Kalitta Motorsports
BROWN, KALITTA LEAD TOYOTA IN NHRA TEXAS QUALIFYING
ENNIS, TX – Antron Brown qualified third in Top Fuel and Doug Kalitta was fourth to lead Toyota into Sunday’s 
AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
Brown, the two-time defending world champion, registered a 3.696-second pass at 329.91 mph to secure the third spot, with Kalitta just behind him with a 3.704 at 330.07 mph. After two consecutive days of temperatures in the low 90s, Sunday’s forecast calls for much cooler temperatures expected to be in the 60s for the first round of tomorrow’s eliminations.
“We ran right where we wanted to, even though we dropped a hole and I shut off a little early,” said Brown, who will be looking to repeat his 2016 FallNationals title on Sunday. “Besides that, we ran right where we wanted to, but we lost that one (bonus) point. I could’ve legged it out and actually outrun our teammate and get two points instead of one. It is what it is. Tomorrow’s where all the big points are made, so we have to be poised and get after it. We’ve got our work cut out for us the way these other cars are running, but I feel confident in our Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota team to go out there and do what we do. We’re in the middle of a fight and we’ve got to fight hard. It’s going to be big differences out there (with Sunday’s weather) where the cars are going to run hard, run fast, run quick, and we’ve got to be ready for that change. The first round is going to be crucial for everybody to run hard and run good.”
KALITTA’S SECOND LEADS TOYOTA IN NHRA MAPLE GROVE QUALIFYING
PLANO, TX – Doug Kalitta qualified second in Top Fuel with a 3.704-second pass at 333.66 miles per hour to lead 
Toyota in front of a sell-out crowd at the NHRA Nationals at the Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, Saturday.
Fresh off a victory to open the Countdown to the Championship playoffs in Charlotte last weekend, Kalitta placed in the top two in three of the four qualifying sessions on the weekend to earn seven valuable bonus points and extend his Countdown lead.
“Great work by my entire Mac Tools Toyota team in qualifying,” said Kalitta, who will take an 18-point championship lead into Sunday’s race. “We didn’t rest after last week’s win and are going after another one this weekend. I’m confident we definitely have a shot at picking up another Wally.”
KALITTA WINS CAROLINA NATIONALS TITLE IN ALL-TOYOTA FINAL
PLANO, TX – Doug Kalitta defeated teammate Richie Crampton in an all-Toyota Top Fuel final to win the NHRA 
Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway Sunday. With the victory Kalitta takes over the Top Fuel point lead after the first round of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs with five races remaining.
The win culminated a weekend that saw Kalitta earn his second number one qualifier of the season on Saturday and then defeat Chris Karamesines, Tony Schumacher and Clay Millican before matching up with Crampton. In the finals, Kalitta had a .010 advantage at the tree and then pulled away for the win, 3.775-3.876. The race marked the second consecutive Countdown event that featured an all-Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel final after Kalitta closed out the 2016 season with a win over J.R. Todd at Pomona.
TODD PILOTS CAMRY TO U.S. NATIONALS FUNNY CAR TITLE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – J.R. Todd had the advantage at the light and never trailed on the way to defeating Ron Capps 
to win the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, Monday. The win was the third in the last four races for a Kalitta Motorsports Toyota Camry Funny Car.
Todd, an Indiana native, defeated Brian Stewart, Cruz Pedregon and Tim Wilkerson to advance to the finals against point leader Ron Capps. In the final, Todd cut a .054 light and led the entire way to earn his first U.S. Nationals title.
“I felt our DHL Camry ran really well,” Todd said. “The numbers don’t always show because sometimes the drivers are robbing a hundredth or two on the starting line. We were right there with the front-runners, we just had a hiccup in the semis when we pushed a little hard and spun the tires and got a lucky break when Tim Wilkerson hit the cone. I’ll take it however we can get it. I think our DHL Toyota Camry is going in the right direction at the right time of year – and now it’s time to let it all hang out for the next six races.”
KALITTA, TODD LEAD TOYOTA AT U.S. NATIONALS QUALIFYING
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Doug Kalitta placed fifth in Top Fuel, while teammate J.R. Todd was sixth in Funny Car as the 
top Toyota qualifiers for Monday’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at the Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
Kalitta registered a 3.689-second pass on Friday to earn the fifth starting position as the Mac Tools Toyota driver placed in the top four in each of the first three qualifying sessions of the weekend.
