Antron Brown advanced to the second round in Top Fuel, while J.R. Todd and Shawn Langdon matched that feat in Funny Car to lead Toyota in the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex, Sunday.
Brown opened his day up with victory over Richie Crampton in an all-Toyota first-round matchup. Brown took the lead at the tree and never trailed on the way to running a 3.743 for the win.
In the second round against Brittany Force, Brown had a decided starting line advantage (.055 to .088), but started to haze the tires around 330 feet after stretching out his lead to .035 seconds, with Force finally taking over the top spot around half track on the way to the victory.
Doug Kalitta was defeated in his first-round matchup against Austin Prock, 3.688-3.812. Despite the early loss, Kalitta remains in second place just 33 points out of the Top Fuel point lead with two races remaining.
In Funny Car, after qualifying third, J.R. Todd registered two superb passes on the day. In round one, he knocked off Cruz Pedregon with a 3.911-second run at 327.19 mph. That set up a second-round battle with Matt Hagan. Todd left first by .029 seconds and would lead all the way through the 600’ mark before Hagan would eventually run him down with the quickest pass of the round with a 3.908, beating Todd by just .005 seconds or approximately three feet.
Langdon also turned in two solid passes on Sunday, but it was his reaction time that would be key in earning a round one win over Tim Wilkerson. Langdon had a .026-second advantage on the tree and then held off a hard-charging Wilkerson to win on a holeshot with a margin of victory of .009 seconds.
Facing Robert Hight in the second round, Langdon had a narrow lead at the tree and then laid down a 3.964-second pass, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Hight.
After taking next weekend off, the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the penultimate round of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Nov. 1-3
Toyota FallNationals Results
| Top Fuel | Qual./Finish |
| Antron Brown | 8/Rd. 2 |
| Richie Crampton | 9/Rd. 1 |
| Doug Kalitta | 10/Rd. 1 |
| Funny Car | |
| J.R. Todd | 3/Rd. 2 |
| Shawn Langdon | 10/Rd. 2 |
2019 Toyota Wins (7)
Top Fuel (4) – Kalitta (2), Pomona1, Indianapolis; Crampton (2), Gainesville, Maple Grove
Funny Car (3) – Todd, Las Vegas1; Langdon (2), Charlotte1, St. Louis
Notes:
– After four races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Doug Kalitta sits second in Top Fuel, just 33 points behind Steve Torrence, while Antron Brown and Richie Crampton are eighth and ninth, respectively. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd is seventh and Shawn Langdon is ninth.
Quotes:
J.R. Todd, DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car: “Well, not the way we were hoping our day would end. That was a close drag race. You look at a race like that, which comes down to a couple thousandths of a second and there are so many things that factor into that run. The ‘Yellas Fellas’ did a great job today and we have an awesome DHL Toyota Camry. It will be tough, but we still have a chance. We will need a lot of help, but you never know in this class. There are a lot of tough competitors out here. At this point, we’re just going to focus on trying to win at Las Vegas again and let everything else fall as it may.”
Antron Brown, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster: “All of our guys have been working so hard, and the plus is that our Matco Tools Toyota is starting to respond to what (crew chiefs) Mark Oswald and Brad Mason are wanting it to do. They have a new tuning combination they’re working on and we’re just going to get better and stronger. We’re looking forward to getting to Vegas where we’ve had a lot of success in the past. We’re going to come out swinging. Our goal is to qualify in the top five and be in a position to win the race on Sunday. We just need to go out there and do what we do and have fun.”
Shawn Langdon, Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry Funny Car: “That was a big round for this Global Electronic Technology Camry. We need all the round wins we can get and I knew I needed to be quick on the tree. The guys gave me a good car and I was able to get off the line first. In the second round, it was just a close, close drag race. We fell of a little from the first round to the second. If we could have duplicated that first run we would have been headed to the semifinals. It warmed up a little and it gets tricky when that happens. I am really proud of this Global Electronic Technology Toyota team.”
| Toyota Drivers Top Fuel | Points Behind Leader (2394) | 2019 Wins | 2019 Win-Loss | Career Races | Career Wins | Career W-L |
| 2. Doug Kalitta | 2368 (-26) | 2 | 32-13 | 511 | 46 | 684-458 |
| 8. Antron Brown | 2247 (-147) | 0 | 24-22 | 428 | 66 | 726-360 |
| 9. Richie Crampton | 2228 (-166) | 2 | 15-20 | 125 | 10 | 103-114 |
| Funny Car | (2437) | |||||
| 7. J.R. Todd | 2274 (-163) | 1 | 25-21 | 222 | 18 | 236-200 |
| 9. Shawn Langdon | 2239 (-198) | 2 | 23-20 | 254 | 16 | 286-235 |
Toyota Drivers FallNationals Eliminations Round-by-Round
| Top Fuel | Rd. 1 Win-Loss | Rd. 2 Win-Loss |
| Brown | W–Crampton, 3.743-4.330 | L – Force, 3.815-4.113 |
| Crampton | L– Brown, 3.743-4.330 | ** |
| Kalitta | L–Prock, 3.688-3.812 | ** |
| Funny Car | ||
| Todd | W– Pedregon, 3.911-4.342 | L – Hagan, 3.903-3.937 |
| Langdon | W–Wilkerson, 3.925-3.908 | L – Hight, 3.937-3.964 |
Toyota Racing PR
