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NHRA Arizona Nationals
Event 2 of 21
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
Chandler, Ariz.
March 24-26, 2023
Antron Brown on the Bad Side of a Good Drag Race in Phoenix
CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 26, 2023) – Three-time NHRA Arizona Nationals event champion Antron Brown started from the No. 9 seed for the final running of the Phoenix-area event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. He posted a 3.739 E.T. aboard his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster to draw No. 8 qualifier Shawn Langdon as his first-round opponent.Brown and Langdon were the first two competitors to hit the track on Sunday morning and kicked off the show with an exciting side-by-side race. The two Toyota Racing teammates charged hard down the track but despite clocking a strong 3.702-second at 332.34-mph pass, which held up to be the second-quickest of the session, Langdon’s slightly quicker reaction time helped propel him to the finish line first, ending Brown’s day early.
“We made some strides here at Phoenix after a tough first few qualifying laps,” said Brown, who earned his Top Fuel license at Wild Horse Pass in 2008. “Our performance definitely stepped up, and we ran the second-quickest pass of the first round and lost a really, really close race to Shawn Langdon after winning a really, really close one against those guys at Gainesville two weeks ago.
“We’re going into Pomona with a strong car. It’s great to have another race in just a few days. Our heads are high with this Matco Tools team for Lucas Oil and Toyota. We need to qualify well and take it one round at a time. It’s going to be great conditions over there at Pomona in the low 60s. It’ll be fast. Our car is making a lot of horsepower and running on mean, and we like the direction that we’re headed.”
The No. 9-ranked AB Motorsports team won’t have to wait long to take another shot at picking up their first Wally trophy of the 2023 season. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series continues on to Pomona, Calif. next weekend for the NHRA Winternationals, March 31 – April 2.
About AB Motorsports
Established in 2019, AB Motorsports is a single-car NHRA Top Fuel team owned and operated by three-time world champion Antron Brown. The team competes on the 21-race NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit thanks to the support of Matco Tools, Lucas Oil, Toyota, SiriusXM, Factory Motor Parts and its FVP brand, Hangsterfer’s Metal Working Lubricants, and Summit Racing Equipment.Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., AB Motorsports made its on-track debut in 2022, racing to three wins in four final rounds to finish second in the standings in its rookie season.
Brown, who serves as both the driver and owner of the AB Motorsports Top Fuel dragster, is the only competitor in NHRA history to have won races in both the Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories. Brown is a 71-time NHRA national event winner and became the first Black driver to win a major U.S. auto racing championship when he captured the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel series title.
