At age 10, Antron Brown was attracted to the high-powered Top Fuel dragsters and “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who’s considered the father of drag racing, provided the New Jersey youngster with an experience that forged his life’s path.
Replica of the first trophy awarded in NHRA Top Fuel in 1963. Deb Williams
“Big Daddy let me in his pit,” recalled Brown, who frequented the dragstrip in Englishtown, New Jersey, as a child. “I got to touch and see his car. I remember a big cross on the top of it and it said God.
“When I started racing Top Fuel (in 2008) he came and tapped me on the shoulder and he says, ‘Antron. I remember you.’ I’m like, remember me what? He goes, ‘You as that little smiley kid with the curly hair.’ That’s the part that touched me about this sport. This sport … makes you a part of history as a kid. I never dreamed as a little kid that Big Daddy would call me on my phone and talk to me.”
This weekend at zMAX Dragway, four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Brown has the opportunity to earn a 65-pound replica trophy of the one the now 93-year-old Garlits received when he won the inaugural Top Fuel event in 1963 at the Winternationals in Pomona, California. The Wally trophies that are now given didn’t exist in those days; instead, a customized trophy was presented at each event.
Sunday’s Top Fuel race in the American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway marks the 1,00th Top Fuel event, and Garlits will present the winner’s trophy. Brown won the 800th race, two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Brittany Force the 900th and 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta the 500th.
Records for Kalitta, Force
Friday night in second-round qualifying, Kalitta claimed the No. 1 provisional position with a zMAX Dragway elapsed time record of 3.646 seconds. That broke the record of 3.647 seconds set by Mike Salinas in September 2023. Force and Kalitta were in the same quad and Force broke her national speed record.
In prime track conditions, the 38-year-old Force set a national record with a 341.54-mph run. Her old record was 338.94 mph. She set that record in November 2022 at Pomona. Her 3.667 elapsed time left her in third behind Shawn Langdon who ran 3.665 seconds. Brown, who possesses seven zMAX victories, was fifth with a 3.703 e.t.
