BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 8, 2025) – The Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented numerous challenges for Antron Brown and his Matco Tools Top Fuel team, and while a first-round exit left him disappointed, the four-time and reigning world champion is already looking at how he’ll rebound. Qualifying was anything but routine for Brown, who ended up in the unfavorable lane for his Sunday first-round matchup with Justin Ashley. Brown gave it his all, but he was one of several drivers to end up on the losing end due to traction issues in the right lane. Still, Brown leaves Bristol Dragway ranked No. 3 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points standings.

Brown started qualifying out with a solid pass despite dropping a few cylinders early on. However, his 4.002-second, 266.53 mph run was disqualified due to an issue with the angle on the back wing of his car. The Top Fuel category did not get another qualifying opportunity on Friday due to heavy rain. On Saturday, he went down the track without incident, getting his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster into the show with a run of 4.699 seconds at 164.37 mph to snag the No. 13 rung on the eliminations ladder.

In the first round of eliminations, Brown watched the two drivers who ran in front of him in the right lane drive into tire smoke within the first couple hundred feet past the starting line. Paired up against one of the quickest-reacting drivers in the class, Justin Ashley, Brown launched hard with a strong reaction time of his own, but he went into tire smoke by the half-track mark and had to coast to the finish line behind Ashley.

“This weekend was definitely a tough weekend – our roughest weekend of the year – but the good part is we learned a lot of things from here,” Brown said. “The weather beat us all up and some teams took advantage of it and we were the ones on the other side of it. The hardest part is to come out on the racetrack, and there’s no other words to say it – it was a one-lane racetrack, plain and simple. If you’re in the right lane, the odds were definitely stacked against you. It was a tenth-and-a-half difference from lane to lane, if you can even make it down. It’s sad for the fans. For us, there’s no excuses. We messed up in qualifying, and if we could be on the other side, we would be loving the racetrack. We’ve just got to keep doing what we do, put this one behind us in the books, and get ready for Richmond, Virginia.”

Brown and the AB Motorsports team will seek redemption in two weeks at the American Rebel Light Virginia Nationals, June 20-22, at Virginia Motorsports Park outside Richmond.

Qualified: No. 13 (4.699 E.T. at 164.37 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.403 E.T. at 199.11 MPH defeated by Justin Ashley 3.783 E.T. at 328.14 MPH

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


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