J.R. Todd qualified fourth in Funny Car, while Doug Kalitta placed fourth in Top Fuel to lead Toyota in qualifying in front of a sell-out crowd at Virginia Motorsports Park in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA Virginia Nationals.
For Todd it marked the third time in the last five races that he’s qualified his DHL Camry in the top four after registering a 4.055-second pass on Friday night.
“We had a strong run on Friday night and then came out and ran well again today in the last session (earning one bonus point),” said Todd, a two-time winner in 2018. “Now we just want to go out and make four strong runs in our DHL Camry tomorrow. Usually, we tend to run better in hot weather and we hope that holds true through Sunday.”
Todd will face-off with Bob Tasca in the first-round on Sunday.
Rounding out the Camry contingent, Shawn Langdon placed ninth to set up an opening round contest against Jim Campbell, while Del Worsham qualified 12th after returning to the seat for the first time since Houston.
Cruz Pedregon, the Charlotte winner, blew the body off his Snap-on Toyota in Saturday’s first session with the team missing the final qualifying run of the weekend. He will face Robert Hight in the first round tomorrow for the third consecutive event.
In Top Fuel, Kalitta earned his best qualifying position of the season with his fourth-place showing. He enters eliminations in fifth place and will match up with Dan Mercier.
Richie Crampton also qualified in the top half of the field in eighth and will race Dom Lagana in the opening round, while Antron Brown placed 10th, setting up a match-up with Mike Salinas.
Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be shown on FS1 beginning at 6:00 p.m. (all times ET).
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Toyota Drivers
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Toyota Richmond Qualifying Results
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Qual. (1st Rd. Opponent)
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Driver
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Car
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Doug Kalitta
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Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
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4th (Mercier)
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Richie Crampton
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Kalitta Air Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
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8th (Lagana)
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Antron Brown
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Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster
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10th (Salinas)
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Funny Car
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Car
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J.R. Todd
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DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car
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4th (Tasca)
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Shawn Langdon
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Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry FC
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9th (Campbell)
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Del Worsham
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Worsham-Fink Racing Toyota Camry Funny Car
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12th (Beckman)
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Cruz Pedregon
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Snap-on Toyota Camry Funny Car
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15th (Hight)
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Toyota Session-by-Session Qualifying
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Top Fuel
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Q1 Time/Speed
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Q2 Time/Speed
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Antron Brown
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3.879/304.67 (2)
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3.898/301.74
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Doug Kalitta
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6.456/110.13
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3.827/320.36
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Richie Crampton.
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5.515/119.16
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3.863/314.46
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Funny Car
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Cruz Pedregon
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4.745/169.96
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4.164/288.52
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Shawn Langdon
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No Time
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4.080/315.78
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J.R. Todd
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4.410/210.21
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4.042/310.55
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Top Fuel
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Q3 Time/Speed
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Q4 Time/Speed
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Antron Brown
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4.225/207.21
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3.878/319.14
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Doug Kalitta
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4.814/159.32
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4.131/218.51
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Richie Crampton.
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6.384/97.16
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5.076/137.50
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Funny Car
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Cruz Pedregon
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4.158/289.94
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No time
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J.R. Todd
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4.187/271.13
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4.059/316.15 (1)
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Shawn Langdon
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6.906/96.69
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4.924/160.94
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Del Worsham
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4.113/312.28
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No Time
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(#) – Bonus Points Earned
Bold= Driver’s quickest pass during qualifying
Toyota Racing PR/Photo Credit Gary Nastase Photography
