BROWN, TODD LEAD TOYOTA IN NORWALK NHRA QUALIFYING

NORWALK, OH –Antron Brown qualified fifth in Top Fuel, while J.R. Todd was seventh in Funny Car to lead Toyota in the rain-shortened qualifying for Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Rain canceled one session on both Friday and Saturday.

Brown qualified fifth in both of the weekend’s sessions with a top time of 3.805 seconds. It marks the second straight race that he’s qualified in the top five. The three-time world champion will open up Sunday’s eliminations against Blake Alexander.

Doug Kalitta qualified ninth and will face Leah Pritchett, while teammate Richie Crampton was tenth and squares off with Pat Dakin the opening round.

In Funny Car, Todd ran a 4.044-second pass at 315.27 mph to earn the seventh position. He’s scheduled to race Bob Tasca in the first round.

Right behind Todd are fellow Toyota drivers Shawn Langdon in eighth and Del Worsham in ninth.  Langdon earned one bonus point for registering the third-quickest time in Saturday’s session with a 4.050, narrowly eclipsing Worsham’s 4.056, which was fourth-quick. The two will meet in an all-Camry first-round on Sunday.

Cruz Pedregon was on a top-three in Saturday’s session before having to shut it off late in the run and did not qualify for Sunday’s race.

Today’s qualifying can be seen tomorrow on FS1 at 12:30 p.m., while Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations also will be shown on FS1 beginning at 6:30 p.m. (all times ET).