Sun, 02 Feb 2020, 11:04 AM Antron Brown Spring Training Quotes

Courtesy of John Procida Photo copyright 2020 Bob Johnson Photography

LAS VEGAS --

Antron Brown

In addition to his duties behind the wheel, three-time world champion Antron Brown will have a new task in 2020 as he begins the transition to sole ownership of the new AB Motorsports. For the near term, the new team will be under the umbrella of his current team, Don Schumacher Racing, as Brown transitions to owner/driver with the help of long-time team owner and mentor Don Schumacher.

Brown enters Pomona looking for his first Winternationals title after taking home two victories in the NHRA Finals at Pomona. Former crew chief Brian Corradi will be returning to the team he helped win three world championships, after two years with John Force Racing.

Brown enters the 2020 season with 50 career Top Fuel wins, just two behind Joe Amato for third all-time. In addition, he recorded 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle victories.

Quotes:
Can you talk about the formation of AB Motorsports?
It's another chapter in this racing team and we're all doing it together. They've been very gracious at Don Schumacher Racing for all these years with what Don has established. One thing I've learned from him is that you always need to keep excelling and keep on reaching to climb to the next level. Getting Brian Corradi back was a part of it and a big step in going forward as a team. We're working on owning this whole operation, while continuing as a subsidiary of DSR and being able to buy the parts and pieces from DSR, as well as having them handle the hospitality. We'll still be a family, except we'll be able to make our own decisions going forward, while still having DSR in the background to help us along the way. To have all of this come together, I'm just pinching myself. It's a dream come true. I think we have all of the right people in place, so I'm not going to have to be juggling too much. I'm not going to micromanage. I'm going to let them do what they do and I can focus on driving and keeping our partners happy. Everything else will take care of itself.

How has Spring Training gone?
We've been knocking some of the cobwebs out during Spring Training. It feels really good to have Brian Corradi back and have the whole family back in sync. It feels like a family reunion. Our main focus has been to come out here and have fun and just keep growing every run and learn something. With everything going on with our Matco Tools Global Electronic Technology Toyota dragster, it's amazing unison. We have some great partners who have come on board. We're just ready to get back to racing. The key thing is we've been able to get off the line in every run we're making down the track. We're starting to get consistent and that's the key. Do we have things we need to work on? Absolutely. We just have to keep on working to get better and better. But before you can make it better, you have to get down the track every time. I'm just happy to get back after it. I can't wait to get out to Pomona.

What's your goal for the 2020 season?
Our goal is to compete at a high-level and go after a championship. Winning a championship is always number one on our list. We've learned a lot over the last few years that we can implement into our new package to move forward and be better. It's ok to struggle, but you have to learn from it to move forward. One of the great things we have going forward is that TRD and Toyota will be a crucial and vital part of this. They've helped me establish a lot of things and they've been my road map. To lean on them from both the team standpoint as a partner, but also from the technology standpoint where they step up more and more each and every year has been a blessing. I can't thank them enough. TRD brings a lot of new ideas and parts and pieces, it's like Christmas every time at the race track with them. I've been incredibly fortunate that Toyota and Matco Tools have both been with me all these years, from our start in Top Fuel racing.

What are you looking for at the Winternationals?
We've always done well at Pomona. We qualify and run well there. We've had the car to beat there, yet, we've still never won the Winternationals. We won the NHRA Finals there a couple of times. It would be awesome to start the year off right there. First you've got to qualify, then, we can focus on race day and just going rounds.