Racing to Victory: Antron Brown's NHRA Championship Journey and Future Ambitions

NHRA Top Fuel World Championship Victory

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast . This is the award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show . Just ahead , NHRA top fuel pilot team owner and four-time world champion , Antron Brown . All right , Also , I'll give you my thoughts on driving the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV . Jeff has the Motor Minute and that's all coming up on this segment of the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show . A two-hour extravaganza . Two-hour extravaganza Okay , Well , last I looked , I guess it's a little less than two hours now because we've paid up about 41 seconds .

Speaker 2 0:39

Mr Mars , how are you this morning ? What are you doing down there ? I am doing wonderful .

Speaker 1 0:43

Well , we'll be the judge of that .

Speaker 2 0:45

Well , that's what I read on the bathroom wall Bucky's coming in this morning .

Speaker 3 0:50

There's no writing on the walls of Bucky . Do you have ?

Speaker 2 0:52

Antron , yet he's coming in now . How about that ?

Speaker 3 0:59

No , he just literally popped in .

Speaker 1 1:00

He just literally did . Well , I just wanted to make sure , because you know , mars was over there picking something Yep , a scab , or I don't know what it was . Anyway , ladies and gentlemen , the reigning world champion , nhra top fuel man about town . Here he is , antron Brown .

Speaker 2 1:19

Antron hey brother , it's good to see you . He's muted . Hold on , oh , he's got to unmute .

Speaker 1 1:31

Did . Brother , it's good to see you . He's muted . Hold on , he's got . Oh , he's got to unmute . Did you unmute your computer ? He's got you . Now , yeah , are we in the kitchen or are you in the clubhouse ? Whoops , there you go . I'll mute it again . You're muted again . So you , you tell me when you're ready to go , he .

Speaker 2 1:41

He's got it under control yeah .

Speaker 1 1:46

Here we go .

Speaker 3 1:47

He could drive a top-fuel dragster but that computer thing , that's another world 10,000 horsepower but that computer .

Speaker 4 1:53

Morning sir . Good morning , Good morning how y'all doing fellas .

Speaker 1 1:56

Well , we're doing fine . Did we wake you up ? Did we get you out of bed too early ?

Speaker 4 2:05

Well , I could . Well , I could use probably about three more out . No , just you're playing what you don't . I'm always up and ready , it's all good . Just been a little under the weather . Oh boy , over the holiday , brother , after the pri show I got hit pretty hard with a size infection . So recovering from that . But uh , doing good , doing good . How's everybody else doing ?

Speaker 1 2:19

well , we're doing just fine down here . Um , I have to ask you , uh , are your arms a little tired ? Why is that we're carrying that big trophy , that ?

Speaker 2 2:29

you just won at the end of the 2024 season .

Speaker 1 2:35

What I want ? I want to know what . What's that ? Like you fit you , you cross the finish line at 330 miles an hour and then you go . I did it , I won it . Now , here comes all the excitement , all the cameras , all the people around you . They give you the big trophy . What's that feeling like ?

Speaker 4 2:55

it was . Uh , it's one of those deals this year where , totally unexpected I think it was unexpected for everyone like nobody was like alright , this is mine . They know they had to earn it . When you looked at it , it was six different teams that had a chance to win this championship . When it came down to that final day , we had Justin Ashley first round . We're like alright , we're able to get it done and get past him . And our team looked at each other go man . Well , next round he got Sean Langdon right . So you go , remember what this round takes the points lead . Then you get through that round . And I'm talking about we both shook the tires . We just shook him later down the racetrack . He , he spun him , we shook and , uh , did you have to pedal it ? Oh yeah , I'll tell it . Like five times Shut me off because he was dead in the water . So you want to see me blow the car up . So so I'm looking All right , we're here in the semifinals , got Brittany force . If we witness , we win this , we win the championship . But Doug Collette is still in . If we lose that round , doug goes to the final round , he wins the race , he's the champion again . So you're like so all of us may have kept our head down .

Speaker 4 4:20

The only thing I can say is that our team was really poised Brian , mark , brad , oliver , matt Coe , lucas Oil Boys , toyota Boys they were . We got in that zone where we've been here before and we just got to do what we do . We can't let the feelings and emotions get the best of us . We just got to take it one round time . If it's meant to be , it's going to be . It's always written , as Brian says , and we just kept that faith .

Speaker 4 4:49

And , man , we got through that round and we were just trying to race smart and it went our way . We didn't want to overstep our bounds . We tried to run a 65 , 66 second round and it didn't work out for us . So we got to that 75 roundfinal round and we go . We just need to go down track and do what it takes .

