TOYOTA’S KALITTA ADVANCES TO NHRA SEMI-FINALS IN CHICAGO

JOLIET, IL – Doug Kalitta advanced to the Top Fuel semi-finals as the top finishing Toyota at Sunday’s JEGS Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in suburban Chicago.

After qualifying eighth, Kalitta defeated Terry McMillen and Luigi Novelli to advance to the semi-finals before falling to eventual race winner Clay Millican in a close contest with the margin of victory just 0.0053 seconds or approximately three feet.

“It was a solid day for the Mac Tools Toyota,” said Kalitta. “We’re always looking for wins, but this was a good points day on a tricky track. We will head to Richmond next weekend and try to get the win there.”

Fellow Toyota Top Fuel drivers, Antron Brown and Richie Crampton each lost in round one on Sunday.  Brown fell to Leah Pritchett, while Crampton smoked the tires while leading after the 330’ mark and was eliminated by Blake Alexander.

In Funny Car, Shawn Langdon opened the day with a win over Tommy Johnson Jr. before dropping a cylinder against Ron Capps and narrowly losing in round two. Earlier in the weekend, Langdon earned qualifying bonus points for the first time since moving to Funny Cars this season by placing in the top three in two of the four sessions.

J.R. Todd ran the quickest overall Funny Car time of the day with a 4.011-second pass only to lose on a hole-shot to Bob Tasca. It was a rare hole-shot loss for Todd who is considered one of the top drivers in the series at the tree.

Cruz Pedregon also was eliminated in the first round after qualifying fifth on Saturday. For the second week in a row, Pedregon was rewarded for a top-five in qualifying with a match-up against defending Funny Car champ Robert Hight. Neither car was able to make a clean pass, but Hight, who would go on to win the day’s event, was able to cross the finish line first.

The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to the Virginia Motorsports Park for the first time since 2009 next weekend for the Virginia NHRA Nationals, June 8-10.