Right behind Kalitta was Antron Brown with the sixth seed. The three-time world champion heads into tomorrow’s eliminations number one in the points race and can clinch the top spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs by advancing to his sixth consecutive final round. He will begin that quest with a first-round match-up with Scott Palmer.
Top Fuel rookie Troy Coughlin Jr. resigns his position at Kalitta Motorsports
DELAWARE, OH – Troy Coughlin Jr. has removed himself from the seat of the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster, citing a 
desire to get more experience in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks. The third-generation driver has been racing the Kalitta Motorsports entry for the first 17 races of the 2017 season.
“I want to thank everyone at Kalitta Motorsports for such an incredible opportunity,” Coughlin said. “It was a dream come true to race for Connie Kalitta and Jim Oberhofer. My teammates, Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Alexis DeJoria and JR Todd as well as everyone at SealMaster have been extremely supportive.
“Obviously, my rookie year hasn’t turned out like we wanted but everyone showed incredible faith in what we were doing and my development as a driver. I just want to take a step back and get some more seat time in an injected nitro dragster.”
Oberhofer, Coughlin’s crew chief and the vice president of motorsports for the Kalitta race team, understands his young driver’s decision.
DeJORIA PILOTS CAMRY TO BRAINERD FUNNY CAR WIN
BROWN ADVANCES TO FIFTH CONSECUTIVE TOP FUEL FINAL
Brainerd, MN – Alexis DeJoria drove her Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry to victory over Tommy Johnson Jr. in the 
Funny Car final to win the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, Sunday. The victory is the second for a Camry Funny Car in the last three races.
DeJoria defeated Tim Wilkerson and Cruz Pedregon in her opening two runs of the day, setting up a semi-final match-up with John Force. She led the entire way in defeating Force, 3.892-3.909 to advance to her first final round of the season. In the final, Johnson held a lead of under one-hundredth of a second through the 660-foot mark before DeJoria powered past to win by .004 seconds.
KALITTA TOPS FINAL QUALIFYING, LEADS TOYOTA AT BRAINERD
PLANO, TX – Doug Kalitta ran the quickest time in the final qualifying session and placed third overall in Top Fuel 
to lead Toyota in preparation for Sunday’s Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at the Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Kalitta earned bonus points by running in the top three in three of the weekend’s four sessions. Today’s showing marks the fourth consecutive race and the 12th time in 16 events this season that he has qualified in the top three.
“What a great way to end qualifying for the Mac Tools Toyota team,” relayed Kalitta. “I could not be more excited about our chances tomorrow after the strong runs we made in qualifying. The goal is to come out tomorrow, go four rounds and get the first win of the season.”
TODD DRIVES CAMRY TO HISTORY-MAKING FUNNY CAR WIN AT TOYOTA NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA, CA – Camry driver J.R. Todd defeated Tim Wilkerson in the final round to win the Toyota NHRA Sonoma 
Nationals and become the first African-American driver in history to win an NHRA Funny Car event. The triumph gave Todd back-to-back victories at Sonoma Raceway after winning last year’s Top Fuel race before making the move to Funny Cars this season.
Todd drove his DHL Toyota Camry to wins over teammate Alexis DeJoria in round one and John Force in the second round to set up one of the most amazing comebacks in NHRA history in the semi-finals. After smoking the tires at the start, Todd proceeded to overcome a 1.27-second disadvantage in running down Jack Beckman in a pedal fest to advance to the finals against Wilkerson.
“I was able to win here at the Toyota Sonoma Nationals last year in Top Fuel and to be able to do it this year in a Funny Car is pretty special,” relayed Todd. “I love this track. This place is magical. I think we showed a lot of promise in Denver and it gave us a lot of hope coming back to sea level.
Toyota NHRA Denver Preview
DENVER HAS PROVIDED A HOST OF FIRSTS FOR TODD – Bandimere Speedway has already provided J.R. Todd 
with a few major ‘firsts’ in his career and this weekend he will looking to add on to that total. Todd won his first career NHRA Top Fuel race at Denver in 2006. In the process, Todd became the first black driver ever to win in Top Fuel. Three years ago, Bandimere provided another milestone for Todd when he won his first race for Kalitta Motorsports.
Now Todd is hoping that the Mile High Nationals provide two more firsts – his initial Funny Car victory, which would also mark the first-ever Funny Car win by a black driver. After placing fourth overall in Top Fuel last season, the Indiana native made a major career change in moving over to drive the team’s DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. After making his debut Funny Car run at Pomona, Todd has gone through the expected growing pains of a rookie season, yet, still is on pace to make the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
