Todd Leads Toyota At NHRA Maple Grove

MOHNTON, PA – J.R. Todd kicked off his hunt for a second Funny Car world championship by advancing to the semifinals in his DHL Toyota Camry for the fourth time in the last five races to lead Toyota in Sunday’s NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the opening race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Todd opened his day with a match-up against fellow Camry driver Alexis DeJoria. Todd had the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win as he ran a 3.919 to DeJoria’s 3.999. That set-up a showdown with top qualifier Cruz Pedregon in round two, but it was never in doubt as Todd again had the advantage on the tree and led all the way down the track with a margin of victory of 0.0652 seconds or approximately 30 feet to improve his career mark against Pedregon to 10-2.

The win sent Todd up against Tommy Johnson in the semifinals. Todd would lay down his best pass of the weekend, but fell just short to Johnson in an epic battle, 3.902-3.905.

Shawn Langdon led the way for the Toyota Top Fuel drivers by advancing to the second round. In round one against Mike Salinas, Langdon had a sizable starting line advantage and never trailed for the hole shot win, 3.751-3.750 to win by .043 seconds. Langdon put down another impressive pass in round two, with an .02 lead at the light over Billy Torrence, but Torrence rebounded quickly with a 3.719-second pass for the win as Langdon started hazing the tires right in the lights.

Both Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta lost in the first round on Sunday. After having the starting line advantage, Brown lost traction by 330 feet in a loss to Leah Pruett. Kalitta also grabbed the lead on the tree against Justin Ashley, but Ashley registered his quickest pass of the weekend for the win, despite Kalitta registering a solid pass in a 3.703-3.768 loss.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series immediately heads to Charlotte, N.C., for next weekend’s DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals, September 17-19, at zMAX Dragway.