KALITTA, DEJORIA LEAD TOYOTA IN WINTERNATIONALS QUALIFYING

POMONA, CA – Doug Kalitta qualified second in Top Fuel, while Alexis DeJoria was fourth in Funny Car to lead Toyota in qualifying for Sunday’s Circle K NHRA Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

Kalitta, making his first start as a Toyota-sponsored driver, ran a 3.713-second pass in his final qualifying run on Saturday. Two more Toyota Top Fuel drivers qualified in the top half of the field as Richie Crampton placed fourth and Antron Brown was seventh.

Morgan Lucas qualified ninth, while Shawn Langdon placed 10th to set up an all-Don Schumacher Racing Toyota match-up with Brown in tomorrow’s opening round of eliminations. J.R. Todd rounded out the Toyota Top Fuel contingent with an 11th-place showing.

In Funny Car, DeJoria ran a career-best 3.942-second pass in Saturday’s second session in her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry to secure the fourth position in a record-setting weekend as she becomes the first woman in NHRA history to race in 100 Funny Car races.

Right behind DeJoria was Kalitta Motorsports teammate Del Worsham, who was just .001 second behind his teammate in fifth. He will match up with fellow Toyota driver Cruz Pedregon, who placed 12th. Chad Head qualified seventh with a 3.950-second run as the top-10 qualifiers all run passes under 4.0 seconds.

Today’s qualifying can be seen tonight on FoxSports1 beginning at 1 a.m., while Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be broadcast live on FS1 at 5 p.m. (all times EDT).