CONCORD, N.C. – Antron Brown lives for challenges, and the bigger they are the more excited the Top Fuel standout gets.

The defending Top Fuel world champion has a major one this weekend at the one-of-a-kind seventh annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods at zMAX Dragway. It’s the only race that features four 10,000-horsepower nitro machines facing off against each other at once, presenting a challenge unlike any other race.

But Brown and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster have relished moments like these, winning the past two Four-Wide Nationals in the loaded Top Fuel class. The chance to become the NHRA’s first three-time winner at the highly-anticipated event is there, and it’s a challenge that has Brown excited.

It’s not the only challenge Brown is trying to tackle in 2016 as well. The two-time Top Fuel champion is also trying to claim a second straight world title for the first time in his career and become the first repeat champion in the class since 2009 when teammate Tony Schumacher finished off his string of six straight championships.

“What we do is accept the challenge and the harder the challenge the more focused we get on the task at hand,” Brown said. “You have to be on your toes in the Four-Wide with everything that goes on. You can’t mess up because it’s a battle royal. Things come at you from all directions and you have to hit it quick and get ahead. The stakes are even higher in the Four-Wide and we give it all we have and any extra we can find.”

Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Larry Morgan (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Brown in the winner’s circle one year ago. The unique race, which will be televised on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), is the fifth of 24 during the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and Brown heads into zMAX Dragway with impressive momentum.

Brown won the most recent race in Las Vegas, exorcising any minor struggles that precluded his team during the first three races of 2016. A first-round loss in Gainesville left him 10th in points, but Brown knew his team would respond in championship fashion in Las Vegas. It led to Brown’s most consistent effort of 2016 and gave him his 39th career Top Fuel win, tying him with the legendary Kenny Bernstein for fourth-most in class history.

“We had a rough start to this year, and it’s just the way it goes sometimes,” said Brown, who has 55 victories, including the wins he earned while competing in Pro Stock Motorcycle early on in his career. “We had a couple of things we had to change — you had to change your combination around because you have different parts and pieces than you had before. We started off and it wasn’t like our car wasn’t running well. It was running great.

“You come out and you just want to win and you want to win early, and you end up pushing too hard. These struggles we were having have made us learn more and you grow more, and you’re able to get results like that after learning from when things aren’t going right.”

Brown has been around the sport too long to get frustrated by a brief rough stretch, and the same goes for a group led by talented crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald. But success and victories are the ultimate goals for each weekend, and consistently quick performances like the one in Vegas is what Brown, currently second in points, is always after. That won’t change at the all-concrete zMAX Dragway, even if the four-lane racing provides a unique challenge.

“That’s what we shoot for every race weekend, and we’re always trying to learn from whatever happens,” Brown said. “Not just learn from it, but to build upon it for the next race. That’s always our goal. We don’t do anything different. We just try to be more efficient every time we go up to the starting line.”

Standing in Brown’s way at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals are a host of standout performers, including eight-time world champion Schumacher, points leader Brittany Force, who won her first career Top Fuel race in Gainesville, and veteran Doug Kalitta. Others to watch are J.R. Todd, Steve Torrence, won opened 2016 with a victory, Clay Millican, Shawn Langdon and Gatornationals runner-up Terry McMillen.

But Brown is the winningest active Top Fuel driver at zMAX Dragway and he mentioned a major reason why his team has had success at the state-of-the-art facility.

“Our success in the Four-Wide is because of the adaptability our Matco/U.S. Army/Toyota team has,” Brown said. “It’s a totally different race and we have been able to adapt to that unique format and everything that goes on around us. You have to beat two cars until the final and then you have to beat everybody. We throw the strategy of racing one car out the window. We can’t leave anything on the table.”

In Funny Car, Beckman ended his 54-race winless streak in Funny Car with his victory at this event last year. The victory provided the momentum he needed to earn seven wins in the season, set the national record four times and finish runner-up in the points standings behind Del Worsham. Winternationals winner Ron Capps, two-time Four-Wide Nationals winner and current points leader Robert Hight, Courtney Force, John Force, Tim Wilkerson and Las Vegas winner Alexis DeJoria will try to prevent Beckman from a second straight victory.

In Pro Stock, last year’s Four-Wide runner-up Greg Anderson is riding some early season momentum with two wins this season. His teammate, Jason Line, also has two wins and is the current points leader. Defending world champ Erica Enders, who is looking for her first Four-Wide victory, will also be among the favorites, along with rising star Bo Butner, Vincent Nobile, last year’s top rookie Drew Skillman, Alex Laughlin, Allen Johnson and Chris McGaha.

The sleek new Pro Stock cars feature fuel-injected engines, shorter wheelie bars, flat hoods and a 10,500 RPM rev-limiter.

The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is the second stop on the Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule. Hines, who won the event last year by outrunning three-time world champion Eddie Krawiec, went on to claim the 2015 series title. Krawiec comes in as the points leader after winning the Gatornationals and will face off against the likes of Hector Arana Jr., who was the No. 1 qualifier and also set both ends of the track record at last year’s Four-Wide Nationals, Hector Arana Sr. and two-time world champion Matt Smith.

As always, fans will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite drivers as they’re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. This unique opportunity in motorsports gives fans direct access to the teams, allowing them to see firsthand the highly-skilled mechanics service their hot rods between rounds, and enjoy some cherished face time with their favorite NHRA drivers.

The 2015 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals will also feature thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 22 and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, April 23, at 2 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.

