ASHLEY CAPTURES SECOND VICTORY OF 2024 AT CHARLOTTE FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
Toyota extends Top Fuel winning streak to six
CONCORD, N.C. (April 28, 2024) – In a fierce final round Sunday afternoon at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, Justin Ashley was victorious in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals for his 13th career win and second of the season. This was also Ashley’s first win at zMAX Dragway and his first in a Four-Wide Nationals. The New York native started the day No. 3 overall, winning each of his quads on the way to the Wally Trophy. His Toyota Top Fuel teammates, Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown, also reached the final round on Sunday.
Ashley’s win marks six consecutive wins for Toyota in Top Fuel, including all five of the races so far in 2024 – with Ashley’s two victories (Pomona and Charlotte), Shawn Langdon’s two wins (Gainesville and Phoenix), along with Doug Kalitta’s at Las Vegas.
In Funny Car, J.R. Todd came home third in a stacked final round. Todd won his first quad on Sunday and advanced through round two but fell short of another Wally Trophy to couple his Gainesville triumph. Other GR Supra Funny Car drivers Alexis DeJoria and Ron Capps were defeated earlier in Sunday’s eliminations, with DeJoria reaching the second round and Capps bowing out in round one.
With the final round appearances in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, Toyota has now reached the finals in 28 consecutive NHRA events.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
zMAX Dragway
Race 5 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Winner | W. (3.763) v. T. Stewart (3.762), D. Mercier (3.831) & D. Foley (3.730) W. (3.711) v. A. Brown (3.728), B. Force (3.729) & T. Stewart (5.779) W (3.710) v. C. Millican (3.722), D. Kalitta (3.725) & A. Brown (4.780) |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Finalist | Adv. (3.729) v. J. Salinas (3.700), S. Reed (3.757) & C. Krohn (3.790) Adv. (3.760) v. C. Millican (3.710), B. Torrence (4.544) & J. Salinas (4.695) L (3.725) v. J. Ashley (3.710), C. Millican (3.722) & A. Brown (4.780) |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Finalist | W. (3.718) v. B. Force (3.743 – holeshot), S. Torrence (3.729) & S. Langdon (4.129) Adv. (3.728) v. J. Ashley (3.711), B. Force (3.729) & T. Stewart (5.779) L (4.780) v. J. Ashley (3.710) C. Millican (3.722) & D. Kalitta (3.725) |
| Billy Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | Second Round | Adv. (3.725) v. C. Millican (3.705), T. Schumacher (3.770) & J. Hart (3.790) L (4.544) v. C. Millican (3.710), D. Kalitta (3.760) & J. Salinas (4.695) |
| Steve Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | First Round | L (3.729) v. A. Brown (3.718) v. B. Force (3.743 – holeshot) & S. Langdon (4.129) |
| Shawn Langdon | Autodesk Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | First Round | L (4.129) v. A. Brown (3.718) v. B. Force (3.743 – holeshot) & S. Torrence (3.729) |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Final Result | Round-by-Round |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Finalist | W. (3.918) v. A. DeJoria (5.444), B. Hull (5.414) & R. Capps (16.244) Adv. (3.933 – holeshot) v. J. Force (3.713), C. Pedregon (3.931) & A. DeJoria (9.999) L (3.978) v. M. Hagan (3.946 – holeshot), D. Wilkerson (3.928) & J. Force (3.960) |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | Second Round | Adv. (5.444) v. J. Todd (3.918), B. Hull (5.414) & R. Capps (16.244) L (9.999) v. J. Force (3.713), J. Todd (3.933) & C. Pedregon (3.931) |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | First Round | L (16.244) v. J. Todd (3.918), A. DeJoria (5.444) & B. Hull (5.414) |
*= Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JUSTIN ASHLEY, SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, SCAG Racing
TF Final Result: Winner
Another win for you. What would it take to derail the momentum you have right now?
“Well, I think the only thing that could derail us is ourselves. If we get out of focus. It’s not about focusing on the competition, even though you want to know where you are and relevant to everyone else, but our focus is on being the best version of ourselves that we can be. As long as we keep that internal focus, I think we’ll have a lot of success. Mike Green (crew chief), Tommy DeLago (co-crew chief), Dustin Davis (team owner), the whole SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Philips Connect team work so hard day in and day out. They’re the ones who deserve to hold this Wally Trophy. It says zMAX on it, but it should say SCAG Power Equipment and the names of everybody on our team on it. So proud to represent SCAG Power Equipment and all of SCAG nation, all the wonderful dealers, users, owners out there. Man, these things are tough to win, so I get a little bit emotional sometimes. Couldn’t be prouder nor more grateful for this opportunity.”
J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports
FC Final Result: Finalist
Can you describe your day?
“We made a good rebound from qualifying. It’s always good to get to the later rounds, the final round in a Four-Wide Nationals. We dropped the cylinder really early in the run, which stinks. I think we had a good shot at winning that thing if it ran on all eight. That shows that we’re making good strides with this DHL GR Supra – just need to keep picking at it. We didn’t have lane choice all day, and I don’t think it’s a big factor in regards to Four-Wides. I don’t think qualifying is a big factor when it comes to Four-Wides, either. That’s not the reason we put a hole out. We’ve been battling, dropping cylinders all weekend. Now, we have a couple weeks off so we’ll go back home and give the guys some rest, regroup and get ready for Chicago.”
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.).
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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).
