“The bang for their buck”: Antron Brown remains positive for future despite Toyota’s NHRA exit

NHRA Top-Fuel owner/driver Antron Brown retains a positive outlook despite Toyota's exit from the sport at the end of 2025. Brown acknowledged the challenges of finding a replacement for the Japanese manufacturer but insisted that drag racing presents valuable opportunities for potential newcomers.

In December 2024, Toyota announced its decision to exit NHRA after the 2025 season. The manufacturer entered the sport in 2002 and has since secured 12 championships and over 200 wins. Toyota currently partners with six Top Fuel teams: AB Motorsports, DC Motorsports, Kalitta Motorsports, Ron Capps Motorsports, SCAG Racing, and Torrence Racing.

Entering his final season with Toyota, Antron Brown named Nissan, Honda and Kia as potential manufacturers that could be drawn to NHRA, although he hasn't had any conversations with potential manufacturers. He stated that they are currently in the brainstorming phase on how to attract new manufacturers.

"There's a lot of auto manufacturers, I think, that could benefit from drag racing that fits their demographic and we could benefit from them on their technological side," he was quoted by Autoweek.

Brown highlighted the benefits of drag racing, calling it the best "bang for a buck" investment for manufacturers.

"We kind of got a big old whiteboard right now, just jotting it down right now, going through ideas on who we could solicit and we could bring new to the sport and educate 'em on our sport. This is the highest-rate value [regarding] the bang for their buck," Brown added.

The 4x NHRA world champion clarified that Toyota's exit from drag racing is not performance-related. Toyota won the manufacturers' title last year, with Brown securing the Top Fuel championship. He explained that the Japanese manufacturer was shifting its focus in a different direction and ultimately decided to pull the plug.

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Antron Brown is stoked for the 2025 season, with his crew ready for a "real battle"

Antron Brown and his team faced adversity during the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton when he blew a rear tire in a qualifying session. Despite the setback, his crew managed to assemble the backup car in an hour. The defending Top Fuel champion then topped the charts, hailing his team's resilience.

In a recent interview with Bob Pockrass, Brown expressed his excitement for the season, stating that the incident in Bradenton proved his crew is battle-ready.

"Pretty stoked and ready to go, and I'm looking forward to this race season. What that showed me, Bob [Pockrass], was that my team, in that type of situation with the new players we had involved on the team, when that car got busted up, we came back to the pit and we got our other car out of the trailer, we got it all together within an hour and 20 minutes and made that last qualifying run, and we went to the No. 1 spot," he said. [from 1:17]

"Right there, that showed me that my boys survived Bootcamp and they're ready for real battle," he added.

The NHRA season kicks off this weekend at Gainesville Raceway, with the Gatornationals scheduled from March 6-9.