Kalitta Motorsports
TODD LEADS TOYOTA AT NHRA SPRINGNATIONALS QUALIFYING
BAYTOWN, TX – J.R. Todd qualified fourth in Funny Car to lead Toyota into Sunday’s NHRA SpringNationals at 
Houston Raceway Park.
Todd ran in the top five of each of the four qualifying sessions during the weekend. The reigning world champion topped Saturday’s first session, was second in Friday night’s run with his weekend best of 3.903 at 326.08 mph, third in Saturday’s final session and fifth in Friday’s opening run. He earned a series-high six bonus points in qualifying during the weekend.
“Our DHL Toyota has been strong all weekend,” said Todd, the reigning Funny Car world champion. “We’re starting in a good position, but we need to stay focused tomorrow. After the rain today and the cooler weather expected on Sunday, conditions are going to change and nothing is ever easy in the Funny Cars.”
TOYOTA TO SERVE AS PRIMARY SPONSOR OF DOUG KALITTA IN HOUSTON
PLANO, TX – Toyota and Kalitta Motorsports announced today that the auto manufacturer will be the primary 
sponsor of Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster at the upcoming SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park, April 12-14.
“This is an extension of the exceptional partnership Toyota has enjoyed with Kalitta Motorsports both marketing and technology-wise,” said Laura Pierce, General Manager, Motorsports, Toyota Motor North America. “We are looking forward to sponsoring Doug Kalitta, one of the sport’s most successful drivers, in Houston.”
Toyota has a rich history with Kalitta Motorsports, having won 31 races and two Funny Car world championships with the team since joining forces in 2011. Among those wins was Doug Kalitta’s victory in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals.
“The Toyota wrap on the car looks really good and I’m looking forward to trying to go down to Houston and get the win with it,” said Kalitta, the Top Fuel point leader. “Toyota has been a great partner and it’s been a real bonus for our team technically having TRD out there with us. I’m a true believer that having TRD’s involvement was a big part in winning the Funny Car championship last year.”
TODD DRIVES CAMRY TO VEGAS WINNER’S CIRCLE IN FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
LAS VEGAS, NV – Reigning Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd drove his DHL Toyota Camry to his first win of 
the season in Sunday’s DENSO Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals. The triumph marked his third consecutive win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his ninth in the last 38 NHRA events.
Todd defeated Jim Campbell and Gary Densham in the first round and then eliminated Matt Hagan and Jeff Diehl in round two. That set up a final round quadrant of Todd, Tim Wilkerson, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Beckman. Todd had a great jump at the start and moved into the lead by the 330’ mark. By 660’, it was a two-car battle between Todd and Johnson with Todd holding a .023 second advantage. That was as close as Johnson would get, though, as Todd registered a 3.970-second run, with a margin of victory of .032 seconds.
“It seems like these DHL Toyota Camrys always run well here,” said Todd after securing the sixth win for a Kalitta Camry in the last 11 Las Vegas events. “The whole team has a really good handle on this place, especially my crew chiefs Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer. It seems like the more we come here, the better grip they get on this place. We struggled early this year with cold tracks and shaking the tires. I knew that it was eventually going to warm up and, sure enough, it was hot and nasty here today.”
TODD, CRAMPTON TOP TOYOTAS IN LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE QUALIFYING
LAS VEGAS – J.R. Todd qualified fourth in Funny Car, while Richie Crampton was sixth in Top Fuel to lead Toyota 
in preparation for Sunday’s DENSO Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Todd earned six bonus points in qualifying as the quickest driver in two of the four Funny Car sessions. He will be looking for his third consecutive victory at The Strip and his second straight in the DENSO Four-Wide Nationals.
“The DHL Toyota Camry made two really good passes in qualifying, but we need to be more consistent on race day,” said Todd, who registered a 3.920 in Saturday’s first session. “With temperatures expected to be warmer tomorrow, it very well may come down to who makes the best adjustments.”
Todd will open Sunday’s action in a quadrant with Matt Hagan, Jim Campbell and Gary Densham, with Todd having lane choice.
TOYOTA’S CRAMPTON WINS 50th GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE, FL – Richie Crampton drove his DHL Toyota dragster to a holeshot victory over Clay Millican in the 
finals of Sunday’s 50th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, becoming just the seventh Top Fuel driver in history to win back-to-back at the historic event.
Crampton knocked off fellow Toyota driver Antron Brown in the opening round and then defeated Leah Pritchett on a holeshot in round two. He then beat T.J. Zizzo in the semifinals to set up the match-up with Millican. In the finals, Crampton had a .016 advantage on the tree and then had the power to hold on for the holeshot win with a margin of victory of just 0.0032 seconds or approximately 18 inches.
“It was just a career day for me to win the 50th Gatornationals,” said Crampton, who earned his ninth career Top Fuel win. “We had a really good DHL Toyota dragster. Everyone had to work hard – from Connie (Kalitta) to the crew guys to myself. I feel like we earned it here today. We live and die on our reaction times. Coming into the race today, I knew I needed to be on it. The field we have in Top Fuel now is the cream of the crop. You’re winning and losing everything on the starting line and I’m focusing on that. I’m pretty proud of what we accomplished today.”
TODD DRIVES CAMRY TO SEVENTH FINAL ROUND IN LAST NINE NHRA EVENTS
PHOENIX, AZ – Toyota Funny Car driver J.R. Todd advanced to his seventh final round in the last nine NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events before eventually falling to Matt Hagan in Sunday’s finals at the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in suburban Phoenix.
After qualifying fifth, Todd defeated Terry Haddock in the first round and Tommy Johnson in round two to set up a match-up with rival Robert Hight in the semifinals. Todd had a big starting line advantage and never trailed, running his best time (3.919) of the day and fastest speed (327.19 mph) of the weekend. With Todd and Hagan registering times just .003 seconds apart in the semis it set up what seemed to be an epic final, but Todd appeared to have an ignition problem at the light and the car was unable to leave the starting line.