Speaker 4 5:11

And we ran I think we ran a 69 or 68 , and Doug ran a 68 , and we both just did what it took to win that round , to get to the final . And once we got to that final , brother , we was popping , we were like celebrating , but we're like we still got one round left . Let's just go out and win this last final of the year to try to make it happen , and for us , that's the way it all fell

Team Success Through Unity and Commitment

Speaker 4 5:33

out . It was one of those storybooks that we were glad that we lived it , but while we're going through it , we were all messed up . Through the whole time we were like on our toes , dancing all around , going crazy , and it was definitely stressful , but it was definitely worthwhile and that's what makes our sport what it is today , for sure .

Speaker 1 5:54

Well , man , you know you have come such a long way since you bought the Don Schumacher team and did this on your own and you know that has got to give you a huge sense of accomplishment and thankfulness and all of the emotions that go along with that . Because , let's face it , I mean that's not an easy task for anybody and even though you had success working for Schumacher and prior to that and Pro Stock Motorcycle , you're a successful guy . But I can't think of any other racer racing a car that you race all the time accomplishing what you've done since you've taken that team over , because it wasn't an easy jump for you , I mean , it wasn't success right out of the box .

Speaker 4 6:44

No , it wasn't . But the one thing I learned a long time ago , before I started this was is that I had the idea to do this years ago . Like this has been a dream of mine for I don't know a pro-sci bike team a long time ago . But what I learned over all the years is that it was never just me by myself . You have to do it with the right people . That's what made DSR so successful . You have to do it with the right people . That's what made DSR so successful . But getting everybody to come together I was doing it for us is putting us in a situation where we control our own destiny , and that's all the people that are at ABM . We all came together and I just went out on a note to go we're going to do this for us . And when we all got together , we make these unbelievable things happen , and I surrounded myself by great people that make it happen , and I really do put the people first . That's what makes ABM is all of us together .

Speaker 1 7:46

Well that energy flows between everybody . You can't have one person not on the team but maybe there . I mean you all feed off of each other and you know you're the chief operator there and the driver and you kind of keep it all together because you would not have those people , I have a feeling , if it weren't for antron brown and and the , the camaraderie that you bring with you . I mean , people love to be with you and it's not really working for you , it's working with you .

Speaker 4 8:25

yes , yes , yes , and and I think for me , that rope throughout this whole journey this is our third year with ABM is that we found out when you get the right people on your side and they're pulling that rope with you , you go from pulling a fence over to actually tugging and pulling a mountain over .

Speaker 4 8:49

Yeah , pulling a mountain and you get what I mean . And , uh , I've learned that in a very short time with abm because , trust me , we went through our trials and tribulations . We had people there and the people were good people , but some of the people weren't the right fit . Yep , and that was the toughest thing for me , because you always think that you could always you , you want to inspire people to be the best version of yourself , to grow . If you can make people be better and do things they've never done before , bro , that's when the special things start happening you know you've got .

Speaker 3 9:21

You've got youngsters involved in racing , and what a role model dad is for this . What an opportunity for them to get guidance and to understand what to do and when to do it .

Speaker 4 9:32

That's incredible yes and uh . And that's why , if you look at our team , we're made up of like I think about 70 of it has been guys and girls that's been out here for a long time and the other half are fresh newbies that we brought in on internships . That have the want to , that have the hunger that wants to drive , and then when you bring those two levels together , man , it shoots up because the energy of the youngsters coming in and then the energy like the experience and the knowledge of the people that's done it for a while . The youngsters bring the energy and it raises the experienced guys and gets their energy bubbling up because they see the excitement and they remember what they used to be like when they were young . And then you see the youngsters . They want the experience and crave for the knowledge . And when you mix it together and they mend together , brother watch out .

Speaker 4 10:24

And when I looked at our team this year and I looked back and saw the synergy , the way it was working back and forth and when we went through the hard times don't get me wrong , we had some races . We lost first round . We have races . We lost first round . The next race we will win . Then we go to the next race and lose . First round , next race you win , like we go from the highs of high to lows , lows . You get what I mean . But what made the difference for us was is that we never got down , we never beat ourselves up . We learned from every angle that you can learn from and it helped us get to where we're at right now and at the end of the year . It helped us hold that championship up in the toughest field of top fuel that I think there ever was . Period .

Speaker 1 11:06

So let's talk about 2025 coming up . We're here now . What , uh , what is the team doing ? Are they taking this week off and going back to work next week ? Or how does that work for you guys should ?

