GR Supra Funny Car of DeJoria Posts Top-Five Qualifying Effort
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 12, 2022) – After nearly two days of rain-soaked conditions, the nitro-powered Toyotas were finally able to take to the Gainesville Raceway for only one round of qualifying in advance of tomorrow’s Gatornationals. For the Top Fuel dragsters, that also counted for the first round of eliminations for the All-Star Callout event, adding to the pressure for the top-eight drivers. Toyota Top Fuel drivers Steve Torrence and Justin Ashley both advance to the second round of the All-Star with their third and sixth place efforts, respectively. Alexis DeJoria posted the fifth-fastest time in her GR Supra Funny Car.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Gainesville Raceway
Race 3 of 22
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Tripp Tatum | Top Fuel Dragster* | 1 | L. Joon |
| Steve Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 3 | T. Schumacher |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 5 | A. Laughlin |
| Justin Ashley | Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6 | J. Hart |
| Billy Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 9 | A. Prock |
| Shawn Langdon | CMR Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | DNQ | |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | DNQ |
(*non-Toyota driver)
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Robert Hight | JFR Funny Car* | 1 | J. Smith |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 5 | T. Haddock |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 11 | B. Alexander |
(*non-Toyota driver)
TOYOTA QUOTES
STEVE TORRENCE, Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing
Qualifying Result: 3rd
How did you feel about the qualifying run and going into the next round of Callout?
“We went 3.697, which was second-quick for the round, but there’s a lot of good cars out there. I need to pick up my game on the tree. Hopefully the sun will go down a little bit more and give us a break. We’ll figure out who Brittney’s (Force) goingto call out for the next round. The track conditions were great. We were skeptical, but definitely better than we thought.”
DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
Qualifying Result: 5th
What happened on the starting line?
“It seemed like I left close and looked over and it was red. So to qualify, you obviously have to get it down there. But yeah, we were hungry for that one.”
JUSTIN ASHLEY, Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Davis Motorsports
Qualifying Result: 6th
How did you go into the Callout knowing you were facing Doug Kalitta?
“There’s no real good way to prepare for Doug Kalitta, right? He’s one of the best in the field right now and he’s one of the best to ever do it let’s face it. I’m just proud of my guys. We had to go up there and concentrate on what we could do for everybody at Toyota Gazoo Racing North America and everybody at Phillips Connect along with Auto Shocker and Kato. We want to continue to take steps forward.”
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