TODD DRIVES CAMRY TO SEMI-FINALS AT NHRA BRISTOL

BRISTOL, TN – J.R. Todd drove his DHL Toyota Camry to the Funny Car semi-finals to lead Toyota at the Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at the Bristol Dragway Sunday. It was the fifth time in the last eight races that Todd has advanced to the semi-finals or beyond.

Todd defeated fellow Toyota driver Del Worsham in the opening round and then knocked off Jack Beckman in round two to set up a semi-final match-up with Ron Capps. Todd had the advantage at the light with a .034 reaction time, but dropped a cylinder at the 100’ mark, giving Capps the win.

“It was just a matter of going down the track today,” said Todd, as air temperatures soared into the 90s. “In the semis, I just dropped a hole right after I hit the gas and you’re a sitting duck at that point. It’s good to be going rounds and earning points in our DHL Camry, but it would be nice to be going even more rounds and earning more points on the cars in front of us. It’s going to be hot in Norwalk, but they have a brand new circuit. I’m sure it’s going to be tricky.”

Cruz Pedregon won in his first Funny Car run of the day, but smoked the tires in losing to Bob Tasca in the second round. With the round win, Pedregon jumped up to eighth in the points.

Shawn Langdon lost in the opening round to Beckman.

In Top Fuel, both Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta advanced to the second round before being eliminated.

Brown ran the quickest pass of the day in defeating Richie Crampton with a 3.897-second run. In the second round, Brown had the advantage at the light on Steve Torrence, but overpowered the hot track as track temperatures soared past 140 degrees.

Kalitta defeated Brittany Force in the first round, but spun the tires in a second round loss to Scott Palmer.

The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series closes out its four races in four weeks stretch next weekend at the Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, with the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 22-24.