Toyota
Toyota NHRA Topeka Preview
BROWN COMBINES SPEED AND CONSISTENCY – Antron Brown enters the Kansas Nationals with a Top Fuel series-high 
three wins, but it’s his amazing consistency combined with that speed that makes him a perennial championship contender. In seven races this season, Brown has advanced to the semi-finals or beyond six times and over the past six races, he has an 18-3 won-loss round record. The end result is he currently sits in second place, just seven points out of the lead. Brown has finished in the top two in each of the last two seasons including his 2012 world champion and has never finished below fifth in points in his first six seasons of Top Fuel.
BROWN LEADS TOYOTA AT ATLANTA NHRA
TORRANCE, CA – Antron Brown advanced to the semi-finals today to lead Toyota at the rain-delayed Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.
The changing conditions caused havoc for competitors over the last two days, but Brown overcame an eventful weekend that included a horrific crash on Friday night to advance to the semi-finals or beyond for the sixth time in seven races this season. He defeated Ike Maier and Pat Dakin before smoking the tires in the semi-finals, losing to eventual race-winner Spencer Massey.
DeJORIA, WORSHAM PUT CAMRYS 1-2 IN ATLANTA NHRA QUALIFYING
COMMERCE, GA – Alexis DeJoria set a new track record, while Kalitta Motorsports teammate Del Worsham placed second as Camrys swept the top two spots in Funny Car qualifying for Sunday’s NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway.
DeJoria ran a blistering 4.012-second pass to set a new elapsed time (ET) record, with Worsham following with a new track speed record of 320.054 mph in running his 4.014 – both coming in Friday’s second session. For DeJoria, it marked her first career number one qualifier and the second straight for a Kalitta Toyota after Worsham topped Funny Car qualifying at Houston. Overall, it was the third pole for a Camry this season as Cruz Pedregon earned top honors at Gainesville.
Toyota NHRA Atlanta Preview
RED HOT BROWN TAKES POINT LEAD TO ATLANTA – With his third victory of the season at Houston, Antron Brown has moved into the Top Fuel point lead heading into Atlanta this weekend. Dating back to last season, the 2012 world champion has now registered five wins and advanced to seven final rounds in the in the past 10 NHRA events. This week, Brown returns to a track where he’s enjoyed great success with three wins including last season.
PEDREGON SET TO REACH MILESTONE VICTORY – Cruz Pedregon travels to Atlanta needing to win just one round to become the 14th driver in Mello Yello Series history to register 500 round wins. He also can move into a tie for fourth with the legendary Don “The Snake” Prudhomme in all-time Funny Car victories with his next event win at 35.
BROWN WINS ALL-TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINAL AT HOUSTON NHRA
TORRANCE, CA – Antron Brown defeated Khalid alBalooshi in an all-Toyota Top Fuel final for his third victory of the season at today’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Tex.
Brown’s latest victory comes at the same track where he earned his first Top Fuel win in 2008. He defeated Clay Millican, Spencer Massey and Shawn Langdon on the way to the finals match-up against alBalooshi where he captured his fifth win in the last 10 Top Fuel events.
“We’ve just been able to execute,” said Brown, who took over the Top Fuel point lead with the triumph. “When we have a problem we’re able to fix it from the last round and make it better for the next round. I feel like we have a class-A, true all-star team. All the guys can execute under pressure. The championship goes through the Al-Anabi teams. Any time we can beat them, it’s like hitting the jackpot.”
WORSHAM’S CAMRY CAPTURES TOP SPOT IN HOUSTON FC QUALIFYING
TORRANCE, CA – Del Worsham drove his DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car to a pole-winning 4.051-second pass Friday night in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in suburban Houston.
Worsham earned his 14th career number one qualifier and continued a string that has seen him qualify in the top half of the field in each of the first six races this season. This was the second pole position of the year for a Camry driver and the fifth overall for Toyota drivers in Nitro competition.
“The first run is really the key to making a good lap on the second run,” said Worsham. “We took a little bit of a shot at the track, and it stuck. We don’t see these conditions very often. Nicky Boninfante, Jon Oberhofer, and Connie Kalitta dialed it in to go down there.”
Toyota NHRA Houston Preview
DEJORIA RETURNS HOME TO TEXAS ON A ROLL – Alexis DeJoria arrives back in her home-state of Texas after advancing to her third final round of the season in Charlotte. DeJoria, who calls Austin home, is currently tied with Robert Hight for the most Funny Car wins this season with two (Phoenix and Las Vegas) and sits solidly in third-place. She also became the first woman in Funny Car history to run a sub-four-second pass (3.997) at the season-opening Winternationals.
BROWN LOOKS TO EXTEND WIN STREAK IN HOUSTON – Fresh off his second triumph of the season at the Charlotte 4-Wide, Antron Brown will be looking to keep that win streak alive at Royal Purple Raceway this weekend. With two victories in the season’s first five races, Brown has already secured his sixth multi-win season since entering the Top Fuel ranks in 2008. Since 2009, Brown is the winningest driver in NHRA Nitro racing with 25 victories – six more than the closest Top Fuel driver in that time period.
BROWN’S REACTION TIME TAKES TOYOTA TO WINNER’S CIRCLE AT 4-WIDE
TORRANCE, CA – Three drivers ran almost identical times, but it was Antron Brown’s superb 0.042-second reaction time at the starting tree in today’s final round that gave him the victory at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C.
Brown edged fellow Toyota driver Shawn Langdon by .015 seconds, despite each running a 3.800-second pass in the finals. Yet, neither ran low elapsed time of the round as each defeated third-place finisher J.R. Todd on hole-shots when Todd laid down a 3.799-second run.
LANGDON PUTS TOYOTA ON TOP IN CHARLOTTE 4-WIDE QUALIFYING
TORRANCE, CA – Toyota driver Shawn Langdon registered a 3.753-second pass to earn number one qualifier honors to culminate two dominating days of qualifying in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C.
Langdon earned nine out of a possible 12 points in the four qualifying sessions on the way to winning his second pole of the season and the 15th of his career. It is his second consecutive number one qualifier at the 4-Wide at zMAX Dragway, which also was the site of his first career Top Fuel win in the fall of 2012.
Toyota NHRA Charlotte 4-Wide Preview
DEJORIA BRINGS HOT STREAK TO CHARLOTTE – Alexis DeJoria enters this week’s 4-Wide Nationals as the only Funny Car driver with multiple wins in the season’s first four races after being victorious at Phoenix and Las Vegas. She also became the first woman in Funny Car history to run a sub-four-second pass (3.997) at the season-opening Winternationals. She currently sits third in points, just 68 behind Robert Hight.
BROWN IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORM – With a win at Phoenix, a finals appearance in Gainesville and a semi-final showing at Las Vegas, Antron Brown is once again showing championship form. The long-time Toyota driver has yet to qualify below fifth this season and has an average qualifying position of 2.5. He also set a new track record in Las Vegas in the most recent event. Brown is second in points – and has finished fourth or better overall, including the 2012 World Championship, in each of the last five seasons.
