Thu, 09 Dec 2021, 12:24 PM Lucas Oil Returns to NHRA's Nitro Ranks with Antron Brown's New AB Motorsports Operation

Courtesy of Allison McCormick, ABM Communications

Brandon Bernstein and Antron Brown announced the AB Motorsports/Lucas Oil partnership on Thursday morning at the PRI show in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS - Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown announced today that longtime motorsports industry supporter, Lucas Oil Products, Inc., has joined his team, AB Motorsports, as its official lubricants partner for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Lucas Oil has manufactured and distributed automotive oil, additives, and lubricants since it was founded by the husband-and-wife team, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, in 1989, and has been a fixture in the NHRA community ever since. Brown has enjoyed a longtime relationship with the Lucas family for decades, and part of what spurred this new partnership between Lucas Oil and AB Motorsports was the family values shared by the owners on both sides.

Brown's relationship with the Lucas family extends back to when he first embarked on his NHRA career in 1998 aboard a Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Lucas Oil signed on to support the young upstart. Brown credits Forrest and Charlotte for helping him to be able to compete on a full-time basis during his earliest NHRA years, stepping in to fulfill any open races on Brown's schedule. Since that time, Lucas Oil has remained a part of the Brown family racing operation, having supported all three of Brown's children's Jr. Drag Racing careers, and Brown's father, Al, and uncle Andre's Super Comp team, all of which still proudly banner the Lucas Oil logo to this day.

While Lucas Oil has always been and continues to be, a fervent supporter of the NHRA community, the familiar red-white-and-blue logo has had its largest presence in the NHRA's Sportsman and Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks for the last several years. With the 2022 AB Motorsports/Lucas Oil partnership, the Indianapolis-based company will now return to the NHRA's nitro ranks in a full-time capacity for the first time since 2018.

"We have been focusing our marketing efforts on the Sportsman-level racer and Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories for the last few years, but have always kept close tabs on the NHRA's Top Fuel and Funny Car competitors," said Brandon Bernstein, Director of Partnership Marketing at Lucas Oil, and former pilot of the Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster. "When Antron announced he would be forming his own operation starting in 2022, we knew that teaming up with him would be the perfect opportunity to return to the nitro folds on a full-time basis and, once again, have a major presence in 11,000-horsepower racing. Antron has been part of the Lucas family for many years and is an incredible marketing force. We know he'll be an excellent ambassador of the Lucas Oil brand, and we look forward to seeing the Lucas logo back in the Top Fuel winner's circle."

"Family is very important to their operation, and it's very important to mine as well," explained Brown, who will take on the dual role of owner-driver for the first time in 2022. "We share similar values, and I think that's part of what has kept this relationship so close for so many years. The Lucas's are good people and I like to be a part of good people. Lucas Oil played such an important role in the earliest part of my career, and I'm so glad we will get to team up again as I embark on this new chapter with my new team. They have been tried-and-true supporters of mine for many years, and I can't wait to be able to return the favor both on and off the track."

AB Motorsports will make its debut as a single-car operation in 2022, campaigning the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster with Brown at the wheel and crew chief Brian Corradi making the tuning calls. The associate-level partnership will include branding on Brown's championship-winning machine, firesuit, crew shirts, and race haulers. Additionally, Lucas Oil will manage AB Motorsport's double-sided trackside VIP hospitality operation where guests will be treated to a front-row view of the Matco Tools team as they wrench on Brown's 333.66-mph machine while enjoying chef-prepared meals and refreshments.