Houston, TX – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car will be leaving the NHRA Camping World Springnationals at Houston Raceway Park with both ends of the Funny Car track record book. He posted low ET and top speed of race day as wrote his name into the performance record book. In the opening session Todd blasted down the track with a winning and record setting time of 3.894 seconds at 333.49 mph. The DHL Camry Funny Car’s speed was the fastest of both Top Fuel and Funny Car, a tremendous achievement that brought the Houston crowd to its feet.

The first round win came over veteran Terry Haddock who smoked the tires and costed across the finish line. The scoreboards lit up 3.894 to 9.360 seconds and the DHL Camry Funny Car never trailed in the race. The win also gave Todd lane choice over Tommy Johnson Jr. on the quarterfinals.

“We had a great run in the first round,” said Todd. “It’s nice to have run the fastest pass of the weekend in this DHL Camry, but in the end, that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to win. This is the second straight race that we’ve run really well in the first round, but we need four of those. We have one race left to get it done. We’ve won in Las Vegas three times in the past couple of years and our goal will be to get a fourth next week.

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Houston, TX – Heading into race day at the NHRA Springnationals at Houston Raceway Park Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel team knew they would have their hands full with a tough first round opponent. As the No. 8 qualifier Langdon matched up with rookie of the year contender Justin Ashley for the sixth time in ten races. Langdon held a 3-2 winning advantage heading into today’s race.

The first round race went Langdon’s way from the start and he extended his head to head record to 4-2 against Ashley. He had a stellar reaction time of .031 to Ashley’s .037 and the DHL Kalitta Air dragster never trailed. As Langdon was pulling away Ashley tried to pedal his dragster but the 2020 U.S. Nationals champion was too strong and got the win.

For the second week in a row Langdon had to race the Camping World Top Fuel point leader. Last week Langdon faced Steve Torrence in the semifinals and today the quarterfinal match-up of two world champions was another tough race. The DHL dragster took off and was side by side as each dragster approached half-track. As the finish line approached Langdon hazed tires and slowed to 4.063 as he crossed the finish line.

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Houston, TX – Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster will leave Houston Raceway Park No. 2 in the Camping World Top Fuel standings. The team raced to a quarterfinal finish from the No. 5 qualifier position and will head to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a serious but not insurmountable point deficit. There will be 30 points awarded each round and with a little help Kalitta could be in control of his championship destiny.

“We knew the championship would come down to the last race,” said Kalitta. “We have a hole to dig out of for sure. The one thing about this Mac Tools team is we are going to keep fighting. There are points and half in Las Vegas and if we get a couple quick qualifying runs we can make up some ground on Saturday. We are going to go into the weekend with our focus on winning the race and getting the championship.”

In the opening round today Kalitta outran Texan Kebin Kinsley for his 21st round win of the season. The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster never trailed in the race. Kalitta grabbed a starting line reaction time advantage and then he powered to victory with a 3.716 second at 327.27 mph run. It was a big jump in performance from his best qualifying effort and gave him lane choice going into the quarterfinals.

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Houston, TX – This weekend’s NHRA Spring Nationals sees the return of J.R. Todd to a track where he has done something only two other racers in Houston Raceway Park history have accomplished. Todd along with Mike Dunn and Del Worsham are the only three racers to have won the Spring Nationals in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. In a matter of days Todd and his DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car will be looking to add a second Funny Car title to his trophy case and also continue to climb the NHRA Camping World Funny Car standings with two races remaining in the season.

“It is cool to be able to say you have done something only a couple other racers have done at a track that has as much history as Houston Raceway Park,” said Todd. “Guys like Mike Dunn and Del (Worsham) are Hall of Fame drivers so you want to be on lists with those guys. I really just want to get another win here because we have been grinding all season and we want to get four win lights on Sunday.”

Since 2014 Todd has won at least one NHRA national event and the 2018 Funny Car champion definitely wants to keep that streak alive. The DHL Camry Funny Car has two runner-up finishes including a close race at the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. As a nine-time Funny Car winner Todd would love to get that tenth win in Houston.

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Houston, TX – From the beginning of the season when Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team started off with a win at the Winternationals the team knew it would come down to the last few races to determine the championship. Kalitta and his team have led the points the majority of the season and entering the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park they are right in the championship mix. They sit just 51 points out of first place with a win and a semifinal finish over the past two races. This differential can easily be made up with a strong performance weekend in Houston.

“We have two races left and we know what we need to do,” said Kalitta. “The good news is we basically control our own destiny. If we run well in qualifying and win these last two races we should be the champions. It will be tough but I have a great team behind me and I have a lot of confidence.”

Kalitta should be confident racing at Houston Raceway Park because he is one of the most successful Top Fuel drivers to every leave the starting line. His three Top Fuel titles put him in elite company with Kenny Bernstein and Larry Dixon at Houston Raceway Park. Only Bernstein equals Kalitta with three titles at the Spring Nationals. One of Dixon’s Houston Raceway Park wins was scored at the now discontinued Fall Houston races. A quirk in the NHRA reconfigured schedule has the Spring Nationals running in late October.

