Antron Brown has been one of the eight drivers to qualify for the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Top Fuel and compete for the $100,000 prize during the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis at all four incarnations of the event but had only accumulated one round-win in the special event before this year. The Matco Tools driver quadrupled his round-win total in his first win at the event.
“We’re just pumped,” said Brown. “It’s hard to make it in, and we’ve been in this race four years in a row. It finally worked out for us this year.”
Brown met “tool wars” rival Doug Kalitta in the final round, the first such final for either driver in the event. Brown had the decided advantage with previous runs of 3.868 and 3.826, which may have provided enough intimidation to win in the final despite running a flawed 4.147 at 220.62 mph. Kalitta lost traction and coasted to a 6.588 at 86.46.
“The main thing is we were able to sneak away with that win,” said Brown. “When you race a Kalitta car in the final for 100 grand, we knew that we had our work cut out for us. We both didn’t make it down because we were pressing so hard knowing what was at stake. We threw away a good qualifying session going for 100 grand, but I’ll throw away a good qualifying session every day to win 100 grand from Traxxas.
“My car was getting ghost. When it got ghost and got past that [330-foot marker], I knew we were on it. I didn’t know where Doug was at. We didn’t count on having to slap the pedal. We were pressing hard, and it didn’t hold up. I saw the finish line coming up when the car quit on me. That was the longest 1,000 feet I’ve had in my life. I saw the $100,000 go down to $10,000 down to nothing. Then, I saw the light come on at the finish line, and it was like I hit the jackpot and won the lottery.”
This isn’t Brown’s first special event victory during the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. When he was racing Pro Stock Motorcycle, he won the Pro Bike Battle in 2000 when he defeated Angelle Sampey on a final-round holeshot.
“We came out here testing last weekend, and we’ve been working real hard on trying to make our car more efficient, being able to run fast when it’s warm out,” said Brown. “It worked today. We made good runs in the heat on the first two laps.”
