Toyota NHRA Charlotte Preview

SEVEN TOYOTA DRIVERS SET TO RUN FOR TITLE – Four Toyota Top Fuel drivers and three Funny Car pilots have qualified for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs set to begin this weekend in Charlotte.  Antron Brown (2^nd), Shawn Langdon (3^rd), Khalid alBalooshi (7^th) and Richie Crampton (8^th) will run for the Top Fuel title, while Alexis DeJoria (4^th), Cruz Pedregon (8^th) and Del Worsham (9^th) will compete for the Funny Car crown.  Six of the seven Toyota drivers in the Countdown have won at least one race this season with Antron Brown leading the way in Top Fuel with five and Alexis DeJoria winning three in Funny Car.

DEJORIA CONTINUES RUN AT RECORD BOOKS – Alexis DeJoria will continue her record-breaking run this weekend at Charlotte.  She began the season by driving her Toyota Camry to a 3.997-second pass at Pomona to become the only woman in NHRA history to run a sub 4-second pass in a Funny Car.  One race later, she won her first Funny Car event at Phoenix, followed by a second win at Las Vegas.  As the season progressed, she registered her second pass in the ‘3’s at Brainerd and one race later, she became the first woman in NHRA history to win three Funny Car races in a season when she won the prestigious U.S. Nationals. She qualified fourth for her first Countdown.

ROOKIE CRAMPTON LOOKS TO BUILD ON SUCCESS – Already an overwhelming favorite for NHRA Rookie of the Year, Richie Crampton is now setting his sights on bigger things.  After being elevated from his job as a clutch specialist with his Morgan Lucas Racing team after last season, Crampton has emerged as a dark-horse contender for the Top Fuel crown after winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend.   Crampton has now won twice in the last 10 races, matching Antron Brown for the most victories in the series over that span.  In addition, he’s qualified in the top five in six of the last 10 events.