ANTRON BROWN TRIUMPHANT AT NORWALK; CLAIMS 76TH CAREER VICTORY
Brown’s second win of 2024 and Toyota’s 10th in the last 11 NHRA races
NORWALK, Ohio (June 30, 2024) – In an all-Toyota Top Fuel dragster final, Antron Brown defeated Doug Kalitta at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, for his second win of the 2024 season, the 76th of his NHRA career and his 60th in Top Fuel. Brown, who began the day as the third overall seed, powered his dragster to a 3.736 elapsed time in the finals to defeat Kalitta late Sunday afternoon. The victory by Brown also marks 10 in the last 11 races for Toyota.
Also in Top Fuel, Justin Ashley and Steve Torrence advanced to the semifinals and Billy Torrence took his Toyota dragster to the second round on Sunday.
In Funny Car, Ron Capps made his first final round appearance of the 2024 season, ultimately falling to race winner, Bob Tasca III. This was the 147th time Capps has advanced to the finals in his career. J.R. Todd was defeated by Capps in round two and Alexis DeJoria bowed out in round one on Sunday.
With the finals appearances by Kalitta, Brown and Capps, Toyota has now reached the final round in 33 consecutive NHRA events in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Summit Motorsports Park
Race 10 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Winner | W (3.739) v. D. Mercier (3.816) W (3.757) v. C. Millican (3.814) W (3.780) v. J. Ashley (7.778) W (3.736) v. D. Kalitta (3.747) |
| Doug Kalitta | Applied Innovation Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Finalist | W (3.804 – holeshot) v. K. Wurtzel(3.787) W (3.740) v. B. Torrence (3.774) W (3.771) v. S. Torrence (3.946) L (3.747) v. A. Brown (3.736) |
| Steve Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Semi-finals | W (3.749 -holeshot) v. S. Reed (3.746) W (4.822) v. J. Salinas (15.633) L (3.946) v. D. Kalitta (3.771) |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Semi-finals | W (3.764) v. T. Schumacher (3.783) W (4.524) v. T. Tatum (8.435) L (7.778) v. A. Brown (3.780) |
| Billy Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Second Round | W (3.717) v. D. Foley (3.746) L (3.774) v. D. Kalitta (3.740) |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | First Round | L (3.802) v. C. Millican (3.742) |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Finalist | W (3.897) v. D. Wilkerson (3.941) W (3.944) v. J. Todd (4.596) W (3.910) v. M. Hagan (7.730) L (6.966) v. B. Tasca III (3.908) |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Second Round | W/L (3.933) v. C. King (4.269) L (4.596) v. R. Capps (3.944) |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | First Round | L (6.324) v. C. Green (3.930) |
*= Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports
TF Final Result: Winner
What was the difference in getting this win today?
“Teamwork, teamwork makes the dream work! Brian Corradi’s (crew chief) hometown – got him some ice cream scoops here. Matco Tools, this is their hometown. Summit Racing, all of our partners, FVP, Sirius XM, Toyota, that’s what makes it happen. We got in a little bit of trouble in that last round. We actually hurt the engine in the other round. We put one in and found something wrong with that one. The boys stayed resilient, didn’t stop and put another one in. We got it in, got the win, truly a blessing. JFR (John Force Racing), John Force, this is for you baby. I got some ice cream, will bring it to you and make you smile!”
RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports
FC Final Result: Finalist
How would you describe your day?
“This was definitely one of those weekends I knew was coming soon. I’ve been pretty vocal about the big changes we’ve had to make to our race car. I’m so proud of Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew chief) and our NAPA Auto Care team, just to have the race day like we had today. It was an important weekend not only to help us in the Mission Foods points standings, but to get the confidence back too. The car was consistent all day. Guido felt really happy that there’s a lot more left in it. I’m pretty excited about heading to the West Coast, where we’ve had a lot of success at the races that are coming up.”
About Toyota
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