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Crampton Leads Toyota in NHRA Charlotte Qualifying

CHARLOTTE, NC – Richie Crampton qualified fourth in Top Fuel to lead Toyota into Sunday’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Crampton, who won from the fourth starting position earlier in the Countdown at Maple Grove, ran a 3.732-second pass at 328.06 mph in Saturday’s final session to earn the fourth spot. He was second quickest in Friday night’s session, earning two bonus points in the process. He will kick off Sunday’s eliminations against Austin Prock.

“It was a great run when the DHL Toyota dragster needed it on Friday night which earned us a couple of bonus points,” said Crampton. “Then we were able to follow that up with another strong run in Q4 to qualify fourth. Qualifying well is a big part of putting yourself in a position to have a good run on Sunday. There’s never an easy first-round match-up in Top Fuel anymore, but it will give us lane choice and that’s a positive.”

Brown was third after Friday’s qualifying after running a 3.758-second run at 328.94 mph. He earned one bonus point in each of the day’s sessions, but slipped back to seventh after Saturday’s final qualifying run.

Doug Kalitta, who entered Friday’s action as the Top Fuel point leader, registered three 3.786 or better runs this weekend in qualifying tenth. Brown and Kalitta will face-off in an all-Toyota first-round match-up on Sunday.

In Funny Car, Shawn Langdon led the way with a 3.970-second pass to qualify tenth. After winning the most recent NHRA event in St. Louis, Langdon will square off with Tim Wilkerson on Sunday.

Langdon’s teammate, reigning Funny Car champion J.R. Todd, was just .002 behind with a 3.972-second pass to place 12th. He will race John Force in eliminations.

Mike McIntire ran 15th and will race Robert Hight in the first-round.

FS1 kicks off its Sunday coverage with NHRA Sunday Live from 1:00-2:00 p.m., followed by Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations live on FS1 beginning at 2:00 p.m. (all times EDT).

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