Brown is now a two-class winner at the U.S. Nationals. (NHRA)
On Monday, Antron Brown joined some select company after his Top Fuel win in the NHRA's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil.
Brown has become one of a select few who have won drag racing's marquee event in two pro categories (Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel) and just the third driver to win the class since 2000.
"I'm speechless," Brown said. "To come here at Indy and win on the biggest stage … the whole gang was incredible. Qualifying No. 1 here is a feat in itself. We weren't the fastest car in all the rounds, but we made it. Getting this win is beyond words."
Other winners at Lucas Oil Raceway were Hector Arana Jr. in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Mike Neff in Funny Car and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock.
Brown joined Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon to win the U.S. Nationals this century. In the finals with NASCAR star Tony Stewart looking on, Brown beat Del Worsham
"This goes back to my childhood dream, looking from under the stands, saying 'I want to do this one day,'" Brown said. "To come from my Sportsman background to get a Top Fuel win here is one of the best feelings on Earth.
"You like every win you get and you give them the same love. Those Wallys are like my children. I don't love one over the other, but I love all the moments I've had with them."
Brown's Matco Tools dragster crossed the finish line in 3.813 seconds at 321.73 mph, nosing ahead of Worsham's Al-Anabi racing dragster, which ran a 3.830 second pass at 320.43 mph.
For Pro Stock bike rookie Arana it was his first national event victory, which also left the rider of the Lucas Oil Buell a little speechless.
"It's not sunk in on me yet," Arana said. "This is the biggest race of the year and a hometown event. It doesn't get any better than this.
"We stayed on top of the weather and picked up tremendously. We were able to hit the tuneup today from the first round and just made slight adjustments from there."
Arana, whose father Hector Arana Sr. has also won at the U.S. Nationals, beat Gerald Savioe's WAR Suzuki in the finals. Arana ran a 6.867 second pass at 192.60 mph to nose out Savioe's 7.005 at 189.36 mph.
Neff got into the Indy winner's circle for the first time as a driver or crew chief by guiding the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang past Bob Tasca III's Motocraft Quick Land Ford Mustang in the final.
"This is the win you dream about," Neff said. "I wasn't feeling very confident coming into today. We've struggled the last four races, and didn't qualify very well. I didn't feel like we weren't really in the ball game. We got here this morning, made some big changes, we got close and were where we needed to be."
Neff ran a 4.068 second pass at 314.61 mph in the final to more than cover Tasca's 4.147 at 278.00 mph pass.
Anderson once again won a battle of the Summit Racing Pontiacs in the final beating teammate Jason Line.
"It never gets old. I feel like it's the biggest win of my career ever time it win here," Anderson said. "It's magic, I just love this place. Winning here is everything about drag racing."
Anderson blasted to a 6.553 second pass at 210.50 mph which handled Line's 6.5538 at 210.83 mph pass in the final.
The U.S. Nationals signaled the end of the NHRA Full Throttle Series' regular season. No driver who was outside the Top10 in points heading into Indy were able to race their way into the Countdown to the Championship field. Worsham (Top Fuel), Neff (Funny Car), Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson, Pro Stock Motorcycle) will be the No. 1 seeds heading into the Sept. 16-18 O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals from zMax Dragway outside Charlotte.
