. at 333.33 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.903 E.T. at 322.50 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.816 E.T. at 327.43 MPH

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


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