WORSHAM, BROWN LEAD TOYOTA IN CHICAGOLAND NHRA QUALIFYING

JOLIET, IL – Del Worsham placed second in Funny Car, while Antron Brown qualified third in Top Fuel on Saturday night to lead Toyota for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

Worsham held the top spot until the final two pairs when his 4.023-second run in his DHL Toyota Camry was finally eclipsed.  Tonight’s showing marks the fifth time in the last seven races that Worsham has qualified in the top two, with two number one qualifiers (Houston and Bristol) and three seconds (Atlanta, Englishtown, Chicago) during that stretch.  He will face Bob Bode in the first round of eliminations.

Brown’s third-place qualifying effort closed out a strong weekend that also witnessed him place second in Friday’s first session and fourth in Friday night’s run to place in the top four in three of the four qualifying sessions run this weekend.  He earned three bonus points and will open against Billy Torrence on Sunday.  He can become the 16^th driver in NHRA history to earn 500 round wins if he can advance to tomorrow’s final.

Rookie Richie Crampton entered the final qualifying session outside of the Top Fuel field, but ripped off a 3.792-second pass to jump up to sixth.  Khalid alBalooshi also qualified in the top half of the field in eighth, while Al-Anabi Racing teammate Shawn Langdon placed 12^th.

In Funny Car, Chad Head placed eighth and will take on fellow Toyota driver Cruz Pedregon, who was ninth, in Sunday’s first round.  Alexis DeJoria, who missed both Friday sessions due to an illness, qualified 13^th today, while Tony Pedregon earned the 16^th seed.

Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be televised live at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.