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Ennis, TX – The DHL Toyota Camry and J.R. Todd rolled into the Texas Motorplex looking to add a Funny Car title to his Top Fuel win. The 35th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals was a battle for Todd and his DHL-backed team. After two runs on Saturday his team entered race day as the No. 8 qualifier with a first round match-up against veteran Paul Lee.

Todd and most of the Funny Car class had to wait out two lengthy delays, a huge oil down in Top Fuel and then a massive fire by fellow Funny Car competitor Alexis DeJoria. Fortunately, DeJoria was unscathed from the fire but the ensuing clean up delayed the completion of the first round by almost 45 minutes. As the DHL team waited to get started track conditions evolved. Never the less Todd prevailed in the first round.

He took a significant starting line advantage with a superior reaction time and his DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car never trailed in the race lighting up the scoreboard with an impressive winning time of 3.881 seconds. It was his quickest run of the weekend and his speed, 331.36 mph would hold up as top speed of the event. He also secured lane choice against his quarterfinal opponent.

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Ennis, TX – A semifinal finish today for Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air team was a bittersweet start to the two weeks of racing in Texas. The 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion moved up into the Top Five in the Camping World Drag Racing point standings but the team was unable to stop eventual winner Steve Torrence in the process.

After a solid two sessions of qualifying that saw Langdon net a valuable qualifying bonus point for running the third quickest pass of the second session the team entered race day as the No. 4 qualifier. In the first round he took out journeyman racer Kebin Kinsley with a dominant run. Langdon took a starting line advantage and never trailed in the race. His 3.742 second run was not only quick enough for the win but also gave him lane choice in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinal race was a pivotal match-up against another driver trying to get into the championship discussion. It was Langdon who closed the door with a hard fought win as both Top Fuel dragsters had issues on their respective passes. Langdon lost a cylinder at the hit of the throttle while his opponent Leah Pruett was losing multiple cylinders on her run. Langdon was able to keep her at bay with a starting line advantage and a masterful job of keeping his DHL dragster in the middle of the groove.

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Ennis, TX – Exiting the 35th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster team are right in the thick of the NHRA Camping World championship battle. After a day of qualifying on Saturday, Kalitta entered the race as the No. 7 qualifier, with a tough first opponent, fellow championship contender Antron Brown. It was a critical round for Kalitta to take out a Top Fuel pursuer and advance the Mac Tools dragster to the quarterfinals.

Both dragsters launcher together and Kalitta pulled away as he closed in on half-track. He made his quickest pass of the weekend for the win, a blistering 3.713 seconds at 328.38 mph.

In the quarterfinals Kalitta took a starting line advantage from Rookie of the Year contender Justin Ashley and never trailed in the race winning with a time of 3.723 seconds at 328.46 mph. It was back to back low 3.7 second runs and it set up a monster semifinal race with Billy Torrence of Torrence Racing.

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Ennis, TX – Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster are going to use the final three races of the Camping World Drag Racing Series to move up as high as possible in the points and also work to protect teammate Doug Kalitta’s chances of winning his first Top Fuel world championship. Entering the 35th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals Langdon has a longshot at challenging his teammate for the top spot in Top Fuel. He is sitting in 8th place but only one round out of 5th. A top three finish is not out of the question based on the strength of his DHL Top Fuel team’s recent performance.

“We have been running really well,” said Langdon. “St. Louis was a race you can throw out the window because conditions were so crazy for everyone. I am glad Doug got the win there and they definitely earned it. It was tough to race him in the first round but I felt whoever won that round was going to win the race.”

Over Labor Day weekend Langdon got back in the Top Fuel win column by winning the biggest race of the season, the U.S. Nationals. The win kept a Kalitta Motorsports streak alive with either a Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster winning the event the past four years. After two years behind the wheel of a Funny Car Langdon was glad to get a win in a dragster this season.

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Ennis, TX – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team will be looking to join an elite list with a win at the 35th annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals this weekend. A Funny Car win would add Todd’s name to an exclusive list of Top Fuel and Funny Car winners at the historic Fall NHRA national event at the Texas Motorplex. Pairing a Funny Car win with his 2008 Top Fuel victory would add Todd’s name to a list that includes Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, Ed MCulloch, and Mike Dunn.

“You look at the guys that have won both Top Fuel and Funny Car at the FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex and those guys are all Hall of Famers and Legends,” said Todd. “I remember that Top Fuel win in 2008 and I know how close I came to getting that Funny Car win in 2018. I would love to see four win lights this coming Sunday.”

Todd was also a runner-up in Top Fuel in 2014 to go along with two No. 1 qualifiers (2007 and 2014) in Top Fuel.

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