Antron Brown qualified second in Top Fuel with a 3.725-second pass to lead Toyota in preparation for Sunday’s NHRA NGK Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.
The second-place showing marks the fourth time in six races that Brown has qualified in the top five. He’s coming off a season-best final round appearance in Houston.
“We are just trying to get better every day and that has been our focus,” said Brown, a five-time Charlotte winner. “The conditions this weekend have been a little tricky, but we had a really good run on Friday night and a solid run in Q4 today. Getting a good qualifying position in the Four-Wides really helps in the first round. Now we need to go rounds tomorrow. If you can get to the finals, it’s anybody’s game.”
Brown will open up Sunday’s eliminations in a quadrant with Brittany Force, Scott Palmer and Dom Lagana.
Right behind Brown was fellow Toyota driver Doug Kalitta, who placed third with a 3.749-second run. The current Top Fuel point leader was second in both of Saturday’s sessions and was in the top four in all three qualifying runs of the weekend. Kalitta’s teammate Richie Crampton qualified 12th, placing both Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel drivers in the same quad, along with Leah Pritchett and Lex Joon.
In Funny Car, Shawn Langdon was the top qualifying Camry in fifth with a 3.944-second pass that earned him one bonus point in Saturday’s final session. The fifth-place is Langdon’s top qualifying effort of the season. He will match up with Tommy Johnson, Jr., Terry Haddock and Jeff Diehl.
Reigning Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd qualified eighth on the strength of a 3.970-second run in Saturday’s first run. He will open up with Robert Hight, Bob Tasca and Bob Gilbertson.
Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations show will be televised on FS1 beginning at 6:00 p.m. (EDT).
| Toyota Drivers | NHRA Charlotte 4-Wide Qualifying Results | Qual. (1st Rd. Opponent) |
| Top Fuel | Car | |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 2nd (Force, Palmer, Lagana) |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster | 4th (Pritchett, Crampton, Joon) |
| Richie Crampton | DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 12th (Kalitta, Pritchett, Crampton) |
| Funny Car | Car | |
| Shawn Langdon | Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry FC | 5th (Johnson, Diehl, Haddock) |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car | 8th (Hight, Tasca,Gilbertson) |
Toyota Session-by-Session Qualifying
| Funny Car | Q1 Time/Speed | Q2 Time/Speed | Q3 Time/Speed | Q4 Time/Speed |
| J.R. Todd | Rained out | 14.099/70.50 | 3.970/320.28 | 4.214/221.74 |
| Shawn Langdon | Rained out | 8.950/73.04 | 3.993/318.17 | 3.944/322.96 (1) |
| Top Fuel | ||||
| Antron Brown | Rained out | 3.725/327.03 (2) | 4.652/162.12 | 3.777/328.22 |
| Doug Kalitta | Rained out | 3.733/324.36 | 3.770/327.98 (2) | 3.749/326.15 (2) |
| Richie Crampton | Rained out | 13.346/80.04 | 5.189/134.19 | 4.354/187.05 |
(#) – Bonus Points Earned
Bold= Driver’s quickest pass during qualifying
Toyota NHRA PR,
