GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 3, 2025) – After ending his season with a fourth career world championship a year ago, Top Fuel star Antron Brown has a chance to make a resounding statement right off the bat to open the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
The year kicks off with this weekend’s 56th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, starting the season with one of the most legendary races on the NHRA circuit.
A win in Gainesville – something Brown has only done once before – is a major accomplishment for any driver, but the champ has a chance for a double-up weekend by competing in the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout on Saturday.
Brown won the big-money bonus race a year ago en route to the title, but becoming the first Top Fuel driver to win the Callout twice and adding a Gatornationals win in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster would be an impressive start following a championship campaign.
“You just don’t know what’s going to happen (in the Callout),” Brown said. “You’re going to race the baddest Top Fuel teams on the planet. It’s eight of the best cars and it’s a feat just to get in there. To win it, you’ve got to be on point. I think we’re ready for that challenge and we’ve just got to get ready in qualifying. It’s big money and the stakes are high.”
In 2024, Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won the Gatornationals to open the year. It marked the first double-up victory for Kalitta Motorsports, while six-time world champ Enders won the historic race for the first time.
Brown is the fifth seed in the specialty race, meaning there’s likely a good chance he’ll get called out in the first round. Those selections take place at 12 p.m. on Friday and the 80-time event winner is ready to roll after his stellar 2024 season.
He won six times a year ago, but the “drive for five” titles won’t be easy with a class that includes Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Brittany Force, Clay Millican, Steve Torrence, Josh Hart and Tony Stewart. Brown, though, is plenty motivated, especially with a chance to add a regular-season championship this year, a feat that would certainly be helped by a second Gatornationals win.
“I want to be the regular season champ and I want that ceremony, and it all starts at the Gatornationals,” Brown said. “There’s a lot at stake at all these races and it’s going to bring a whole different mindset, and that all starts in Gainesville.”
Todd earned his second Gatornationals win when he took out Funny Car newcomer Austin Prock in the final round. Enders, the winningest female in motorsports, earned her first Gatornationals win last season, finishing fourth in points.
Herrera, the reigning back-to-back champion, has been undeniably dominant in Pro Stock Motorcycle. He raced to his second straight Gatornationals win last season.
The Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals will also see the season debut in the highly competitive Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series and the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown class, as well as a full slate of sportsman classes in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, which features some of the sport’s top drivers.