Kalitta Takes Toyota To NHRA WWTR Top Fuel Winner’s Circle
MADISON, IL – Toyota Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta registered a dominating performance in winning the NHRA Midwest Nationals at 
World Wide Technology Raceway, Sunday. Kalitta’s closest margin of victory on the day was .045 seconds, with his four winning passes averaging 3.710 seconds.
The Mac Tools Toyota driver defeated teammate Shawn Langdon in the opening round with a 3.731-second run and then ran even quicker in round two, knocking off T.J. Zizzo with a 3.709. In the semifinals against fellow Toyota driver Tony Schumacher, Kalitta would end up running an unopposed 3.711 after Schumacher appeared to have his throttle stick during his burnout.
In the finals, he would square off with championship rival Steve Torrence. Kalitta took the lead by the 60-foot mark and pulled away to the victory with his best run of the weekend, a 3.690-second pass at 322.58 mph. With the win, Kalitta closed to within two points of Torrence in the championship with just three races remaining.
Before the incident in the semifinals, Schumacher enjoyed his best weekend of the year. The all-time leader in Top Fuel wins earned his 88th career number one qualifier on Saturday. He proceeded to eliminate Kebin Kinsley in round one and then defeated Leah Pritchett in the second round.
Antron Brown advanced to the second round in Top Fuel. Starting from the number three position, he matched up with Justin Ashley in the opening round. Ashley had a slight advantage at the tree, but Brown had caught him by 60 feet and never trailed on the way to the win. In a round two match-up with Torrence, the two would leave together and went side-by-side down the track before Torrence registered a narrow victory, 3.710-3.733.
In Funny Car, after qualifying second on Saturday, DeJoria advanced to her second semifinal round of the season in her ROKiT Toyota Camry. In the opening round, she easily defeated Dale Creasy with a 3.907-second pass, which set up an all-Toyota second round with J.R. Todd. The two left the starting line side-by-side before DeJoria eventually pulled out to the lead by the 330-foot mark on the way to a victorious 3.918-second run. Unfortunately, the car suffered an explosion from a mechanical problem just after passing the finish line. After extensive work by the team, they were able to complete the repairs in time for the semifinals but were unable to make a clean pass down the track, giving Matt Hagan the win.
Todd had defeated Tim Wilkerson in round one to advance to his meeting with DeJoria.
The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas, for the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, October 17-18.
