Toyota NHRA Denver Preview

DENVER HAS PROVIDED A HOST OF FIRSTS FOR TODD – Bandimere Speedway has already provided J.R. Todd with a few major ‘firsts’ in his career and this weekend he will looking to add on to that total.  Todd won his first career NHRA Top Fuel race at Denver in 2006. In the process, Todd became the first black driver ever to win in Top Fuel.  Three years ago, Bandimere provided another milestone for Todd when he won his first race for Kalitta Motorsports.

Now Todd is hoping that the Mile High Nationals provide two more firsts – his initial Funny Car victory, which would also mark the first-ever Funny Car win by a black driver. After placing fourth overall in Top Fuel last season, the Indiana native made a major career change in moving over to drive the team’s DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. After making his debut Funny Car run at Pomona, Todd has gone through the expected growing pains of a rookie season, yet, still is on pace to make the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

DE JORIA CLOSING ON PLAYOFF BERTH – In a hotly contested five-driver battle for the final Funny Car playoff berth, Alexis DeJoria is emerging as the favorite with just five regular season races remaining. Despite missing three races to deal with personal issues, she has climbed to within 26 points of fellow Camry driver Cruz Pedregon for the tenth and final spot in the Countdown.  DeJoria has qualified in the top seven in each of the last three races and registered a round win at three of the last four events. At the most recent event in Chicago, she had the quickest pass of race day and her four 3.9-second runs on the weekend were two more than any other Funny Car driver.

WINNING IN DENVER – Six current Toyota drivers have previously won at Bandimere Speedway.  Top Fuel drivers Antron Brown (2009, 2012) and Doug Kalitta (2010) have each captured Mile High Wallys, as have Toyota Funny Car drivers J.R. Todd (2006, 2014 – both in Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (1993, 2013) and Del Worsham (2002).

TALKING MILE HIGH:

J.R. TODD: “Denver is where I got my first win in Top Fuel, so it’s a really special place for me. It’s also the first place I won with Kalitta Motorsports. The Kalitta team has always run really well in Denver – Connie, Scott and Doug have all won there. It would be cool to go there and win in Scott’s DHL Camry. It’s one of those tricky places. It’s kind of like the road course on our schedule. You throw out everything you do everywhere you go on tour for that one event. Then afterward, you lock it up and until you get back there the next season. Hopefully, we have some good notes there from years past and make it happen.”

Antron Brown: “Denver is one of those races where you never know what you’re going to get. It’s a tough, grueling race from a crew chief and team perspective where the thin air, the sun and the heat are so physically demanding. The altitude is demanding on the car, too, because you can’t make the same type of power and it’s hard to stay focused and make the adjustments when the elements are beating you down. It’s one of the most grueling races we go to and when you win there, it’s gratifying. It’s not the Mile-High Nationals, it’s really the ‘King of the Hill Nationals’ and if you make it to the top, you’ve done something really special.”