Toyota NHRA Toyota Summernationals Preview

BROWN RETURNS HOME TO NJ WITH POINT LEAD – Antron Brown will be returning to his home-state of New Jersey with the Top Fuel point lead as the series finishes off the first half of the NHRA regular season. The Chesterfield native currently sports a 53-point lead over Tony Schumacher as he searches for his second Top Fuel world championship. Before he can win another title, he’ll be looking to add another milestone to his illustrious career – as he seeks to become just the 10th driver in Mello Yello Drag Racing Series history to win 50 races after winning his 49th at Atlanta in May. Brown has two wins this season, adding to his dominance in the Top Fuel field dating back to 2009. Since that time, Brown has won a series high 31 races – nine more than the next highest Top Fuel driver.

Antron Brown: “I’m really looking forward to the Toyota Summernationals. It’s always good to go back home and have friends and family come out to the racetrack. It’s also a chance to remember where you came from and how you got here. I still remember going out to Englishtown as a kid. To win a Top Fuel at my hometown track in a race sponsored by our long-time partner Toyota would really be special.”

CRAMPTON RETURNS AS DEFENDING CHAMP – Heading into Englishtown a year ago, Richie Crampton may have been known as the former crewman in the early stages of his rookie season as a Top Fuel driver. This year, he returns as the defending champion of the Toyota Summernationals after winning in just his ninth career start in 2014. He also returns as a legitimate contender for the 2015 Top Fuel world championship. With two wins in the season’s first eight events, Crampton enters this weekend’s action third in points. Beginning with last year’s New Jersey race, Crampton has earned four victories – just one shy of the high mark set by former world champions Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher.

Crampton’s victorious weekend at Topeka in the most recent event featured four runs of 3.73 or better. Included in those runs was a blistering 3.710-second pass in the second round, despite losing three cylinders. Had he not lost the cylinders at the top end, Crampton would have been in position to run a 3.700 – or quite possibly the first 3.6 pass in NHRA history.

Richie Crampton: “Our confidence is really high heading into Englishtown and to go back-to-back and win again at a Toyota-sponsored race would be crazy. Hopefully, we can do it.”

ENGLISHTOWN SITE OF PEDREGON’S HISTORY MAKING RUN – Cruz Pedregon will return to Englishtown as the defending Funny Car champion, but the 2014 Toyota Summernationals hold another special distinction for the two-time world champion as the site where he ran the quickest pass in Funny Car history (3.959) in earning number one qualifier honors at last year’s Toyota Summernationals. It was his third victory at the track after previously winning in 1995 and 2000.

TOYOTA DRIVERS EYE THIRD STRAIGHT SUMMERNATIONALS WIN – Four drivers will vie to become the third straight Toyota Top Fuel driver to win in the Toyota-sponsored Summernationals. Shawn Langdon won an all-Toyota final against teammate Khalid alBalooshi in 2013 before Richie Crampton won last year’s event. For this weekend’s action, Morgan Lucas will return to the cockpit and join series regulars Langdon, Crampton and Antron Brown.

SIX TOYOTA DRIVERS ON PACE FOR COUNTDOWN – If the season were to end today, six Toyota drivers would qualify for the 2015 Countdown to the Championship playoffs – with three in Top Fuel and three in Funny Car.

Antron Brown comes in as the current leader with a 53-point advantage over second, with Richie Crampton having closed to within 81 points of Brown in third place. Shawn Langdon currently sits seventh in the standings. The three drivers have combined to win five of the season’s first eight races.

In Funny Car, DHL Camry driver Del Worsham is currently fourth after advancing to the semi-finals or beyond in four of the season’s first eight races. In addition, Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon are currently tied for ninth in the championship race.

TOYOTA AND ENGLISHTOWN – This weekend’s Toyota Summernationals marks the fourth year of Toyota’s title sponsorship of the NHRA event at Englishtown. In addition, Toyota NHRA sponsorship has grown to include the fall race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Toyota Nationals.

Toyota’s involvement in NHRA began in 2002 with the arrival of the Celica-bodied Funny Car. The manufacturer’s first win came two years later, in February 2004 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The program has since risen to new heights, with Toyota-sponsored cars winning four Top Fuel championships (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), as well as the 2008 Funny Car championship with Cruz Pedregon in a Toyota Camry.