TOYOTAS SIDE-LINED EARLY AT DENVER NHRA

MORRISON, CO – Climbing temperatures, high altitude and changing conditions ruled the day at today’s Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway with the eight-car Toyota contingent among those affected.

Antron Brown, Cruz Pedregon and Richie Crampton were the only Toyota drivers to advance beyond the first round as clean passes down the track were rare as ambient temperatures climbed into the mid-90s and track temperatures exceeded 120 degrees Sunday.

Brown’s first-round victory came against Doug Kalitta in a match-up between the top two drivers in the Top Fuel point standings.  The win allowed Brown to close to within 25 points of the top spot with four races remaining in the regular season.   The 2012 world champion then fell to Larry Dixon in round two as neither driver was able to make a clean pass.

Crampton upset fellow Toyota driver Shawn Langdon in his first round match-up before losing to Bob Vandergriff.  Khalid alBalooshi lost in his opening run to Brittany Force.  None of the Toyota Top Fuel drivers were able to make a clean pass in their losing runs.  Both alBalooshi and Crampton dropped one position in the point standings behind eventual race-winner J.R. Todd.

In Funny Car, Pedregon shined among the Camry drivers.  He defeated Terry Haddock with a strong 4.16-second run in his opening round – second quickest of the session.  He then registered a strong pass in the second round, but lost a cylinder and was edged by Ron Capps, 4.23 to 4.25.

Alexis DeJoria, Del Worsham and Tony Pedregon all were eliminated in the first round as none were able to complete a clean pass down the race track as they battled the conditions.  John Force would eventually win the race.

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to Sonoma, Calif., next weekend for the second stop on the Western Swing, July 25-27, before concluding the three-stop swing in Seattle the first weekend in August at Pacific Raceways.