TORRENCE DELIVERS CAREER-BEST NUMBERS TO START NUMBER ONE IN TEXAS
All nine Toyota entries start inside the top-10 qualifiers
ENNIS, Texas (October 14, 2023) – It was a stellar qualifying session for Toyota’s Top Fuel teams at Texas Motorplex, just outside of Dallas. Four-time Top Fuel champions Steve Torrence delivered a career-best 3.632 elapsed time to earn his third No. 1 qualifier of the season. Points leader Doug Kalitta starts second with Billy Torrence, in his first start of the season, seeded fifth. All six Toyota-backed entries start inside the top-10 in the first round with Justin Ashley in sixth, Antron Brown qualified ninth and Shawn Langdon in the 10th spot.
In Funny Car, reigning Texas Motorplex winner Ron Capps leads the three Toyota GR Supra Funny Cars in fourth with a 3.844 second pass. Former Funny Car champion J.R. Todd moved inside the top-half of the field with his last pass and is seed in sixth with Alexis DeJoria in eighth.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
Texas NHRA Fall Nationals
Texas Motorplex
Race 19 of 21
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Steve Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 1st (3.636) | B. Hull |
| Doug Kalitta | Mobil 1 Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 2nd (3.642) | J. Hart |
| Billy Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 5th (3.660) | T. Schumacher |
| Justin Ashley | Leatherwood Distillery Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th (3.661) | C. Millican |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 9th (3.679) | A. Prock |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 10th (3.683) | L. Pruett |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Bob Tasca* | Motorcraft Ford Mustang Funny Car | 1st (3.822) | J. Wyatt |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 4th (3.844) | A. Laughlin |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 6th (3.857) | B. Alexander |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 8th (3.876) | T. Wilkerson |
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
STEVE TORRENCE, Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
Can you talk about what the no. 1 qualifier means to you?
“It is definitely morale boosting to go out and go low ET. It was great to do it in the session that you can go out, sit on the saddle, get the check and do that. But more importantly today, we ran .66 on the first lap, .67 on the second lap. When you can be disappointed in a .67, it kind of gives you confidence. We went .72 in the first run, kind of as a layup, to go out there last night and try to run really hard and get low ET, and then today was about getting bonus points. When you have a race car that is consistent, it is always a confidence booster, especially when you are picking up points and pick up things that could be the deciding factor in winning or losing a championship. At this point, I’m probably more confident in my race car than any other time in the season. We are making really good strides at the right time. I’m looking forward to it. I’m very confident going into tomorrow, and it doesn’t hurt that it is a hometown crowd.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).
Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).
