MORRISON, CO – Climbing temperatures, high altitude and changing conditions ruled the day at today’s Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway with the eight-car Toyota contingent among those affected.

Antron Brown, Cruz Pedregon and Richie Crampton were the only Toyota drivers to advance beyond the first round as clean passes down the track were rare as ambient temperatures climbed into the mid-90s and track temperatures exceeded 120 degrees Sunday.

Brown’s first-round victory came against Doug Kalitta in a match-up between the top two drivers in the Top Fuel point standings.  The win allowed Brown to close to within 25 points of the top spot with four races remaining in the regular season.   The 2012 world champion then fell to Larry Dixon in round two as neither driver was able to make a clean pass.

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MORRISON, CO – Cruz Pedregon qualified fourth in Funny Cars, while Shawn Langdon placed fifth in Top Fuel to lead Toyota in qualifying for Sunday’s Mile-High NHRA Nationals at the Bandimere Speedway in suburban Denver.

For Pedregon, it marks the fourth time this season he’s qualified in the top-four in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry.  He will face Terry Haddock in Sunday’s opening round.

Alexis DeJoria placed ninth, while Kalitta Motorsports teammate Del Worsham was 10^th.   DeJoria matches up against Matt Hagan, while Worsham will go head-to-head with Courtney Force.  Tony Pedregon rounds out the Camry contingent in 14^th and will take on Tim Wilkerson.

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BROWN LOOKS TO CONTINUE HOT STREAK IN DENVER – Antron Brown arrives in Denver looking for his third consecutive Top Fuel victory at a track he’s had great success at in the past.  Brown, who has closed to within 48 points of the championship lead, is coming off wins in Chicago and Norwalk.  His five 2014 victories are more than double the next highest Top Fuel driver.   In addition to his third straight victory, the 2012 World Champion also will be looking to register his third triumph at Bandimere Speedway after previously winning there in 2009 and 2012.  In addition to his victory, he also set the track record in 2012 with a 3.862-second pass.  Brown was the last Top Fuel driver to sweep the “Western Swing” of three races in three weeks in Denver, Sonoma and Seattle.  In addition, Brown will be making his 300^th career start this weekend.

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NORWALK, OH – Del Worsham set a new Funny Car track record in his Toyota Camry with a 4.000-second run, while Shawn Langdon set a new standard in Top Fuel with a 3.745-second pass as Toyota drivers swept the Nitro number one qualifiers for Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Worsham was the top qualifier on both days of Funny Car qualifying with matching 4.000-second passes to earn six bonus points.   Tonight marks his third number one qualifying effort of the season and the 16^th of his career.  Worsham previously earned poles at Houston and Bristol this season.  It was the sixth pole by a Camry in Funny Car competition this season.

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BROWN HEADS TO NORWALK AFTER CHICAGO VICTORY – Antron Brown will head to Norwalk fresh off his fourth victory of the season in Chicago last weekend.  Brown, who leads Top Fuel in wins, is once again in the midst of a championship hunt.  He currently stands second, just 102 points out of the top spot.  It’s a familiar position for Brown as it’s the fourth straight season he’s running in the top three in points – having placed second overall a year ago, winning the Top Fuel world championship in 2012 and placing third in 2011.   During that time frame, no other driver has accomplished the feat more than twice.   It’s fitting since Brown has won 20 races over the last three and a half seasons, far out-distancing any other driver in the series.

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JOLIET, IL – Antron Brown defeated Brittany Force in the Top Fuel final to earn his fourth victory of the season, as well as registering an historic milestone at today’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.  The win also was the 10^th in 12 races for a Toyota-sponsored car in NHRA Nitro competition this season.

Brown, the 2012 world champion, defeated Billy Torrence and Richie Crampton in the opening two rounds to advance to the semi-finals.  He then defeated Clay Millican to become just the 16^th driver in NHRA history to earn 500 career round wins and advance to the finals against Force.  With today’s victory, he has moved to within 102 points of the lead in the Top Fuel point standings.

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JOLIET, IL – Del Worsham placed second in Funny Car, while Antron Brown qualified third in Top Fuel on Saturday night to lead Toyota for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

Worsham held the top spot until the final two pairs when his 4.023-second run in his DHL Toyota Camry was finally eclipsed.  Tonight’s showing marks the fifth time in the last seven races that Worsham has qualified in the top two, with two number one qualifiers (Houston and Bristol) and three seconds (Atlanta, Englishtown, Chicago) during that stretch.  He will face Bob Bode in the first round of eliminations.

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DEJORIA HEADS TO CHICAGO SECOND IN POINTS – After making her fourth final this year In Epping last weekend, Alexis DeJoria heads to Chicago second in the Funny Car point standings in her hunt to become Funny Car’s first female champion.  DeJoria narrowly missed becoming the first woman in NHRA history to win three Funny Car races in one season when she was defeated in the final by Ron Capps.  To date, DeJoria has two wins (Phoenix, Las Vegas), four finals, one number one qualifier and six top-five qualifying efforts in 11 races this season.  She also became the only woman in NHRA history to run over 4 seconds in a Funny Car at the season-opener in Pomona when she ran a 3.997.

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EPPING, NH  – Alexis DeJoria advanced to her fourth final round of the season, but came up just short of the victory in her Patron XO Café Toyota Camry at today’s Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.

DeJoria defeated Tony Pedregon, Tommy Johnson and John Force before falling to Ron Capps in the final.  Had DeJoria won, she would have become the first woman in history to win three Funny Car races in the same season.   With the finals appearance, she has moved up into second place overall in the Funny Car point standings.

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EPPING, NH – Antron Brown ran a track record 3.770-second pass to earn the Top Fuel number one qualifier for Sunday’s Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at the New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.

Brown’s record run on Friday night held up through Saturday qualifying to give him the number one seed for Sunday’s first-round of eliminations.  It is his 36^th career number one qualifier and his second pole of the season with the other coming at Las Vegas.

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