Toyota Pre-Race Report NHRA New Emgland Nationals

Epping, NH – TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals

Kalitta Closing In On Milestone…Doug Kalitta advanced to his second final round appearance of the season at the most recent NHRA event in Houston. Now, if the Mac Tools Toyota driver can register one additional round win this weekend in Epping he would become just the fifth driver in history to register 50th Top Fuel wins. Kalitta is just three victories away from tying Antron Brown and Joe Amato for third all-time.

Brown Looks For Second New England Win…Antron Brown will be shooting for his second career victory at the New England Dragway this weekend after winning the 2016 New England Nationals by defeating Steve Torrence in the finals. Should the long-time Toyota driver triumph this weekend, it would be his third victory in the last six Camping World Drag Racing Series events after closing out 2020 with a win in Las Vegas and then taking home the Wally earlier this year at Atlanta.

Going Rounds…Through the season’s first five events, all five Toyota-backed Nitro drivers have advanced to at least one final round. The five drivers have combined to record two wins, four runner-up finishes and three Four-Wide final quad appearances. Leading the way is Antron Brown who has reached three final rounds, followed by J.R. Todd and Doug Kalitta with two each, and Shawn Langdon and Alexis DeJoria with one apiece. All five drivers have registered .500 or better win-loss round records in 2021.

Playoff Bound…This weekend’s New England Nationals marks the midway point of the NHRA regular season. As it currently stands, all five Toyota drivers would qualify for this year’s Countdown to the Championship playoffs. In Top Fuel, each of the three Toyota drivers currently rank in the top five in points with Antron Brown second, Shawn Langdon third and Doug Kalitta fifth. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd holds down the second position, while Alexis DeJoria is eighth. This year’s playoff schedule has been extended to include a seventh race with Bristol having been moved to the fall.

DeJoria Qualifying Run…This weekend’s race will mark the 17th for Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team. While the team is still suffering some expected early growing pains, it hasn’t stopped the ROKiT Camry from registering top-three qualifying efforts in four of the first five races of the season. In addition, she’s now qualified in the top five nine times in the last 10 races.