SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2025) – Four-time and defending NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown made a valiant run at back-to-back NHRA Sonoma Nationals titles, racing to a runner-up finish Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway. Driving the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster, Brown qualified No. 4 and knocked off a trio of standout drivers before coming up short in a final round between the two most recent Top Fuel world champions. The late-round finish bumped Brown into the No. 5 spot in points with just two regular-season races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship.
Brown lost traction early on his first qualifying attempt on Friday, but crew chief Brian Corradi threw down in the evening session, sending Brown on a 3.699-second pass at 332.18 mph to jump up to the provisional No. 4 spot. Like many of the other Top Fuel competitors, Brown struggled to get down the track in Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, but his Friday night success allowed him to lock in the No. 4 spot on the final qualifying order.
Sunday morning conditions allowed Brown and the Matco Tools team to get aggressive in their first-round match against 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion Ida Zetterström. Brown left the starting line first and recorded a 3.718 E.T. at 336.07 mph to hold off Zetterström’s 3.738 E.T. He left first again in the quarterfinals when he became just the second driver this season to leave on starting line phenom Justin Ashley. Brown beat Ashley to the finish line too, winning with a 3.74-second pass at 336.15 mph over Ashley’s 3.817. Another strong reaction time put Brown ahead of fellow past world champion Shawn Langdon in the semifinals, and he recovered quicker when both drivers lost traction and had to pedal. That sent Brown to his third final round of the season and the 144th of his career.
Brown grabbed yet another starting line advantage in his final-round showdown against Doug Kalitta. The Matco Tools dragster started to haze the tires, though, and a supercharger backfire forced Brown to slow to a 4.067 E.T. at 229.74 mph.
“The track got hot and trickier and our car is still aggressive in the middle of the racetrack,” said Brown, a five-time Sonoma winner. “In the final, we thought we had something for him. Our main focus was to try to run a 3.75 and the car was all over it. We were four thou slower than Doug to the 330-foot mark, which equates to a high 3.75 or a low 3.76 and we would’ve had enough to get the job done. We’re going to keep working. The good part for us is that we see the light at the end of the tunnel on the combination that we’re running where we can be aggressive and run good, and we can run when it gets hot.”
The runner-up finish helped Brown move around Brittany Force into the No. 5 position in the Top Fuel points standings with two races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship begins.
“Our main focus is to finish these last two races, Brainerd and Indy, very, very strong and try to come out with a win, if not win both of them,” said Brown, who celebrated his 75th race as the owner of AB Motorsports. “We want to make it to the top three going into the Countdown. That’s always our goal so we can have a better chance with six races left to get to the front of the pack. We’re going to keep our head down, keep fighting, keep digging, but I like the progress and I like where we’re at right now.”
Brown is one of several NHRA pro drivers who will take part in the popular 48th annual Night Under Fire match race on Aug. 1 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. After that, it’s back to the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 14-17, at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
Qualified: No. 4 (3.699 E.T. at 332.18 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.718 E.T. at 336.07 MPH defeated Ida Zetterström 3.739 E.T. at 323.12 MPH
E2: 3.740 E.T. at 336.15 MPH defeated Justin Ashley 3.817 E.T. at 322.42 MPH
E3: 4.195 E.T. at 251.85 MPH defeated Shawn Langdon 5.322 E.T. at 166.05 MPH
E4: 4.067 E.T. at 229.74 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.752 E.T. at 334.57 MPH
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):
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Brown lost traction early on his first qualifying attempt on Friday, but crew chief Brian Corradi threw down in the evening session, sending Brown on a 3.699-second pass at 332.18 mph to jump up to the provisional No. 4 spot. Like many of the other Top Fuel competitors, Brown struggled to get down the track in Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, but his Friday night success allowed him to lock in the No. 4 spot on the final qualifying order.
Sunday morning conditions allowed Brown and the Matco Tools team to get aggressive in their first-round match against 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion Ida Zetterström. Brown left the starting line first and recorded a 3.718 E.T. at 336.07 mph to hold off Zetterström’s 3.738 E.T. He left first again in the quarterfinals when he became just the second driver this season to leave on starting line phenom Justin Ashley. Brown beat Ashley to the finish line too, winning with a 3.74-second pass at 336.15 mph over Ashley’s 3.817. Another strong reaction time put Brown ahead of fellow past world champion Shawn Langdon in the semifinals, and he recovered quicker when both drivers lost traction and had to pedal. That sent Brown to his third final round of the season and the 144th of his career.
Brown grabbed yet another starting line advantage in his final-round showdown against Doug Kalitta. The Matco Tools dragster started to haze the tires, though, and a supercharger backfire forced Brown to slow to a 4.067 E.T. at 229.74 mph.
“The track got hot and trickier and our car is still aggressive in the middle of the racetrack,” said Brown, a five-time Sonoma winner. “In the final, we thought we had something for him. Our main focus was to try to run a 3.75 and the car was all over it. We were four thou slower than Doug to the 330-foot mark, which equates to a high 3.75 or a low 3.76 and we would’ve had enough to get the job done. We’re going to keep working. The good part for us is that we see the light at the end of the tunnel on the combination that we’re running where we can be aggressive and run good, and we can run when it gets hot.”
The runner-up finish helped Brown move around Brittany Force into the No. 5 position in the Top Fuel points standings with two races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship begins.
“Our main focus is to finish these last two races, Brainerd and Indy, very, very strong and try to come out with a win, if not win both of them,” said Brown, who celebrated his 75th race as the owner of AB Motorsports. “We want to make it to the top three going into the Countdown. That’s always our goal so we can have a better chance with six races left to get to the front of the pack. We’re going to keep our head down, keep fighting, keep digging, but I like the progress and I like where we’re at right now.”
Brown is one of several NHRA pro drivers who will take part in the popular 48th annual Night Under Fire match race on Aug. 1 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. After that, it’s back to the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 14-17, at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
Qualified: No. 4 (3.699 E.T. at 332.18 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.718 E.T. at 336.07 MPH defeated Ida Zetterström 3.739 E.T. at 323.12 MPH
E2: 3.740 E.T. at 336.15 MPH defeated Justin Ashley 3.817 E.T. at 322.42 MPH
E3: 4.195 E.T. at 251.85 MPH defeated Shawn Langdon 5.322 E.T. at 166.05 MPH
E4: 4.067 E.T. at 229.74 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.752 E.T. at 334.57 MPH
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Shawn Langdon | 990 |
| 2 | Tony Stewart | 942 |
| 3 | Justin Ashley | 879 |
| 4 | Doug Kalitta | 869 |
| 5 | Antron Brown | 779 |
| 6 | Brittany Force | 738 |
| 7 | Clay Millican | 615 |
| 8 | Steve Torrence | 569 |
| 9 | Josh Hart | 539 |
| 10 | Shawn Reed | 422 |
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