“That was not the way you want to close out the weekend,” said Todd, the reigning Funny Car world champion. “We had a nice run in Q3 to put us in a pretty good position coming into today. We got lucky in the first round and were able to win a pedal fest. We had a good car in beating Tommy Johnson in round two and then my guys gave me a great Camry in the semifinals to outrun Robert (Hight). We’re still not certain what happened in the final round. We hit the gas and it just didn’t go. On the bright side, it was a good points weekend and to make our seventh final round in the last nine races is hard to even imagine. I can’t say enough about all these DHL Toyota Camry guys. Now we just have to figure out what happened, fix it and get ready for Gainesville.”
BROWN, TODD TOP TOYOTAS IN QUALIFYING FOR NHRA ARIZONA NATIONALS
PHOENIX, AZ –Antron Brown qualified third in Top Fuel, while J.R. Todd placed fifth in Funny Car to lead Toyota 
in preparation for Sunday’s Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in suburban Phoenix.
Brown jumped up to third on his final qualifying attempt when he registered a 3.718-second run at 322.34 mph. It marks the second consecutive race that Brown has earned the number three starting position. He will match up against Steve Torrence in the first round.
“It’s going in the right direction, but we had a little banger at the end there,” said Brown after his run which was second quickest of the session, earning him two bonus points. “All in all, it was another great qualifying effort for our Matco Tools/Toyota DSR dragster. We’ve qualified in the top three two races in a row. We don’t have a favorable first-round match-up (vs. Torrence), but you have to beat them all to win. We’ll just take it one round at a time and you might as well start with the champ. In the first round, we’re going to go after it and we’ll take it from there.”
Doug Kalitta wasn’t far behind Brown in the fifth spot with a 3.738-second pass. He will face off with Jim Maroney in his opening run of eliminations. His Kalitta Motorsports teammate Richie Crampton placed 15thand races Terry McMillen on Sunday.
TOYOTA’S KALITTA REPEATS AT NHRA WINTERNATIONALS IN POMONA
POMONA, CA – Toyota driver Doug Kalitta took the lead at the start, then fought off Steve Torrence after hazing the 
tires to win the Top Fuel finals at the rain-delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Monday.
With the victory, Kalitta becomes just the second Top Fuel driver ever to win back-to-back Winternationals. It marks his third overall Winternationals crown, having also won the event in 2009.
Kalitta drove his Mac Tools Toyota dragster to a first-round victory over Scott Palmer to set up a second-round match-up with Billy Torrence. Kalitta used an exceptional .048 reaction time to take an early lead and then held off the elder Torrence to win on a hole-shot by .002 seconds (approximately 13 inches). In the semi-finals, Kalitta registered his second consecutive holeshot round win as he edged Terry McMillen. Kalitta registered the best Top Fuel reaction time of the day with a .043-second light on the way to a margin of victory of .011 second to send the Mac Tools Toyota dragster driver to his 97th final round.
In the finals, Kalitta had the starting line advantage, but started to haze the tires after the 330’ mark, but he never came off the gas. Shortly afterward, Torrence started to haze his tires as the two fought toward the finish line. Kalitta would hold on and win with the official margin of victory was .019 seconds or approximately seven feet.
Toyota Pomona NHRA Winternationals Preview
Todd Begins Title Defense…
J.R. Todd will begin his title defense at the same Pomona track where he clinched his first Funny Car championship 
with a victory in November. In just his second season in a Funny Car, Todd stormed to the title by winning three of six races in the Countdown and advancing to the finals in five. He earned a 20-3 record in the Countdown. Overall, Todd led the series in wins (six), round wins (44) and semi-final round appearances (13). He will head into the season-opener off a strong showing at the NHRA Spring Training in Phoenix, where he ran the second-quickest pass of the week and registered a top-three pass in Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s testing.
Langdon Ready To Break Through in Funny Cars…
After going through expected growing pains in his inaugural season in a Funny Car in 2018, Shawn Langdon appears ready to break through to earn his first win in the upcoming season. Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel world champion, was second-quickest in Saturday’s Spring Training testing session despite an early shut-down and also placed third in Friday’s testing. Langdon’s Global Electronic Technology Camry team was strengthened early last week with the announcement that Del Worsham would join the Kalitta Motorsports operation as a co-crew chief on the car along with Nicky Boninfante. The Worsham/Boninfante duo has already captured one world championship for the team back in 2015, when Worsham drove to the Funny Car title with Boninfante serving as co-crew chief.
Todd/Langdon Seek To Join Select Company…
2019 NHRA Spring Training J.R. Todd, Kalitta Motorsports
DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car Quotes
J.R. Todd, DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car:
What was your off-season like as the reigning NHRA Funny Car champion?
I wouldn’t say it was any different than any other off-season. I actually went on vacation, traveling over to Qatar. I raced there in 2011 and hadn’t seen a lot of the people over there since then and it was nice to go over there and support their race series. It was a cool venture. It seemed like the off-season flew by and I’m not opposed to that. I’m glad to be back out here testing and getting ready for the first race of the year.
From a personal standpoint, how does it feel to know that you’ve won the world championship and nobody can ever take that away from you?
That’s pretty much been a life-long dream since I was 10 years old and started racing junior dragsters. You hope that you can make it as a professional some day, then when you get to that point, you want to win your first race. After you do that, you want to contend for a championship and win a championship. I’m glad that we could do it and it definitely doesn’t get old when people start calling you champ. I’m trying to enjoy everything that comes with being a Funny Car champion. I’m just trying to represent the sport the best that I can and defend the championship.
