MESA, Ariz. Cant we all just NOT get along?

Thats what four-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown was wondering.

Everybodys seeing the value of our sport, he said, but there are some things in our sport that I see that could be different. One, Brown suggested, was that we need to really stop being Mr. or Mrs. Nice Person. Hes jonesing for some authentic smack-talk.

I think that will make our sport where you could get some more storylines and people could see it, because thats what people resonate with. Thats why they like watching UFC. Thats why they watch watching a boxing match. Connor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. They were friends, but when they put those gloves on, they were talking junk to each other, and then they were backing it up what they were doing in the ring. And thats what we need is not putting something thats fake on its being true, but just letting our true inner competitive nature out.

Shirley Muldowney said it years ago: Im not to get out the car and say something nice about somebody who just beat me. They took money out of my pocket.

Absolutely, Brown said. People think its funny. They laugh at me when I say, That jokers trying to take my lunch money. It was more on the comedy side, but I was being who I am, and Im telling the truth because thats how I look at it.

When we put our race helmets on, we need to bring in our competitive nature and show it. And thats one thing that we need to do more of so people could see us and our competitive nature. Were nice and huggy and everything else like that, where I think we need to show em more of who we really truly are because were all gladiators. We go to war, he said.

He cited on-track rival Brittany Force: She has a pretty smile. She looks like a Barbie doll, but she aint no Barbie doll when she puts that helmet on. I say she is a monster.

Brown said Force cuts her better reaction times against him, trying to put me on the trailer. So we need to tell more of that. We need to have some more combatants against each other.

He would have giggled If he heard Vance & Hines crew chief Andrew Hines critical remarks about his rider Gaige Herreras opponent and keenest adversary, Matt Smith, in the recent Gatornationals Pro Stock Motorcycle final at Gainesville, Fla.

Smiths bike had trouble firing, and Herrera waited patiently for Smiths team to recover. But Hines said of Smith, We took the high road. But the ready line is back there. He shouldve had his stuff ready.

And maybe Brown enjoyed Bob Tasca IIIs rant against FOX Sports for claiming in its wildly popular IndyCar ads that the open-wheel series produces the fastest racing on Earth.

Tasca indignantly called it insulting to NHRA drivers and fans. Pro Stock winner Dallas Glenn, 34, complimented team boss and final-round foe Greg Anderson, 64, but called him an old guy.

Brown had to be grinning.

You could see me smiling, kissing babies, shaking hands, and when I put my helmet on, Im like gladiator because Im trying to bring death to the competition. And that never changes, brother. I dont care who you are. I dont care what kind of car were racing. We could race big wheels to the 60-foot clock, and you could be a little girl thats seven years old and I aint giving her no false hope. Im taking her to the cleaners, brother, Brown said.

Im a true competitor by nature, and I tell people this all the time: The day that I feel like I dont want to win, I will not be driving a race car. I dont like to lose. I go to the gym, I try to eat the right foods, keep myself in shape, and I try to come out in the best shape and mindset that I could be to win. Im always hungry, brother. Im just speaking the truth of my competitive nature, and Ive always been like that.

Announcer Bill Stephens tried to whip up some passion years ago. He told drag racers that they should be able to leap from their hot rods and share that sense of excitement they just experienced a few seconds earlier. If they cant convey excitement, why should anyone else care to watch? Stephens has a disciple in Brown.