Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Las Vegas Post-Qualifying Report – 04.13.24

KALITTA CLAIMS NO. 1 QUALIFIER SPOT AT LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
Antron Brown wins Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Top Fuel

LAS VEGAS (April 13, 2024) – Through sunny skies at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, reigning Top Fuel champion, Doug Kalitta, captured the No. 1 qualifying spot for tomorrow’s eliminations in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The Michigan native laid down a blistering 3.738 elapsed time, a 336-mph top speed, in the first qualifying session Saturday afternoon – earning his 54th career No. 1 qualifier position.

Defending Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals winner, Antron Brown was victorious in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge Saturday afternoon by defeating Kalitta, Shawn Langdon and Tony Stewart. Brown’s 3.792 elapsed time in the final qualifying session put him No. 6 for tomorrow. This is the second time Brown has won the challenge, and he couples this victory with the Pep Boys All Star Callout win at Gainesville to start the season.

In Funny Car, points leader, J.R. Todd put down his best run of the weekend, a 3.930 elapsed time, late Saturday afternoon to propel him to the No. 3 spot going into Sunday. Alexis DeJoria will be ninth when tomorrow’s eliminations begin and Ron Capps is 11th.

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 4 of 20

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS 

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS 

*= Non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DOUG KALITTA,

TF Qualifying Result: 1st

How does this No. 1 qualifying position feel going into race day tomorrow?

“We definitely feel good heading into race day. My guys stepped it up with the 3.738 in that first session today which was plenty strong for the conditions, and I’m feeling really confident with what we have going on. I think on our last run, we pushed it a little too much to see what we could do. The track feels plenty good in all the lanes so it should be a good day for tomorrow. So much for the advantage of being the low qualifier, but I’ll definitely be up for those three guys – it should be a fun deal. Alan (Johnson, crew chief), Mac (Savage, assistant crew chief) and all my guys will take a look at that ladder and realize we definitely have to get down the track and be on our A Game so it should be fun. It was a little cooler today, but in general, it didn’t really feel like it was. I’m sure it was, but it’ll be a little cooler tomorrow which should play into our hand performance wise. This is always an interesting place to race; there’s always a lot of challenges here, but it’s one of my favorite tracks. I haven’t won here a lot, but it’s a beautiful facility.”

ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports

TF Qualifying Result: 6th

Can you talk about the win in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge today and the momentum it brings?

“For sure, a lot of momentum. I think we’re going in the right direction, just need to keep building and get quicker and quicker. When we go out there, I mean, that track, is getting better and better even though the sun is coming out. We thought we needed to run a 3.750 time there, but we just didn’t want to kick ourselves in the foot. So, we stepped it up and did a little bit. Expected like a 3.780 time there. Tomorrow is going to be a whole different ballgame. Our fellas out there, I felt like we were in a good position. Felt Shawn (Langdon) right on the side of us. Something happened to him right around the end of the track, inching and inching, and just drown a little bit around him at the end. It’s so incredible how tight this class is and the way the Kalitta Motorsports cars are running. But yeah, when you have Doug Kalitta, the champion, Shawn Langdon, a previous champion and then you have Tony Stewart, ‘Smoke,’ make it to the final round. I mean, the top eight cars in this Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, they’re all cars that can win on any given day. Going into tomorrow, this gives us a little more confidence, but you know, we have to keep working forward to go forward to be competitive to win this race as it’s going to be triple-A throwdown with the cooler conditions. The track is going to get better, and when it does that, someone is going to run a 3.680 to 3.700 flat and that’s the range you’re going to have to be in to go out there, be competitive and get the job done.”

J.R TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

FC Qualifying Result: 3rd

Moving up each session and making your best run at the end of the day, the team seems to be working hard and the results are coming.

“Yeah, the guys are working hard and have been doing that all season long. There’s no quit in these guys. Yeah, that’s nice, a 3.930 was something we were shooting for earlier in the weekend, but it’s nice to see that show up on the scoreboard to move us up in the standings. The Four-Wides are such an unknown, it really doesn’t matter where you qualify when you’re racing three other cars out there. But it is nice to have lane choice going into tomorrow and hopefully we can turn on four win lights for everyone out here supporting us with DHL, Revchem, Sealmaster. Want to thank everybody for sticking with us.”

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