Speaker 4 11:20

we've been uh , the main basis of our operations been off from christmas until monday of next week , yeah , but we've had several of the guys that stay in town and girls because we have gals on our team too that they've been in office between Christmas and New Year's too , just not because they have to , because they wanted to , and they're just getting ahead

Top Fuel Racing Plans and Excitement

Speaker 4 11:42

.

Speaker 4 11:42

We're working on things . We've got a brand new car that's going together . We've been working on the A-Fuel operation with the MBR boys for angel , with the hanks first car , and , uh , we've been going back and forth nights that we have plenty of practice going on and we're getting ready for this test that's coming up in the beginning of february , that pro superstar shootout race down there braiding in florida , and , uh , of course , I've been down there with the Drag Illustrated Pro Mod races . We're coming up with the US Street Nationals pretty soon with the Pro Mod car , and then we'll be back down there at the end of February for the World Series of Pro Mod too . So it's like we've been non-stop and you can see I've been on the mend . I'm starting to feel better now .

Speaker 1 12:34

My voice ain't all there yet , but , uh , that's what we do to people . We make them better . Yeah , that we , yeah , that's what we have . That's our effect on people , yeah , uh , well , uh , that , uh , the angel sampe thing is , uh is truly , uh , amazing in itself . Uh , and she's , she's stomping at the . She's ready to go , brother , you know that oh , and she's a firecracker brother .

Speaker 4 12:54

She's got a lot of energy , a lot of juice , but she brings a lot of excitement to the sport and she has a huge fan following the coolest part when we used to race against each other pro stock bike . I'm just gonna put it out there because I want to state it , because if you go on my website it's gonna get out there sooner or later . She has a stat that she's telling people that we've been 11 final rounds on Pro Stock Motorcycle and she beat me nine times . So I got that and I didn't understand why she was calling me . It was like a couple days after Christmas . She goes hey , I got something I got to tell you about . I'm like , what , like , what , what ? She goes . I saw your website . You have a stat . I'm like , really , and she told me that stat .

Speaker 1 13:38

I said , oh , I looked out for her eyes I said , lord , let's get her in the show many times . And she kind of hinted at this new venture that you two have got going and we're really excited about it . And so when is the Top Fuel debut of her team ?

Speaker 4 14:06

Well , that's what we're working on right now . So what we've done this next year , what people are going to see is going to be really interesting . We took one of our Top Fuel cars and made it into a fuel dragster this year for the hankstafers and , uh , so it's going to be the first enclosed driver compartment car for a fuel dragster . Wow . And what we're doing is we're just getting her used to where it's the exact same car she'll drive when she drives top fuel controls all in the same place and hopefully this year here we just got to get the sales team up on the sailing side and get a really good partner to participate , because we would like to put her in at least four top fuel races this year as a game plan . We're going to try to .

Speaker 4 14:45

So we're going to work on that as far as we can and then hopefully my goal is 2026 is to definitely have her in a top fuel car and make the switch . Just to work hard to find a really good partner to come on board that wants to launch that program and we're close on a few of them , but we've got to get those contracts inked and signed and get the money coming in so we can make it happen . She's ready , we have all the necessary people in place , transporters in place , and we already have a top fuel car that's already built . So we've do our due diligence on that side . We just got to get the funding in place to make it happen do you have a favorite track you like to race at ?

Speaker 1 15:26

they're all a quarter mile or a thousand feet in your case yes , uh , I think one of my favorite tracks to race out .

Speaker 4 15:34

I like racing all of them , but two of my favorite places to race at is sonoma , california , and norwalk , ohio , really yes , the norwalk ohio .

Speaker 1 15:47

That that surprises me why .

Speaker 4 15:50

Well , if you've ever been there , the Bader family does things that are unreal at their racetrack . It's kind of like do you ever remember if you were a little kid ? A lot of kids don't know it now because you don't see them around no more . Remember when we used to go to Barman Bailey Circus ? Yes , of course , as a kid . Yeah , that was a huge thing . Everybody loved going there . You go there . You see the American flags , you see all the excitement with different events and different things going on .

Speaker 4 16:18

That's what Bill Bader brings to the entertainment series . No matter where you go , he brings all the excitement to you when you go to his races and he does an incredible job . We just don't race there . We go there night and fire . We go there twice a year and you go there for one day . You have that place packed out with 60,000 people in one spot and he's got things going on like you wouldn't believe Jet trucks , jet cars , the nitro cars , the pro-mot cars , the dump cars , every kind of vehicle , entertainment value and you're coming there for a show . I get to go there and do a job force burnout . I'm going to go burn out the half track . The fans go crazy and I think when I go to that track with a recent national event or we're doing a night of fire , it just brings that type of excitement because his showmanship that he brings out .

