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Toyota NHRA Finals Preview

KALITTA LOOKS TO MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW AT NHRA FINALS – Doug Kalitta heads to Pomona this weekend looking to repeat his 2016 NHRA Finals victory. Last season’s win saw him defeat teammate J.R. Todd in an all-Kalitta Toyota final. It was a dominant weekend for the Kalitta team as Todd was the number one qualifier and set the current track record with a 3.680-second run.

TOYOTA DRIVERS LOOK TO CONTINUE DOMINANT NHRA FINALS RUN – Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon and Richie Crampton each will look to continue a streak that has seen a Toyota Top Fuel driver earn the last eight NHRA Finals titles. The current Toyota contingent has captured five of those victories with Kalitta triumphant in 2016, Shawn Langdon in both 2013 and 2015, and Brown winning in 2009 and 2010. Current Toyota Funny Car driver Del Worsham won the 2011 race on his way to the Top Fuel world championship, while long-time Toyota partner Morgan Lucas Racing earned NHRA Finals wins with Morgan Lucas (2014) and Brandon Bernstein (2012).

TITLE HUNT CONTINUES – Two Toyota drivers remain in the hunt for a world championship entering this weekend’s NHRA Finals. In Top Fuel, Doug Kalitta ranks third, 84 points behind the leader, while two-time defending champion Antron Brown is still mathematically alive in fourth.

DeJORIA SET FOR FUNNY FINALE – Alexis DeJoria will be competing in her final Funny Car race before her retirement at season’s end. While this may be her last NHRA event, she’s been a part of a number of firsts in her career. Among her ‘firsts’ was the first Camry driver to win the U.S. Nationals in 2014, the first woman Funny Car driver to run a 3.9-second pass at the 2014 Winternationals in Pomona and the first woman to race in 100 Funny Car races at the 2016 Winternationals.

LANGDON EARNS FUNNY CAR LICENSE – Long-time Toyota driver Shawn Langdon earned his Funny Car license last week, the first step in his move for the 2018 season.  The 2013 Top Fuel world champion registered a 4.00-second pass in his test at The Strip in Las Vegas Motor Speedway the Monday following the Toyota Nationals.

THOUGHTS ON POMONA:

Doug Kalitta: “We still have a shot at the title going into Pomona. We will get everything ready and run hard at the Finals.”

Antron Brown: “Our main focus now is just to go to Pomona and finish it out strong and to try to make it into the top three. So we will just go out there and race as hard as we can and see what we can do.”

Shawn Langdon: “We have had a car that’s capable of winning the last two races. We’re just running out of time now – one more race before I start my Funny Car venture and we’ll try to make the best of it at Pomona. We have one goal – to win.”

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