Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Pre-Race Report
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Event 9 of 21
Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park
Norwalk, Ohio
June 23 - 25, 2023
Event 9 of 21
Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park
Norwalk, Ohio
June 23 - 25, 2023
ANTRON BROWN: Driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Event Highlights:
2014 event champion
Two-time runner-up (2010, 2015)
2022 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Event Recap:
Qualified 11th; First round exit (defeated by Doug Kalitta in E1)
Last Event (Bristol):
Qualified 15th; Event runner-up (defeated Brittany Force in E1, Tony Schumacher in E2, Doug Kalitta in E3; defeated by Justin Ashley in E4)
2023 Statistics:
Eight races; one win, one runner-up, one No. 1 qualifier
Career Statistics:
491 races; 72 wins, 50 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Event Highlights:
2014 event champion
Two-time runner-up (2010, 2015)
2022 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Event Recap:
Qualified 11th; First round exit (defeated by Doug Kalitta in E1)
Last Event (Bristol):
Qualified 15th; Event runner-up (defeated Brittany Force in E1, Tony Schumacher in E2, Doug Kalitta in E3; defeated by Justin Ashley in E4)
2023 Statistics:
Eight races; one win, one runner-up, one No. 1 qualifier
Career Statistics:
491 races; 72 wins, 50 No. 1 qualifiers
Powered to a runner-up finish at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., the most recent event on tour
Will participate in the Norwalk #2Fast2Tasty Challenge presented by Mission Foods on Saturday
Enters the weekend ranked fifth (tied) in the Top Fuel standings, and is within one round-win of the two drivers ranked ahead of him
Recently achieved two significant milestones:
Won his 800th competition round during the Bristol event, and is one of only six drivers in NHRA history to have as many round wins
Captured his 50th No. 1 qualifier in Epping, N.H.
Norwalk is considered a homecoming race for the Matco Tools Top Fuel team:
Matco’s corporate headquarters are located approximately 75 miles east of the track in Stow, Ohio, and Summit’s headquarters are located in Tallmadge, Ohio
Crew chief Brian Corradi is an Ohio native, and is the owner of the popular Master’s Pizza restaurant with multiple locations in the Cleveland area, and asst. crew chief Mark Oswald originally hails from Cincinnati
Brown’s 18 y.o. son, Anson, recently took home a $75K prize for defeating 2013 Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon in the final round of the TB Promotions Twin Fifties Bracket Race, contested last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway
Fan Events:
Wednesday, 4 – 7 p.m., Summit Racing driver meet-and-greet and car show at Summit Racing’s Ohio retail store (1200 Southeast Ave., Tallmadge)
Saturday, 11 – 11:30 a.m., #2Fast2Tasty autograph session at the Mission Foods midway display.
Quotable:
“Norwalk is always a big race for us because we have a lot of family and a lot of partners in the northern Ohio area. Matco Tools’ corporate headquarters are located in Stow, Summit Racing Equipment, which came on with us when we started ABM, they’re Ohio-based; Race Winning Brands, and of course, Master’s Pizza. So, we’re really looking forward to getting out there and getting things off to a great start. Like always, we want to qualify in the top three, get some bonus points, and put ourselves in a good starting position on race day. We qualified for this weekend’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and we’re hoping to put one of those in the bag and carry that on into Sunday. We ended up falling slightly short at the last race in Bristol, so we’re ready to take it one step further this weekend in Norwalk.”
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 72-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.
For more information, visit www.antronbrown.com or @antronbrown on Twitter, and @antronbrowntf on Instagram and Facebook.
