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TODD, BROWN TOP TOYOTAS IN GATEWAY NHRA QUALIFYING

MADISON, IL –Funny Car point leader J.R. Todd qualified seventh, while Antron Brown placed seventh in Top Fuel to lead Toyota before a sell-out crowd in qualifying for Sunday’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis.

Todd, who has driven his DHL Toyota Camry to victories at each of the last two events, ran a 3.928-second pass at 323.66 mph on Friday and followed that up with a top-five qualifying runs in both of Saturday’s sessions.

“We ran well, just not as well as we hoped to in the Friday night session, but we’re in the top half,” said Todd. “Friday night runs usually don’t correlate to Sundays. It’s more of a matter of getting your spot on the ladder. Our DHL/Wix Toyota Camry ran pretty well on Saturday and if it’s overcast tomorrow, these runs we made today could be a pretty good indicator.”

Todd will have to open Sunday’s eliminations against teammate Shawn Langdon, who placed tenth. Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel world champion, is pursuing his first career Funny Car victory, while Todd will be looking for his fifth win of the season.

Del Worsham placed 13th and will match up with Tommy Johnson Jr., while Cruz Pedregon starts from the 15th position against Ron Capps.

In Top Fuel, Brown jumped up to seventh on his final qualifying pass of the weekend with a 3.750-second run at 320.58 mph. He will race against fellow Toyota driver Doug Kalitta in tomorrow’s opening round after Kalitta moved up to tenth with a 3.769. Brown is currently fifth in the Countdown to the Championship playoff standings, one spot ahead of Kalitta.

Richie Crampton qualified 11th and faces Tony Schumacher in eliminations on Sunday.

FS1 will kick off its Sunday NHRA coverage with a one-hour recap of qualifying from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., with the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations show beginning on the network at 2:00 p.m. (all times EDT).

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