DOUG KALITTA EARNS NO. 1 QUALIFIER FOR ARIZONA NATIONALS
Toyota wins Top Fuel and Funny Car Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenges
CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 22, 2025) – Doug Kalitta claimed the top qualifying position for the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park. Kalitta ran a 3.688 elapsed time in Friday night’s qualifying session for the 59th No. 1 qualifier of his career, as he goes for career win number 56 tomorrow. His Toyota Top Fuel Dragster teammates Shawn Langdon (third), Antron Brown (fourth) and Justin Ashley (sixth) joined him inside the top half of the category for tomorrow’s eliminations.
Saturday was also the first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge of the season where Langdon captured the win in Top Fuel, defeating Jasmine Salinas and Tony Stewart to earn bonus championship points and bonus prize money.
In Funny Car, Ron Capps led the GR Supra Funny Car contingent, claiming the No. 4 seed for tomorrow. Capps also won the Funny Car Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge in the final qualifying session, earning a Toyota sweep of the nitro challenges in Phoenix. His Toyota teammates Bobby Bode and J.R. Todd will be the seventh and ninth seeds tomorrow in the Funny Car ladder.
Tomorrow’s eliminations from Firebird Motorsports Park begin at 2 p.m. EST with live TV coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST on FS1.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
Firebird Motorsports Park
NHRA Arizona Nationals
Race 2 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Doug Kalitta | Sealmaster Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 1st | T. Shumake |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 3rd | S. Palmer |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th | J. Hart |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th | I. Zetterstrom |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Bob Tasca III* | Ford Motorcraft Funny Car | 1st* | J. Capps |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 4th | B. Alexander |
| Bobby Bode | DC Motorsports Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 7th | M. Hagan |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 9th | D. Wilkerson |
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DOUG KALITTA, Sealmaster Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
Does a run like this give you confidence for tomorrow?
“Yeah, definitely. The track’s holding up well. On that last run, we shot a couple spring plugs out, so ran a 3.82 and not sure what we would’ve run (without that), but (thinking) a little better than that. That’ll put us in the mix with everyone else. Shawn (Langdon) said they ran a 3.79 or close to that. Like all of these races, everyone is running close and you have to get up on the wheel and make it happen on Sunday. Looking forward to it.”
SHAWN LANGDON, Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 3rd
With the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty win today, how much do you love racing in Phoenix?
“Yeah, there’s some tracks that just work well with what you have and some that don’t seem to work well. Phoenix fortunately is one of those that work well. I remember I’ve always loved coming here as a kid, starting out racing junior dragsters and I was able to get some wins in a Super Comp car as well. Yeah, love coming here. Brian (Husen, crew chief) and the whole Kalitta Air group, they’ve done a great job with the car and setup. Last year, making good runs and we’re continuing that success this year. I didn’t do a good job in the final (as) I clicked it a little early, so truth to be told, was probably going 3.79 which shows how much stronger the car really is. Definitely gives us a lot of confidence going into Sunday.”
RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 4th
What does this Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty win mean for your team?
“A win light is a win light, but this one is a special event. And let’s not forget, our NAPA Auto Care team won the inaugural one (Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge). We went to Indianapolis and won that. We’re so happy Mission Foods put this deal up as for the fans, it’s exciting. For us racers, it’s really exciting. Our NAPA guys, Toyota. A win’s a win. My gosh, this is so cool!”
About Toyota
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Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
