LANGDON LEADS TIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE – Shawn Langdon continues to lead a tight Top Fuel battle midway through the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs.  Langdon holds a 33-point advantage in what still appears to be a six-driver battle.  Morgan Lucas currently sits fourth – 45 points behind Langdon, while Antron Brown re-emerged in the Countdown race by winning at St. Louis.  He’s still 102 points behind and likely will need at least one more win this season to have a chance to repeat his 2012 title.  The first three events have seen three different winners with Toyota drivers winning two as Lucas also won at Charlotte.

Cruz Pedregon continues to be in the hunt in Funny Car.  He currently stands 83 points out of the top spot.  He won the Countdown event at Dallas – one of four on victories on the season.

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MADISON, IL – Antron Brown defeated Khalid alBalooshi to win an all-Toyota Top Fuel final in today’s NHRA AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis.

Brown defeated Billy Torrence, Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher before knocking off alBalooshi in the finals to win for the second year in a row at Gateway.  The victory is the third of the season for the 2012 Top Fuel world champion and his first since winning at Atlanta in May.

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MADISON, IL – Shawn Langdon registered a blistering 3.761-second pass on Friday night to earn his sixth number one qualifier of the season and regain the Top Fuel point lead in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis.

Langdon led both of Friday’s qualifying sessions and was second in Saturday’s first session on the way to earning eight bonus points, giving him a 14-point lead heading into round three of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs Sunday.

“Those qualifying points are crucial right now,” said Langdon, who topped the regular season standings.  “We were trying to get the lead back in the points.  We were just trying to race smart and were able to accomplish that. We were able to make two strong runs yesterday and another today to get those qualifying bonus points and we got top qualifier in the process.  Every point counts right now.”

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LANGDON, LUCAS IN TIGHT TOP FUEL TITLE FIGHT – With two of six Countdown to the Championship events completed, Toyota drivers Shawn Langdon and Morgan Lucas are clearly in the middle of a four-way battle for the 2013 Top Fuel world championship.   Langdon currently sits in a tie with Doug Kalitta for the lead, while Lucas is fourth, just 35 points behind the two leaders.  Equally as important, each continues to carry the momentum they brought into the Countdown.  Over the past six races, Langdon has two victories, a runner-up and two semi-finals, while Lucas also has two wins and a runner-up finish to go with one semi-final appearance.  Making the story even more intriguing – the pair were high school classmates, roommates during junior college and former teammates at Morgan Lucas Racing before Langdon was hired away by Al-Anabi Racing.

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Ennis, TX – Cruz Pedregon drove his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry to victory over John Force in the finals to win today’s NHRA AAA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex.

Pedregon’s Camry registered the low E.T. in four of the six Funny Car sessions of the weekend, including three of the four elimination rounds today.   He defeated Blake Alexander, Bob Tasca and Jack Beckman before knocking off Force in the finals to earn his fourth victory of the season, which ties him for the most Funny Car wins this year.

“I thought about how cool it would be to sweep the Texas races,” said Pedregon, who won earlier this year in Houston.  “Lo and behold, here we are.  It was an uphill battle. From the outside looking in, it looked like we had an easy day, but we were working it.  The whole Snap-on Toyota team did a great job all weekend, especially after losing Friday to the rain.”

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Ennis, TX – Toyota driver Shawn Langdon earned his fifth number one qualifier of the season in Top Fuel, while Cruz Pedregon qualified second in his Camry Funny Car in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA AAA of Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex.

Langdon recorded a 3.819-second pass in his opening run today to earn the top spot after Friday’s two qualifying sessions were rained out.

“It was huge to come out here and make as strong a run as we did in the first session, said Langdon, who closed to within 18 points of the series lead.

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Ennis, TX – LUCAS PEAKING AT RIGHT TIME – Morgan Lucas has won a number of races and gone on his share of streaks during his Top Fuel career, but the difference with his latest run is its come right at the most important part of the season – the beginning of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.  With his victory this past weekend in Charlotte, Lucas has now gone to the finals three times in the last five races, winning two.  He heads to Dallas this weekend just 30 points out of the series lead and only six behind second-place Shawn Langdon.  He also takes a brand new dragster with just one race under its belt to the Lone Star state.

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Concord, NC – Toyota driver Morgan Lucas completed a dominating weekend by defeating Spencer Massey in the final to win the NHRA Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals at the zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday.

After being the overall top qualifier in leading two of the four qualifying sessions, Lucas was equally impressive on Sunday.   He ran the low ET in three of Sunday’s four elimination rounds as he registered three of the five 3.7-second passes run on the day.

“The team put a great car underneath me,” said Lucas. “We are a team, and I am really, genuinely proud to be a part of it.  When Aaron (Brooks, crew chief) starts talking about doing some damage, the whole team gets behind him. He’s our General Patton.”

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