CONCORD, N.C. — Motorsports' fastest accelerating cars are in town this weekend. Drag-racing vehicles known as "funny cars" will be careening down zMAX Dragway in Concord at over 300 miles an hour for the National Hot Rod Association's 4-Wide Nationals event.
One of the men who will strap himself into one of the 11,000 horsepower land rockets is Antron Brown.
He's won more than 70 times and taken home multiple championships. And he’s competing at the top of his game while running his own team.
From an early age, racing gripped Antron Brown and as a boy, he watched in awe. He watched his heroes both on television and in his own home.
"My dad and uncle were racers, or weekend warriors that would work during the week and race a couple of weekends a month," Brown told WCNC Charlotte anchor Colin Mayfield.
Every track Brown visited and every car he drove has prepared him for where he is now: at the top level of the NHRA driving Top Fuel Dragsters at more than 300 miles an hour. But, he doesn’t just drive them; he now owns them.
"I'm now trying to get cash flow in to cover bills and you want to be an elite racer but you also have to adhere to a budget," Brown said.
Owning and managing AB Motorsports is a challenge Brown takes head-on. And he says he knew what was possible because of the many glass ceilings that the men and women before him broke.
"I saw all the barriers broken when I was a kid," Brown said.
Brown is now using that example at the top level, fine-tuning other lives that he comes into contact with.
He created the AB Accelerate program to do just that. Brown adds that he never stops reaching for the top, or for other challenges like a drive swap with Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton.
"I've always been a Lewis Hamilton fan. I want him to come over here and do a drive swap. I saw him do it with Tony Stewart back in the day. I want to strap him into a dragster and I can do it now because I own the team!" Brown said with excitement.
The NHRA's 4-Wide Nationals event runs through Sunday. For more information, click here.
Contact Colin Mayfield at cmayfield@wcnc.com or follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.