KALITTA, TODD LEAD TEAM TOYOTA IN CAROLINA NATIONALS QUALIFYING
NHRA Countdown to the Championship Hits Halfway Point on Sunday
CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 21, 2024) – Defending Carolina Nationals winner, Doug Kalitta, enters tomorrow’s eliminations at zMAX Dragway as the number three qualifier in Top Fuel. The reigning world champion ran a 3.710 time during the Friday night qualifying session to position himself well as he looks to defend his crown. Kalitta is joined towards the top of the Top Fuel field by points leader, Justin Ashley, who is the fourth seed, along with Shawn Langdon (sixth) and Steve Torrence (seventh) as they look to close the points gap to Ashley and Antron Brown at the halfway point of the Countdown to the Championship.
In Funny Car, J.R. Todd earned the sixth seed in the Funny Car ladder for tomorrow’s eliminations as he seeks his second victory of the 2024 season and to gain further in the championship standings. His GR Supra Funny Car teammates, Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria, will start eliminations as the eighth and 13th seeds, respectively.
Tomorrow’s NHRA Carolina Nationals eliminations at zMAX Dragway fire off at 12 p.m. EST with live TV coverage beginning at 3 p.m. EST on FOX.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
zMAX Dragway
NHRA Carolina Nationals
Race 16 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| B. Force | Hendrick Cars.com Chevrolet Dragster | 1st | I. Zetterstrom |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 3rd | T. Stewart |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th | D. Mercier |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th | J. Hart |
| Steve Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 7th | A. Brown |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 10th | S. Torrence |
| Billy Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 15th | S. Reed |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| M. Hagan | Direct Connection Dodge Funny Car | 1st | D. Richards |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 6th | D. Wilkerson |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 8th | C. Green |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 13th | A. Prock |
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 3rd
How do you feel about the qualifying run and your prospects for tomorrow?
“Yeah, going into tomorrow third. So, I’m looking forward to it! The track is going to be pretty hot tomorrow, probably, so we’ve been working on a setup for hot conditions and what not, but we have all the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) guys in their trailer analyzing the track. That’s a huge help to have them out here for this.”
J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 6th
How would you assess your qualifying?
“Yeah, we made a good run in the heat of the day, Q3, which is going to be similar conditions to what we’re going to race in. So, that’s something good to take away from Saturday. Still have some work to do to catch the cars in front of us. We’re hoping we can get some help along the way tomorrow and you know, go to the late rounds to gain on these guys. That’s all we can do, do the best we can and hope for some help along the way.”
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