TOYOTA NHRA: U.S. Nationals Preview

Indianapolis, IN – Todd Eyes #1 Seed, Third U.S. Nationals Win…J.R. Todd will enter this weekend’s U.S. Nationals hoping to secure the number one seed in Funny Car for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. After advancing to two final rounds and a semifinal in the last three races, Todd is just 15 points out of the Funny Car point lead. His hunt for the number one seed comes at the race where he’s enjoyed more success than any other on the circuit since moving to Funny Car. In four previous U.S. Nationals, the Indiana native who grew up racing at the track in Junior Dragsters has earned two victories (2017 and 2018), one runner-up (2020) and one semifinal (2019) on the way to a 13-2 round win-loss record.

Langdon Looks To Repeat…Shawn Langdon will be looking for his second consecutive U.S. Nationals victory after defeating Leah Pruett in last year’s final round. Langdon also won the 2013 U.S. Nationals on the way to earning the Top Fuel world championship. While the DHL Toyota driver will be looking to go back-to-back in Top Fuel, it’s not the only title he will be chasing as he also will be racing in the Sportsman Super Comp class.

Kalitta Goes For Five in A Row…Kalitta Motorsports will be shooting for a U.S. Nationals Wally for the fifth straight year this weekend. The team has won the last two Top Fuel events with Shawn Langdon in 2020 and Doug Kalitta in 2019, to go along with J.R. Todd’s Funny Car wins in 2017 and 2018.

Toyota Playoff Update…Doug Kalitta can become the fifth Toyota driver to punch his ticket for the NHRA Countdown to the Playoffs simply by qualifying for this weekend’s U.S. Nationals. Kalitta currently sits tenth in points, 193 ahead of Josh Hart. J.R. Todd, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon and Alexi DeJoria have already qualified with each in position to improve their seed this weekend.

Quotes:

J.R. Todd, DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car: “When we won the championship in 2018, we got hot right around Indy and it’s that time of year. The U.S. Nationals is our biggest race – it’s our Indy 500 or Daytona 500. It’s the one race you want to win more than any other race all season. Everybody remembers who won Indy. We just want to continue the success we’ve had there in the past and, hopefully, leave there with the Wally and get hot for the Countdown.”

Shawn Langdon, DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: “I like running the extra class because with only one nighttime pro session on Friday I can get my mind into race mode all day running my Super Comp dragster. I think it makes me a better racer because I am thinking about driving better, having good reaction times and I am focusing on all the small details.”