Kalitta Third, Todd Fifth In NHRA U.S. Nationals Qualifying

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Doug Kalitta placed third in Top Fuel, while teammate J.R. Todd placed fifth in Funny Car to lead Toyota in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway after rain washed out Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions.

Kalitta ran a 3.751-second pass at 317.05 mph on Friday night to secure the third spot. With the strong run, he officially clinched his spot in the NHRA Countdown to the Playoffs, becoming the fifth Toyota driver to secure a playoff berth. Kalitta will face Krista Baldwin in the opening round of Sunday eliminations.

After qualifying fifth with a 3.905 at 326.93 mph in his DHL Toyota Camry, Todd will enter eliminations in third place in the Funny Car point standings – just seven points out of the championship lead at the final race of the NHRA regular season. He will square off against Jim Campbell in round one.

Alexis DeJoria registered a 3.915-second run at 321.88 to place seventh in Funny Car. She will race Blake Alexander to open eliminations.

Antron Brown qualified 15th, while Shawn Langdon was 16th to round out the Toyota Top Fuel contingent. Neither were able to make a clean pass in Friday’s sole qualifying session. Brown will match-up with Steve Torrence, while Langdon will face Brittany Force.

Sunday’s NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series eliminations will be televised live on FS1 at 11 a.m., before switching over to FOX at 1:00 p.m. (ET).