Speaker 1 17:10

Well , we're really excited for you in the 2025 season . You know you don't have any bigger fans than us here at the in real time show and we sure appreciate you joining us today and get well quick , yes , and we'll be keeping up with you , starting in florida , I guess here in a couple of weeks yes , yes , yes , we'll actually be there .

Speaker 1 17:29

Probably , uh , about three weeks we'll be in florida yeah well , antron , it's great to talk to you , my friend , it's good to see you , I'm glad you're doing well , ride that , uh , ride that pony all the way , brother , and let's , let's make it another championship season back to back , absolutely we're gonna work on it , we're gonna give it all we got , and our main focus is to get better .

Speaker 4 17:48

So if we can get better from where we're at , we should be uh , we should be in some good shape . But the competition's getting better too , and everybody's running really , really strong . Well you've got a target on your back now , Brother . Everybody's got targets .

Speaker 1 18:02

You know what I mean .

Speaker 4 18:03

When I came in , the wheel just landed on us this year and we wanted to land on us again . So that's the game plan .

Speaker 1 18:08

We're pulling for you . We love you . Thanks again for joining us today .

Speaker 4 18:11

All right , thank you all so much , fellas , y'all take care you do the same .

Speaker 1 18:14

You bet Antron Brown , top fuel champ , incredible guy , great guy . Hey , you can catch the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show 24-7 on InWheelTimecom and the Odyssey Radio app . We also video stream our weekly show on Facebook , youtube and InWheelTimecom , and podcasts are available from your favorite podcast provider . The In Wheel Time Car Talk Show will continue right after this quick pat stop . The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla , your destination for Texas' best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas . Since 1983 , loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients . Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Loopy Tortilla , all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston . Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location . Start your Loopy experience with queso flammeado and guacamole , along with a classic frozen margarita . Dine on famous Loopy beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette , or a fish or vegetarian entree , and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert . Find Loopy Tortilla in Houston , college Station , beaumont , austin , san Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth . There's a Texas location near you . The recipes are authentic and time-tested , the ingredients always fresh . Loopy Tortilla he's pretty good .

Speaker 1 19:35

The rescheduled Gulf Coast Auto Shield Car Social is happening Saturday , january 11th , and you're invited . Bring your car , truck or SUV . Meet other enthusiasts and find out what it'll take to get your car looking show-worthy again . Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your one-stop shop for paint detailing , coatings , window tint , clear bras , camera installs and wheel repair . The Car Social is your opportunity to get a tour of this state-of-the-art facility located at 11275 South Sam Houston Parkway , just south of the Southwest Freeway . Join the Car Social Saturday , january 11th , 9 to noon . Talk to other owners and see how good your car can look on the upcoming Hot Rod Tour of Texas .

Speaker 1 20:17

Put it on your calendar the Gulf Coast Auto Shield Car Social Saturday , january 11th , 9 to noon at 11275 South Sam Houston Parkway , just south of the Southwest Freeway . The In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show will be there too . We hope to see you then 2025 . Salute to the In Time sponsors Loopy Tortilla , tex-mex Restaurants , pro-am Auto Accessories and Gulf Coast Auto Shield . We look forward to another successful year and hope you'll support each of them . Alright time now for Jeff's Motor Minute .

Speaker 3 20:43

Yep , well , it's going to be quick . We've got new subscribers that came through since Christmas because we were off last week . You've got Brian Keeling Appreciate it , brian , he watches the show . Appreciate you subscribing . You've got Winston Hopp . It's either Hopp or Hope , can't pronounce it right , but thank you for subscribing . And you've got a P Morin subscribing also . So thank you very much for that . We appreciate it . And the more subscribers we get , we'll send Mike to your house to wash your car . So there you go . One last thing on the Motor Minute is there's bad weather across the United States . Make sure you're prepared in your car , mike .

Speaker 1 21:21

Blanket , shovel , all the accoutrement to get there safely . So there

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV Review

Speaker 1 21:23

you go . Thank you , sir . Time now for this hour's car review . Had a chance to drive the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV , built in Mexico , comes in these trim levels 1LT . Mexico comes in these trim levels 1lt , 2lt , 2rs , 3lt and 3rs . I had the ev2lt . This is a small suv , ev seats 5 , all new for 2024 . We didn't have the 25 because they didn't have it in the press fleet yet , but okay , they're the same , trust me .

