KALITTA TOPS FINAL QUALIFYING, LEADS TOYOTA AT BRAINERD

PLANO, TX – Doug Kalitta ran the quickest time in the final qualifying session and placed third overall in Top Fuel to lead Toyota in preparation for Sunday’s Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at the Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Kalitta earned bonus points by running in the top three in three of the weekend’s four sessions. Today’s showing marks the fourth consecutive race and the 12th time in 16 events this season that he has qualified in the top three.

“What a great way to end qualifying for the Mac Tools Toyota team,” relayed Kalitta. “I could not be more excited about our chances tomorrow after the strong runs we made in qualifying. The goal is to come out tomorrow, go four rounds and get the first win of the season.”

Series point leader Antron Brown qualified seventh, while Shawn Langdon was tenth, setting up a first-round match-up between the two Toyota drivers.  Brown has gone to the finals the last two times that he’s qualified seventh – winning in Denver and finishing as the runner-up in Chicago. Troy Coughlin rounds out the Toyota-sponsored Top Fuel drivers in 13th. Langdon and Coughlin enter tomorrow’s eliminations separated by just eight points for the final berth in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

In Funny Car, J.R. Todd was the top qualifying Toyota with a 3.937-second pass to place ninth. He will match up with series point leader Ron Capps in round one tomorrow. Todd’s Kalitta Motorsports teammate Alexis DeJoria qualified tenth, while Del Worsham was 13th and Cruz Pedregon will start from the 16th seed.

Today’s qualifications can be seen tonight on FS1 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., while Sunday’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be televised live on FS1 beginning at 2:00 p.m. (all times EDT).