Thu, 16 Jul 2026, 20:21 PM Antron Brown Preview

Courtesy of Allison McCormick, ABM Communications Photos courtesy AB Motorsports

DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals
July 17-19
Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.

BY THE NUMBERS:
• Five-time event champion (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2024)
• Five-time runner-up:
• Top Fuel (2017, 2023, 2025)
• Pro Stock Motorcycle (2004, 2006)
• Two-time No. 1 qualifier (2008, 2015)

Last Event (Norwalk):
Qualified 14th; Runner-up finish (defeated Leah Pruett in E1; Tony Schumacher in E2; Clay Millican in E3; defeated by Maddi Gordon in E4)

2025 NHRA Sonoma Nationals Event Recap:
Qualified fourth; Runner-up finish (defeated Ida Zetterstrom in E1; Justin Ashley in E2; Shawn Langdon in E3; defeated by Doug Kalitta in E4)

TAKE NOTE:
• Brown returns as the event runner-up
• Earned a spot in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty by advancing to the finals at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
• Will debut Russian River Brewing Company branding on the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster as part of a partnership that also included a fan appearance at the brewery on Wednesday
• Participated in Karting for a Cause, presented by Speedway Children's Charities Sonoma

WATCH:
STREAM LIVE ON NHRA.TV
Friday, July 17th • 5:30 p.m. PDT - Top Fuel Qualifying Session 1
• 8:10 p.m. PDT - Top Fuel Qualifying Session 2

Saturday, July 18th
• 11:45 a.m. PDT - Top Fuel Qualifying Session 3 / #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Round 1
• 2:30 p.m. PDT - Top Fuel Qualifying Session 4 / #2Fast2Tasty Challenge Finals

Sunday, July 19th
11 a.m. PDT - Round 1
1:20 p.m. PDT - Round 2
3 p.m. PDT - Semifinals
4:20 p.m. PDT - Finals

TV COVERAGE ON FS1 Sunday, July 19TH
• 10 a.m. EDT - Qualifying Show Recapping Friday's and Saturday's Action
• 10 p.m. EDT - Finals Show

FROM ANTRON BROWN: Driver of the Matco Tools Eagle Experience Top Fuel Dragster

"Looking forward to going out to the West Coast. It's always been a really, really good race going up there in wine country. It's one of my favorite tracks to go to, and we've had a lot of success there. We won the illustrious Western Swing at that racetrack numerous years ago, but we're looking for some more great success. We're coming off a runner-up [in Norwalk], and we won a race before that [in Bristol]. We're looking for some of that momentum to carry forward. We're rested up. We had a couple of weeks off, geared up, ready to get going again.

"Our Macto Tools team has been working really hard in the shop these last two weeks. We've been changing some more stuff around. Even though we runnered-up at the last race, we still stayed after and tested there in Norwalk and worked on a couple more things. So we're going to keep on working hard. We're getting up there in the points. I think we're fifth place in the points. So hopefully this weekend here, we can come out and gain another position in the points and get closer to third place. So we're going to keep pushing, rocking hard."

Watch Brown's pre-race report here.