Speaker 1 21:51

Uh , sharply , sharply designed EV , long and sleek . Great-looking front fascia with slit , peekaboo lighting up front , laid-back wind-cheating front glass and low roofline gives it a fast appearance . Rear fascia is cutting-edge too , with large sunshade over the rear glass . What I liked about it ? Everything Designed in America all the way . Congrats to GM and Chevrolet . Interior highlights materials and seat design is attractive but really doesn't stand out . But you know , considering the price I'm sure that somewhere down the line they're going to have another high-end one with leather interior . Not just yet , though . Cup holders , phone charger and HVAC controls all in the right places . Infotainment screen is the latest from GM . The layout on the dash holds instrumentation below the dash pad . It really is a nice layered . Look on that dash Cargo room average for the size SUV . What I liked about it the dash design makes use of those controls , makes it really easy to use . No Apple CarPlay question mark why ? Yeah , because they're trying to go and steal all of that and make it a complete GM connection .

Speaker 1 23:16

Engine front-wheel drive , electric motor . If you want dual motors , you go to the all-wheel drive . 213 horsepower in this , 236 pound-feet of torque . This is not a rocket ship . This isn't one of those plaid Teslas , it's not that . But it is certainly plenty of power for this particular vehicle . Of course , direct drive transmission 1,500-pound tow rating . In the city you're going to get 117 miles on a charge , 99 on the highway . Up to 319 miles is what it's rated for the single charge . I got 3.4 miles per kilowatt hour . You do the math . I've died . I went 347.6 miles trying to make it out to jack knee reds work , but I couldn't . I didn't quite make it .

Speaker 1 24:08

What I liked about it ? I liked about the range . What could ? Again , more power , but that leads to more cost and we're going to get to that right now . As a matter of fact , what I liked about ride and handling it's heavy , like a typical battery , electric-powered EV , but it is a dream to drive . What could use improvement ? I'm not sure . Here's where the fun comes in the base trim price on this really nice SUV EV that has a decent range $41,900 . Prices tested $45,995 . Base model price $41,900 . Super Cruise is a $2,700 option . Do you really want it ? Do you really need it ? No Competitors to the vehicle in base price and size Hyundai Ioniq 5 , 418, . Ford Mustang Mach-E 39995 . And I threw a Tesla in here just so you can get some comparison Tesla Model Y 44,990 . So right there at about $40,000 . $10,990 . So right there at about $40,000 . And I think that that's pretty much of a bargain these days when it comes to the EVs , because you know they can really go through the roof . How much is that thing that you're driving ? Mars , nothing like that .

Speaker 1 25:27

Mars got delivery of a Hummer .

Speaker 2 25:29

Oh no , Now that's in the driveway . That's not the car .

Speaker 1 25:32

Well , how much is the ?

Speaker 2 25:34

I haven't even opened the door on that thing yet . Oh boy , it got there late last night because it took a while to get it . I'm thinking yes 250 miles down the highway .

Speaker 1 25:42

Yeah , a couple of charge stops , two , two charge stops to get it from Dallas to Niterville . Wow yeah , I'm thinking it's a six-figure vehicle .

Speaker 2 25:53

I would bet yeah , but I'll let you know shortly All right ?

Speaker 1 25:57

Well , I'll tell you what I was impressed by this vehicle , and you know it takes a lot to impress me and I'm not trying to brag or anything , but we drive a lot of new vehicles . We have 52 of them a year .

Speaker 3 26:10

We see them all yeah .

Speaker 1 26:11

And we do see them all , and some are okay , some are good . This one's great . Now what consumer report says about it ? I don't know . Yeah , it may be a different story , but we didn't do a long-term test on . It was only for a week , and so we get them , yeah , and we generally have the you know 500 mile on it , so 347 miles . I got a pretty good feel for it and I really did like it . Now I will tell you I didn't have to take it to a fast charger because I plugged it in here at the house on the 110 . And then it worked . And then it worked . So I always kept it right up there . I think it got down to about 60% , but I didn't drive it a day , so it managed to catch up to itself 60% , but I didn't drive it a day , so it managed to catch up to itself Well .

Speaker 3 26:56

I thought it was a good-looking car when I was sitting in the driveway . Oh , it is Obviously it needs to have an ICE engine , but that's just my opinion .

Speaker 1 27:01

Well , they still make an Equinox with a gas motor in it . They do , and it's called an Equinox , but it's not built on the same platform . Right , understood , yeah , so at any rate , hey , if you'd like to get in touch with us , shoot us an email . The address here is info at inwheeltimecom . We're back after this . That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show . I'm Don Armstrong , inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook , youtube , twitch and our inwheeltimecom website . Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts , spotify Stitcher , iheart Podcast Podcast Addict TuneIn , pandora and Amazon Music . Keep listening and we'll see you soon .