Antron Brown (born March 1, 1976) is an American drag racing driver, currently driving the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster for AB Motorsports in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Brown is the first African American champion in drag racing and motorsports history, winning the Top Fuel dragster championship in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2024.[3][4]
| Antron Brown | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Brown in 2013 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | March 1, 1976 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| NHRA Top Fuel career | |
| Current team | AB Motorsports Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Crew chief | Brian Corradi |
| Former teams | Team 23 Racing David Powers Motorsports Don Schumacher Racing |
| Championships | 4 (TF) |
| Wins | 80 (64 TF, 16 PSM) |
| Fastest laps | |
| Previous series | |
| Pro Stock Motorcycle | |
| Championship titles | |
| 2012, 2015, 2016, 2024 | 4 (Top Fuel Dragster) |
| Last updated on: May 5, 2021. | |
Early life
editBrown lived in Trenton, New Jersey until age six, when his family moved to his grandmother's 10-acre farm in rural Chesterfield Township, New Jersey following the death of his grandfather.[5] His father Albert ran a septic tank service, and was a drag racer at the sportsman level. Antron maintained the cars as a child and began racing motorcycles at age six and motocross at age 12, practicing on a course he built on the farm. He ran his first competitive drag race as a high school senior.[5][6]
Brown studied at Northern Burlington County Regional High School before becoming a track star at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey as a sprinter and long jumper, graduating in 1997 with an associate's degree in business administration. After being offered a full scholarship to run track for Long Island University, he was contacted by football player Troy Vincent (married to Brown's cousin) who was starting a racing team.[7]
Racing career
editBrown raced in the NHRA's Pro Stock Motorcycle division from 1998 to 2007, running his first three years with Vincent's Team 23 Racing. Brown won 16 events in the motorcycle division, and had a best finish of 2nd in points in 2001 and 2006.[6] In 2008 he switched to Top Fuel dragsters.[7] Brown won the Top Fuel championship in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2024.[4] As of the end of the 2022 season, Brown has 71 NHRA wins.[8]
Personal life
editBrown currently resides in Pittsboro, Indiana with his wife Billie Jo and three children, Anson, Adler, and Arianna.[6] He is also an extremely devout Christian.[9]
Notable: Ran quick enough in the 100-meter dash to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1997.[10]
In popular culture
editBrown had an appearance as an appraiser in episode 8 ("The Fast and The Curious") of the third season of the A&E reality show Storage Wars.[11][12] He also appeared in episode 3 of Idris Elba: No Limits as Elba's drag racing instructor. He now co-hosts Top Gear America with Tom Ford and William Fichtner. Brown featured in the fifteenth season of Discovery's Wheeler Dealers, where he faced off against a 1965 Barracuda driven by Ant Antstead.
Crypto currency
editOn October 7, 2022, the NHRA Coin Antron Brown Edition NFT[13] became available on the OpenSea NFT Marketplace.
References
edit- ^ {{cite web |url=https://www.nhra.com/driver/antron-brown/996
- ^ {{cite web |url=https://www.nhra.com/driver/antron-brown/996
- ^ Geiger, Rob (November 26, 2012). "First Timers". Autoweek. 62 (24): 68–69. ISSN 0192-9674.
- ^ a b "Brown & Enders Lock Up Championships". National Speed Sport News. Turn 3 Media LLC. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ^ a b Caldwell, Dave. "Sprinter Turned Driver Is a Quick Study in Acceleration", The New York Times, August 30, 2009. Accessed November 26, 2013. "Brown, a 33-year-old native of Chesterfield, N.J., could become the first African-American to win a major N.H.R.A. championship.... Brown lived in Trenton until he was 6. When his grandfather died, his family moved to his grandmother's 10-acre farm in Chesterfield, in the rural part of Burlington County."
- ^ a b c "ABOUT ANTRON BROWN: Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragste". [www.shoeracing.com Don Schumacher Racing]. Don Schumacher Racing. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ^ a b Hoppes, Lynn (November 30, 2012). "Antron Brown's path to history wasn't easy". ESPN Playbook. ESPN. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ "Antron Brown". NHRA. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "Biography – Antron Brown Racing". Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ "Antron Brown". NHRA. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ Antron Brown (official site), BARRY WEISS, A&E'S 'STORAGE WARS' HEAD TO LAS VEGAS SEEKING HELP FROM ANTRON BROWN DURING NHRA EVENT, March 28, 2012, Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.
- ^ Don Schumacher Racing, 2012 Shoe's News (newsletter), Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.
- ^ OpenSea. "NHRA COIN ANTRON BROWN FREEDOM EDITION - NHRA DIgital Collection". OpenSea. Retrieved 2022-10-10.