Antron Brown qualified sixth in Top Fuel to lead Toyota into Sunday’s NHRA Mile High Nationals at the Bandimere Speedway. The three-time world champion qualified in the top three in two of the four sessions to earn four bonus points.
Brown holds the distinction of being the last Top Fuel driver to sweep NHRA’s Western Swing when he was victorious in Denver, Seattle and Sonoma in 2009. The long-time Toyota driver has registered three Mile High Nationals victories – in 2009, 2012 and, most recently, 2017.
“Our Matco Tools Toyota dragster has run pretty well this weekend,” said Brown, who will race Greg Carillo in the opening round on Sunday. “We had the quick time in Q1 and we’ll have a good starting spot for Sunday. You can never make enough power on the mountain. After Friday’s heat, Saturday’s rain and then the big temperature drop, we’re going to see different conditions again on Sunday and we’re going to need to adjust. Whoever does that the best is going to win.”
Richie Crampton earned one bonus point on Friday on the way to qualifying eighth and will meet Austin Prock in round one. His Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Doug Kalitta, qualified tenth and squares off with Clay Millican to open eliminations.
In Funny Car, fresh off advancing to the final round at Epping, Shawn Langdon qualified ninth in his Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry and will face Tim WIlkerson on Sunday.
Langdon’s teammate J.R. Todd drove his DHL Camry to the 11th position to set up a match-up with John Force in the first round.
Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations will be televised live on FOX beginning at 3:00 p.m. (EDT).
| Toyota Drivers | Mile High Nationals Qualifying Starting position (1st Rd. Opp.) |
| Funny Car | |
| Shawn Langdon | 9th (Johnson) |
| J.R. Todd | 11th (Force) |
| Todd Simpson | 13th (Capps) |
| Jeff Diehl | 15th (Johnson) |
| Top Fuel | |
| Antron Brown | 6th (Carillo) |
| Richie Crampton | 8th (Prock) |
| Doug Kalitta | 10th (Millican) |
Toyota Session-by-Session Qualifying
| Funny Car | Q1 Time/Speed | Q2 Time/Speed | Q3 Time/Speed | Q4 Time/Speed |
| Shawn Langdon | 4.555/191.89 | 4.291/221.31 | 6.374/108.68 | 4.092/306.19 |
| J.R. Todd | 6.314/105.54 | 4.101/271.13 | 10.885/81.10 | 14.670/72.95 |
| Todd Simpson | No Run | 4.520/239.14 | No Run | No Run |
| Jeff Diehl | No Run | 4.993/119.76 | 5.799/125.72 | |
| Top Fuel | ||||
| Antron Brown | 4.038/296.5 (3) | 3.863/308.92 (1) | 4.584/169.38 | 3.854/315.71 |
| Richie Crampton | 4.167/227.34 (1) | 3.871/305.49 | 4.127/225.07 | 4.103/223.65 |
| Doug Kalitta | 8.854/87.98 | 7.803/105.46 | 4.099/262.44 | 3.968/313.58 |
(#) – Bonus Points Earned
Bold= Driver’s quickest pass during qualifying
Toyota Racing PR
