DeJORIA, CRAMPTON WIN AS TOYOTA SWEEPS THE U.S. NATIONALS
Indianapolis, IN – Alexis DeJoria defeated John Force in the Funny Car final, while Richie Crampton won in Top Fuel to give 
Toyota an NHRA Nitro sweep in winning today’s prestigious 60th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
DeJoria became the first woman in NHRA history to win three Funny Car races in a single season by defeating Cruz Pedregon, Blake Alexander, Courtney Force and then the 16-time champion in the final in her Patron XO Café Toyota Camry.
“I never doubt our car or our team no matter who we race against,” said DeJoria. “To make it past the semi’s that was huge, but to win the U.S. Nationals just builds our confidence even more. I just had a good feeling about this race. I knew before I left the house in Austin. On the way to the airport, I said, ‘I’m going to win this race’. The changes we made in preparing this car last year are starting to pay off.”
Crampton ran eight consecutive 3.7 second passes over the final three days of the event, with four runs of 3.784 seconds or better today. He defeated Billy Torrence, Shawn Langdon, Tony Schumacher and Steve Torrence on the way to the victory.
“I love my life right now,” said Crampton, the overwhelming favorite for NHRA Rookie of the Year honors. “This is hallowed ground for me. It’s pretty awesome to win here at the 60th U.S. Nationals. It’s been a fantastic weekend for the GEICO team. We brought out a brand new racecar for the first time at the test last week and it just ran flawless today. My car was like a bracket car it was so consistent.”
Khalid alBalooshi also had a strong day for Toyota in Top Fuel, by advancing to his fourth semi-final of the year before eventually being defeated by Steve Torrence. Langdon won his first round match-up with Spencer Massey before falling to Crampton in round two. After qualifying third, Morgan Lucas was unable to get a clean pass and was knocked off in his first run of the day. Antron Brown lost to Schumacher in his opening round run.
In Funny Car, Del Worsham punched his ticket to the Countdown to the Championship playoffs with a first-round win over Jeff Arend before falling in round two. Despite running a 4.08, Chad Head joined Pedregon in being eliminated in the opening round.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series resumes in Charlotte, N.C., with the Carolina Nationals, Sept. 12-14 – the first round of the Championship to the Countdown playoffs.
