TODD DRIVES CAMRY TO NHRA LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS WIN
LAS VEGAS, NV – J.R. Todd defeated Courtney Force, Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson in the Funny Car finals 
to win Sunday’s inaugural DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals before a sellout crowd at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Todd dominated in winning his first round quadrant to move on to the second round, where he advanced on a holeshot over fellow Toyota driver Del Worsham to set up a thrilling final round. Johnson left the starting line early and was disqualified on the red light, while Todd’s DHL Camry shot to the lead, once again winning on a holeshot, this time over Force, for his third Funny Car win in the last 14 events.
“All of our Kalitta Motorsports teams across the board have just come out swinging this year,” relayed Todd. “We didn’t really run all that well on Friday in qualifying, then Saturday we made some changes. The conditions got a little better and the track got a little bit more rubber down. We threw down in Q4 (third qualifier) and that definitely got my confidence up as a driver. I might have been able to get about five thou (on the start) in the second round today, but it was enough to turn on the win light. In Funny Cars, you have to be on your ‘A’ game every time you roll up to the Christmas tree. It’s a matter usually of who gets off the line first is going to turn on the win light. Before the first round, Shawn and I came up with a plan and what we were going to do – and we executed it. I think the reaction times told the story.”
Rounding out the Toyota Funny Car efforts, Del Worsham advanced to the second round and then ran the third-quickest pass of the round, only to be eliminated on the whole shot by Todd. Both Cruz Pedregon and Shawn Langdon were unable to make a clean pass and were eliminated in their opening runs of the day.
In Top Fuel, both Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown were able to advance to the final round today, with Kalitta eventually placing third, while Brown was fourth.
Kalitta and teammate Richie Crampton both advanced from the same first round quadrant after defeating Brittany Force and Terry Haddock. They would match up with Brown in round two after he was victorious in his opening quad. Kalitta had the advantage in round two, with Brown finishing second as each advanced to the finals.
In the finals, Kalitta had the edge at the light, but appeared to have a hole out at mid-track on the way to placing third, while Brown smoked his tires as he finished fourth to winner Steve Torrence.
The next stop for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is Houston, Texas, for the NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway, April 20-22.