Be a part of the action all weekend with a Three-Day Pass to the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals starting at $107.  Tickets for children 13 and under are free with any paid adult ticket; to purchase general admission or reserved seats please visit www.zMAXDragway.com or call the box office at (800) 455-FANS (3267). For more information about NHRA, please visit www.NHRA.com.

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NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS FACTS

WHAT: Sixth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, the fifth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Drivers in four categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – earn points leading to 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championships.

WHERE: zMAX Dragway- Track is located on Hwy 29 off I-85 at exit 49 (Speedway Blvd.) in the Concord, N.C. area.

WHEN: Friday through Sunday, April 22-24

COURSE: All-concrete four-wide championship dragstrip at an elevation of 630 feet. Track direction is southwest to northeast.

FORMAT: Qualifying sessions and elimination rounds will be conducted using four lanes in all Mello Yello Series classes; Lanes will be identified from left to right facing downtrack as 1-4; The standard Friday qualifying procedure of a top 12 format will not be in use; Two Christmas trees will be in use, one between each two lanes; The Compulink Autostart system will continue to be utilized and it will not activate until all four vehicles are pre-staged and one vehicle has staged; The ladder structure will feature Race A: qualifiers 1, 8, 9, 16, Race B: qualifiers 4, 5, 12, 13, Race C: qualifiers 2, 7, 10, 15, and Race D: qualifiers 3, 6, 11, 14; Race A and Race B will be on one side of the ladder, while Race C and Race D will be on the other;  Lane choice for eliminations goes to the driver with the quickest E.T., then the second-quickest, and so on; The first two drivers in each elimination round to cross the finish line advance to the second round and final; In the final round, teams will finish in the order they cross the finish line (barring any red-light starts), with winner, runner-up and two semifinalists in that order.

SCHEDULE:        

FRIDAY, April 22 – LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying

MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, April 23 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations

MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 2 and 4 p.m.

SUNDAY, April 24 – Pre-race ceremonies, 10:30 a.m.

MELLO YELLO SERIES eliminations begin at noon

TELEVISION:      

Saturday, April 23, Fox Sports 1 (FS1) will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 10 p.m. (ET).

Sunday, April 24, FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 4:30 p.m. (ET).

2015 EVENT WINNERS: Antron Brown, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Larry Morgan, Pro Stock; Andrew Hines, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST VICTORIES: Antron Brown, 2, TF; Spencer Massey, 2, TF; Jack Beckman, 2, FC; Robert Hight, 2, FC; Greg Anderson, 2, PS; Mike Edwards, 2, PS; Andrew Hines, 2, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS:            

Top Fuel – 3.713 sec. by J.R. Todd, March ’15; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12.

Funny Car – 3.971 sec. by Tommy Johnson Jr., Sept. ’15; 322.27 mph by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’11.

Pro Stock – 6.455 sec. by Jason Line, March ’15; 215.48 mph by Greg Anderson, March ’15.

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.794 sec. and 199.88 mph by Hector Arana Jr., March ’15.

NATIONAL RECORDS:    

Top Fuel – 3.680 sec. by Antron Brown, Aug. ’15, Brainerd, Minn.; 332.75 mph by Spencer Massey, Aug. ’15, Brainerd, Minn.

Funny Car – 3.879 sec. by Jack Beckman, March ‘16, Gainesville, Fla.; 331.45 mph by Matt Hagan, Nov. ’15, Pomona, Calif.

Pro Stock – 6.455 sec. by Jason Line, March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.;  215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ‘14, Englishtown N.J.

PS Motorcycle – 6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 199.88 mph by Hector Arana Jr., March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.

TICKETS: Order tickets by phone at (800) 455-FANS. Tickets also are available online at www.zmaxdragway.com.

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NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS

GLENDORA, Calif. — Point standings following the fourth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series –

Top Fuel: 1.  Brittany Force, 307; 2.  Antron Brown, 269; 3.  Doug Kalitta, 267; 4.  Steve Torrence, 249; 5.  Clay Millican, 242; 6.  J.R. Todd, 229; 7.  Dave Connolly, 217; 8.  Terry McMillen, 209; 9.  Tony Schumacher, 190; 10.  Leah Pritchett, 188.

Funny Car: 1.  Robert Hight, 341; 2.  John Force, 294; 3.  Ron Capps, 289; 4.  Del Worsham, 283; 5.  Jack Beckman, 271; 6.  Courtney Force, 265; 7.  Chad Head, 236; 8.  Alexis DeJoria, 233; 9.  Tim Wilkerson, 221; 10.  Matt Hagan, 150.

Pro Stock: 1.  Jason Line, 463; 2.  Greg Anderson, 415; 3.  Bo Butner, 331; 4.  Drew Skillman, 264; 5.  Chris McGaha, 214; 6.  Allen Johnson, 212; 7.  Jeg Coughlin, 191; 8.  Vincent Nobile, 175; 9.  Erica Enders, 171; 10.  Alex Laughlin, 154.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1.  Eddie Krawiec, 129; 2.  Hector Arana, 99; 3.  Andrew Hines, 79; 4.  LE Tonglet, 74; 5.  Chip Ellis, 62; 6.  (tie) Michael Ray, 52; Jerry Savoie, 52; Jim Underdahl, 52; 9.  Angelle Sampey, 35; 10.  (tie) Scotty Pollacheck, 33. Melissa Surber, 33.