BROWN SCORES FIRST TOP FUEL WIN OF THE YEAR
Antron Brown delivers in an all-Toyota Top Fuel final round to score his first win as a driver-owner
TOPEKA, Kan. (August 14, 2022) – Antron Brown earned his first win of the season in an all-Toyota final round against Steve Torrence. Brown never trailed on his way to his 53rd career NHRA victory. It was Brown’s first final round of the season, and he scored the first win for his first-year AB Motorsports. With the win, Brown moves inside the top-10 in the point standings. For Torrence, it was his third final round of the season for the four-time and defending Top Fuel champion.
In Funny Car action, both Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria scored opening round wins.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Heartland Motorsports Park
Race 14 of 22
TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Event Winner | W. 3.816 v. 4.123(B. Force) W. 3.812 v. 3.940(J. Hart) W. 4.757 v. 5.399(J. Ashley) W. 3.902 v. 4.443(S. Torrence) |
| Steve Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Finalist | W. 3.771 v. 4.489(K. Wurtzel) W. 3.833 v. 3.969(T. Schumacher) W. 4.105 v. 4.717(M. Salinas) L. 4.443 v. 3.902(A. Brown) |
| Justin Ashley | Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Semi-Finals | W. 3.842 v. 12.432(B. Hull) W. 3.843 v. 4.810(L. Pruett) L. 5.399 v. 4.757(A. Brown) |
| Shawn Langdon | DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Second Round | W. 3.814 v. 3.819(C. Millican) L. 4.544 v. 3.802(M. Salinas) |
| Doug Kalitta | KalittaAir.com/careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | First Round | L. 3.774 v. 3.779(T. Schumacher) |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| Ron Capps | NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Second Round | W. 4.401 v. 8.729(T. Wilkerson) L. 4.047. v. 4.033(J. Force) |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Second Round | W. Foul – Red Light v. DQ(J. Todd) L. 4.580 v. 3.987(R. Hight) |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | First Round | L. DQ v. Foul – Red Light(A. DeJoria) |
TOYOTA QUOTES
ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports
Final Result: Winner
What does this mean to you?
“This has been a lifelong dream, and I never imagined we were going to struggle like we did, but we all got through it together. It was high emotions, and I only wish my grandmom could’ve been here to see it. We lost her in December, and I know Brian (Corradi) has a heavy heart, too. He lost his mom a year prior, and it’s one of those deals where it doesn’t feel real because it’s a dream when you think about it from where we came from. I worked on motorcycles, Brian worked on cars, and never in a million years did we think we’d ever be able to go out on our own as a team. We talked about it for years; my wife, my family, and you never think it’s a possibility but here we are. We’ve been working our tails off, and we have such incredible support from Matco Tools, Lucas Oil, Hangsterfer’s, Toyota, SiriusXM, Western Tech, and Summit coming aboard; all of the people who make this possible, when it all comes together and you look at where you started to where we are now, the struggle is real, but this makes it all worthwhile.”
When do you think you turned the corner?
People weren’t even talking about us anymore, we weren’t even in the conversation. You could see it in some people’s expressions on their faces when the media was writing us off, but those on the outside didn’t know what was going on behind the ropes, and what goes on at the shop. I saw the chemistry change on our team before the Western Swing, and you could see the expression on the guys faces change, even though we were struggling because we knew we were on the right path. I never lost the faith, and all of our partners that are in this with us, they kept saying ‘you guys are going to be fine.’ I knew we turned the table there in Sonoma, and we just needed to qualify a little better and start getting in the right spot. We didn’t get in the right spot when we got here, but everyone put their heads down, and you grind. Once we got past first round today, and through second round, and third round, and went up against Steve-O in the final, and that win light came on it was just like ‘boom, is this real? Yup, it’s real.’ All that sweat and hard work, it was all worth it. From here on out, we’re only going forward. We put that one on the map today for AB Motorsports. It’s our first, but it’s not going to be our last. We’re right where we want to be, and we’re just going to keep getting better.”
STEVE TORRENCE, Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing
Final Result: Finalist
Can you talk about another final round appearance?
“It has been frustrating. When you’re used to winning 10, 11 races a year, to be shut out for this long, you know, is agonizing but we knew we needed to take a big step to stay competitive. It’s just taken a little longer than we wanted to get a handle on things and to get the driver and the race car both doing what they’re supposed to at the same time. Today was a big step forward and I can’t feel too bad since my brother (Antron) won his first race as a team owner.
I think we can still pick up a couple positions (in the point standings in the next two races), especially with extra points at Indy (at the Labor Day Dodge U.S. Nationals, which pays one-and-a-half times as many points as any other event in the regular season) and I still have all the faith in the world in these Capco Boys.”
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