National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel champion Antron Brown wants to see if he can last longer than a four-second run – in a stock car.
Brown, who drives for Toyota in NHRA, will test a K&N Pro Stock car for Rev Racing at Virginia’s Motor Mile Speedway in Radford on Tuesday in an attempt to transition from straight-line racing to “turning left.”
Although the Chesterfield, N.J., started racing in motocross, his desire to drag race has carried him to 23 career NHRA Top Fuel wins and last year’s title.
“I’ve been in all different forms of motorsports,” the 37-year-old driver said. “I’ve always been very interested and have a lot of friends here in NASCAR. When I talked to Max (Siegel, Rev Racing's CEO) about the opportunity with Toyota, they said, ‘Why not give it a go?’ Me and Max talked about this for years. I always wanted to come out here and see if I had the ability to turn left – being in NHRA racing for so many years.
“Always had an interest but this opportunity, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. Just the foundation that Rev Racing has – the way they put their drivers in, they train them – not just put them out there in a great race car. They develop them in all aspects. That’s what really intrigued me. I know if I wanted to have a chance to go oval-track racing that ultimately to have a good shot at going out there and learning from the experiences, I had to position myself with a great team.”
“We are excited that NHRA champion and world-class competitor Antron Brown has chosen Rev Racing as his entryway into stock car racing,” Siegel said. “He is a great ambassador for the motorsports world, and his commitment to diversity is something that makes this partnership really work.”
Following the test, Brown will return to his day job – racing in the NHRA Toyota Summernationals at Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. Brown says he hopes to “get everything he can get out of the opportunity” to run with Rev Racing. Whether that leads to something beyond the test remains to be seen.
“I believe a lot in them,” Brown said. “I’m just looking forward to this opportunity and hope to take it to other levels.
“I’m very competitive in whatever I do. I just want to compete. I want to learn the right way. I know I’ve positioned myself with the right organization to do that with Rev Racing through Toyota. I just want to take steps to learn everything and then actually develop my driving ability to drive ovals.
"I know I can go straight – but now I have to put a left hand turn in it. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
