Kalitta, Brown Advance to Finals At Vegas Four-Wides

LAS VEGAS – Doug Kalitta placed second, while Antron Brown finished fourth in Sunday’s Top Fuel finals as the top finishing Toyotas at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In the final round, both Toyota drivers had their shot at the victory, only to go up in smoke.  Brown had the early advantage at the tree with an outstanding .041 reaction time. He would pull out to an .012-second lead over Kalitta by the 330’ mark, only to smoke the tires, ending his shot at victory.

That would give the lead to Kalitta, who had an .006-second advantage over Torrence at 600’ and looked to be on his way to his first four-wide victory, only to drop a cylinder and throw out the rods in the final 300 feet, giving the win to Torrence.  Kalitta was able to hold on for second place, despite running just 270 mph at the finish line.

Shawn Langdon rounded out the Toyota Top Fuel contingent in advancing to the second round today. Despite the early exit, Langdon remains second in points.

In Funny Car, both J.R. Todd and Alexis DeJoria advanced to the second round before being eliminated. Todd holds down second place in points after winning the season-opener at Gainesville.

The Camping World Drag Racing Series heads next to Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., for the NHRA Southern Nationals, April 30-May 2.