NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Antron Brown collected the $80,000 winner’s payday in the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, defeating Brittany Force in the final round of the special event, which is held during qualifying for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

Brown and the Brian Corradi- and mark Oswald-tuned Matco entry made their best run of qualifying with a 3.709 to turn on the win light ahead of Force’s engine-exploding 3.730.

"I didn't know she blew up, but if you want to win out here, you gotta press hard, and we're all pressing the envelope right now," said Brown. "Trust me, David Grubnic, with JC [John Collins] over there, they're a really, really, really established group and it's only a matter of time before they start clicking.

"This is very, very special. I tell you, we didn't start out with the best car, but we just never quit. We've been working through some things like a brand-new chassis and the boys never stopped."

Brown reached his first Callout final after upsetting Shawn Langdon, the Gatornationals No. 2 qualifier, in round one, then ended good friend Steve Torrence’s bid for a second Callout win, beating the 2022 champ, 3.761 to 3.765.

Force, runner-up at the inaugural Pep Boys Top Fuel Callout in 2022, worked her way back to the final round by beating fellow world champ Doug Kalitta, who called her out in round one, and then 2023 event runner-up Mike Salinas in the semifinals. Salinas got a big jump on Force at the tree but spun the tires downtrack and fell her to her 3.785.