BROWN, TODD LEAD TOYOTA IN NORWALK NHRA QUALIFYING

NORWALK, OH –Antron Brown qualified seventh in Top Fuel, while J.R. Todd placed seventh in Funny Car to lead Toyota into Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Brown was the top qualifier in Friday’s opening session with a 3.742-second run at 326 mph and then ran the third-quickest time in Saturday’s final session to earn four bonus points for the weekend – the second-highest total of the weekend in Top Fuel. Overall, he registered three 3.7-second passes in the four sessions.

“I’m feeling good for tomorrow,” said Brown, who will race Scott Palmer in Sunday’s eliminations. “Our Matco Tools Toyota has been running exceptionally well. Q1 was a really good run, Q3 was another decent run even after losing a belt and then we ran strong again in Q4. We overpowered the track Friday night, but today was key to prepare for eliminations. I believe we have a car that can compete and race with anybody. It will be warmer tomorrow and that will throw a curveball for everybody. We’ve been putting together a car that runs pretty well in the hot weather conditions, now we just need a little luck to go our way.”

Richie Crampton also qualified in the top half of the Top Fuel field in eighth and will face Billy Torrence in round one. Doug Kalitta starts Sunday’s action from the 13th position. He will race Clay Millican.

In Funny Car, Todd laid down a 3.927-second pass on Friday to earn the seventh spot for eliminations where he will face Robert Hight in the opening round. The match-up will feature the top two finishers in last year’s Funny Car world championship where Todd came out on top.

Shawn Langdon rounded out the Camry contingent with a 12th in qualifying. He will square off with Blake Alexander in round one.

Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be televised on FS1 beginning at 6:30 p.m. (EDT).