KALITTA EARNS NO. 1 QUALIFIER IN STRONG TOYOTA SHOWING AT EPPING
Defending Top Fuel Champion’s Third No. 1 Qualifying Position in Four Races
EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2024) – Doug Kalitta continued his qualifying hot streak by capturing the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel for the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. His third No. 1 qualifier in four races, and the 56th of his career, Kalitta laid down a blistering 3.700 elapsed time Friday night that held firm after Saturday’s two sessions. The run by Kalitta also marks Toyota’s fifth No. 1 qualifier in the first seven races of the 2024 season.
Steve Torrence earned the No. 2 seed in Top Fuel, narrowly missing out on the top spot by two one thousandths of a second after posting a 3.702 time Friday night. Coupling his strong qualifying, Torrence was also victorious in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, defeating Dan Mercier in the final qualifying session Saturday afternoon. Toyota makes up five of the top six positions in Top Fuel tomorrow with Shawn Langdon in fourth, Billy Torrence in fifth and points leader, Justin Ashley, in sixth.
In Funny Car, J.R Todd was the lead GR Supra Funny Car, earning the third overall position for Sunday’s eliminations. His Toyota teammates, Alexis DeJoria and Ron Capps, qualified eighth and 12th going into tomorrow.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA New England Nationals
New England Dragway
Race 7 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 1st | S. Farley |
| Steve Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 2nd | S. Smith |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th | S. Reed |
| Billy Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 5th | J. Salinas |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th | J. Hart |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 9th | T. Stewart |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Austin Prock | Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Funny Car | 1st* | M. Smith |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 3rd | D. Richards |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 8th | C. Green |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 12th | M. Hagan |
*Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
Is it too early to count points as you guys are looking very strong right now.
“Yeah, definitely appreciate what Mission Foods is doing for us out here and these yellow (No. 1 qualifier) hats. Yeah, my guys really have this car running well, I’m just trying to do my part and go rounds on Sunday. Yeah, it’s probably too early to start counting points, but 20 points a round tomorrow, Sunday, is definitely what we’re looking for. I would love to win here at Epping. They have a great crowd here this weekend. Toyota, Mac Tools and all my sponsors, we’re hoping to have a good day tomorrow.”
STEVE TORRENCE, CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing
TF Qualifying Result: 2nd
How does this #2Fast2Tasty win feel?
“Hey, I’ve won these (Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge) before, just not this year! Yeah, thanks to everyone at Mission Foods, everybody that takes care of us. Man, that was a cool race. (Dan) Mercier doesn’t race all the time, but man, he kicks our butt when he does, so I had to get up on the wheel and do the best I could. Props to that team, proud to have them out here. Proud of these CAPCO boys, they were unbelievable. This Toyota Dragster hasn’t been as good as it used to be, but we’re working on getting it back there and we’re working on getting Steve-O (himself) to drive this thing a little bit better. Heck, we won something this weekend, maybe we can win one tomorrow.”
J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 3rd
Take us through your thoughts with the No. 3 qualifying position for tomorrow.
“Yeah, a good qualifying effort, just missed it on Q4. Conditions for race day tomorrow will probably be like Q3 today, so we have a good idea on what to work with for tomorrow.”
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