Three-time Top Fuel champ Antron Brown proves that, despite a rocky season, he still has what it takes at the NHRA Heartland Nationals.
Tony Stewart Racing was the first new 2022 NHRA team to earn victory in this Camping World Drag Racing Series season, with three-time Funny Car ace Matt Hagan at the controls. He’s picked up a couple more and Top Fuel racer Leah Pruett added her own Wally winner’s trophy to Stewart’s stash in his first season as a drag racing team owner.
Ron Capps started his own team this year and the two-time, reigning champ has already picked up two Funny Car victories in the regular season, which has two more races before the Countdown to the Championship begins. Capps is also the first driver to take the new Toyota GR Supra to the Winner’s Circle in its first year of competition. This after being jettisoned by Dodge after being a Charger SRT Hellcat driver for much of his stellar career.
For these two squads, 2022 has been an excellent season so far. But everyone has been hoping the team announced first in the dispersal of Don Schumacher Racing’s large nitromethane-fueled squads would come to life. It had been such a long time since Antron Brown won a race in Top Fuel, and it’s been tough to talk about it, walk around it and generally consider the fact that the three-time champ wasn’t able to get the job done.
His first-round results throughout the year have been painful for the Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald-led team, the squad that helped Brown to his three titles with DSR. But over the past few races, during the Western Swing, Brown finally appeared to be on the road to redemption. He started going rounds. He started smiling at everyone again. Even CorradI looked happier.
And finally, on a third miserably-hot day in the heartland, at Heartland Motorsports Park, Antron Brown got his groove back during the 33rd Menards NHRA Nationals. He didn’t have lane choice in the finals after a less-than-satisfying semifinal bout against Justin Ashley. He was facing good friend and four-time reigning champion Steve Torrence in the finals, another driver hungry for victory after not making it to the Winner’s Circle since last year’s Finals at Pomona. That’s 14 races and counting for Torrence, who again failed to find the win lights first.
Brown had the traction and the preferred right lane that Bob Tasca III had just used – after a lane swap with GOAT John Force, the 16-time champ and 2021 victor at this…
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