Antron Brown earns fourth NHRA Top Fuel world championship Courtesy of NHRA

Eight years after he won his third title , Brown had to earn every bit of his fourth championship at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals , knocking off Justin Ashley , Shawn Langdon , Brittany Force and Doug Kalitta to cap off one of the biggest days in his spectacular career .

It was necessary work to win a title , but by no means was it easy work for Brown and his standout team . Ashley entered the weekend as the points leader , Langdon was third ( one point behind Brown ), and both Kalitta and Force were in championship contention . An early defeat would have ended Brown ’ s championship dreams , but the four-time champion embraced the moment – as he always seems to do in pressure situations – and slipped past Ashley in a side-by-side thriller in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools / Toyota dragster .

He then got past Langdon and clinched the championship against Force , going 3.693-seconds to claim NHRA ’ s ultimate prize . For good measure , Brown finished the weekend with his 80th career win , the final brushstroke on a championship that puts the amazing Brown in even more elite territory .

“ This is what you have to do to win a championship ,” Brown said . “ If you look at the Top Fuel class right now , it ’ s incredible . You can keep going down the list . I ’ m telling you , pound-forpound , Top Fuel is the toughest class out there . Just winning the first round now is like winning a final round .”

All year , Brown and his team rose to occasion . By winning a fourth championship , he joins Tony Schumacher , Steve Torrence , and Joe Amato as the only Top Fuel drivers to win four or more championships , while his 80 wins are good for sixth-most in NHRA history .

This season was filled with highlights for the fan-favorite , starting the year with a victory and

a huge payday at the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout . Brown then won regular-season races in Chicago , Norwalk , and Sonoma , entering the Countdown to the Championship fifth in points .

He was a dynamo to open the postseason , winning back-to-back races in Reading and Charlotte to jump into the points lead . But as quickly as things came together , adversity came in the loaded Top Fuel field , as Brown posted just two round wins at the next three races , falling to second in points .

Nobody , though , could take command in that stretch – another nod to the incredible competition in the class – giving Brown an opportunity to finish the job in Pomona . He did that and more , knocking off the points leader and three world champions to capture his first championship since officially forming AB Motorsports .

“ This is super special ,” Brown said . “ We just

never lost faith . It ’ s truly been a blessing . It hasn ’ t been easy and we ’ ve had those races where you ’ ve had to do the unthinkable to get it done , and I ’ m so proud of my team for getting it done . We ’ ve been through these moments time and time again to win a championship . That ’ s where the experience kicks in and it was a lot of fun to go through them .”

It was certainly a difficult road , as Brown qualified just 12th in Pomona to set up the marquee matchup with Ashley right off the bat . Brown was stellar on the starting line and had just enough to squeak past Ashley , going 3.696 to his 3.704 . After a 3.693 against Force , Brown closed out the day with a 3.681 to defeat Kalitta and claim his sixth victory of the season .

Brown was perfect in final rounds in 2024 , again rising to the occasion when the situation called for it . He remained firmly focused on a championship all season , but now that it ’ s here , the champion was thrilled to take a minute to reflect on what he accomplished and the road it took to get there .

“ I ’ m not one of those people to look at all those accolades . I ’ m always hungry for the next , so this championship is going to sit well this off-season ,” Brown said . “ This class is only going to get tougher , so we ’ re going to have to keep working harder . Looking at all the things we ’ ve done the last three years , it ’ s been incredible . I ’ m just so blessed to be on a team with the group of people we have . Everyone on this team digs in deep and we have so many key people who make this happen . That ’ s a testament to all the work we do together . We have a lot of strong links and we have a group that never quits .” DI

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF NHRA