Antron Brown still among the fastest as the NHRA returns to Minnesota

There was not a vehicle involved the first time Antron Brown visited Minnesota with the idea of traveling rapidly. He was here in 1996 to participate in the 55-meter dash in the National Junior College indoor track and field meet.

“We ran in this large fieldhouse in Minneapolis,” Brown said. “I came in with the best time [6.27 seconds]. I didn’t win. Finished second.”

Outdoors, Brown would run a 10.2 seconds in 100 meters for Mercer County Community College in New Jersey. “I played all the sports as a kid, and I was fast,” he said this week.

There’s fast with your legs, and then there’s fast with what Brown has been busy with for the past 28 years — which is racing on the National Hot Rod Association circuit, for 10 years on motorcycles, and since 2008 in Top Fuel dragsters.

The Lucas Oil Nationals are being contested for the 43rd time this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway. Brown was making the rounds in the Twin Cities on Thursday, promoting what is annually BIR’s biggest event.

He had some media interviews, made a visit to the Vikings practice complex in Eagan as they scrimmaged New England, then threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Target Field.

“Seriously, Brainerd is one of the favorite stops for all of us,” Brown said. “It’s August, it can be hot, but the nights are cool up there in the north country. And then they have ‘The Zoo,’ not as crazy as it used to be, but hardcore fans having a great time late into the night.”

Brown let out a laugh and said: “It’s drag racing’s version of Woodstock.”

Not quite, but as drag strips have either gone away or cancelled their famous NHRA weekends, Kristi Copham, BIR’s owner and operator, has kept this weekend in August going as a Minnesota tradition.

“Our big track [in New Jersey] was Englishtown,” Brown said. “It was legendary for us. That was the track where Big Daddy Don Garlits went upside down in his car. We saw that he said, ‘He did not,’ but he walked away.

“Big Daddy had a cross on his vehicle, remember. Went upside down and said, ‘God keeps me safe.’

“I got to meet him. He gave me a keepsake. Thrill of a young guy’s life.”

For want of a better term, the redneck quality of motorsports — the prejudices faced for a Black man to get to the top must have been oppressive?

“I’m from New Jersey; close to Philly, not that far from Newark and New York,” Brown said. “Big cities that are diverse by nature.

“We would go to Atco, a great old drag strip, on weekends. Twenty-five miles from Philly. Lots of city guys who worked on their cars in the driveway all week and then came to the track.

“The Hispanic guys were over in one area of the track, getting their cars ready for a run. The Black guys and the white guys were doing the same.

“Then, we’d get out there and race together. No prejudice there. We were all just trying to go fast.”

He’s located in fifth place in the points standings heading into Brainerd, but he made a stretch run in what NHRA refers to as “The Countdown” — the six races that follow the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis (Aug. 27-Sept. 1) — to win last year’s title.

He is also working on adding a second dragster to his Top Fuel team for 2026. Angelle Sampey, a veteran and legendary motorcycle driver, has been running a Top Alcohol dragster in connection with AB Motorsports this season.

Sampey had a wreck last time out. They sent the badly damaged dragster to the shop for AB Motorsports in Indianapolis. Brown and Sampey were both showing off photos on Thursday morning of how a skeleton car sent to the shop was looking prime and ready to be shipped to Minnesota two days later.

“They’re the best in that garage, Antron,” she said.

To which he replied: “Aren’t they!”

“How is Big John doing?” meaning John Force, the septuagenarian who crashed at 302 miles per hour in Virginia in June 2024 and received probable career-ending (and nearly life-ending) injuries.

All-time great quotes, all-sports division, Force has been in the top handful.

“Big John’s doing OK,” Brown said. “He’s back at the track. His daughter Brittany is one of our great competitors in Top Fuel. And he has two Funny Cars: Austin Prock leading in John’s car, and Jack Beckman not far back.”