Post-Race Report Event 23: Toyota Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas

Langdon earns a semifinal finish

Race Recap: Shawn Langdon earned a tough fought two round wins before dropping a cylinder and losing in the semifinals today at the Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas.

Langdon’s Global Electronic Technology team were strong in qualifying. They earned a bonus point in the Friday evening session and were seeded seventh after the end of qualifying on Saturday.

However, Langdon had anything but an easy draw in the first round as came up against defending Top Fuel champion Antron Brown. Langdon was ready and recorded the best reaction time of the class, an .039, to take the early advantage. He would take that advantage to the line as the Global Electronic Technology Toyota would also outrun Brown and give him his first opening round loss of the season. 

The tough draw continued for Langdon in the second round as this time the Global Electronic Technology team faced points leader Steve Torrence. Langdon again moved first getting the jump on Torrence; Torrence was able to jump back ahead, but he quickly went into tire smoke. Langdon drove around and moved the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, Langdon’s second straight final round was not in the cards as the Global Electronic Technology Toyota dropped a cylinder very early on in the run which allowed Terry McMillen to score the round win.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (3.742 sec., 319.98 mph) 

E1: Langdon defeated Brown – 3.739 sec., 319.07 mph to 3.742 sec., 325.92 mph 

E2: Langdon defeated Torrence – 3.795 sec., 318.77 mph to 4.309 sec., 222.69 mph

E3: Langdon defeated by McMillen – 3.893 sec., 276.69 mph to 3.798 sec., 297.02 mph

Quotable: “I had a good day.  To beat Antron Brown and Steve Torrence it shows you the amount of talent we have on this Global Electronic Technology Toyota. We just didn’t make a good run in the semi-finals and dropped a cylinder and lost to Terry McMillen. We have had a car that’s capable of winning the last two weeks, we’re just running out of time now. One more race before I start my Funny Car venture and we’ll try to make the best of it at Pomona.”

Point Standings: Eighth; leads Terry McMillen by six points for ninth, trails Clay Millican by 59 points for seventh

Mechanical problem ends Kalitta’s day in the quarterfinals

Race Recap: Doug Kalitta’s day ended early as an air line came loose on the Mac Tools Toyota in the quarterfinals.

Kalitta started and ended qualifying with strong passes. The Mac Tools driver’s best ended up in the final qualifying session as Kalitta hit the 1,000 foot mark in 3.735 seconds, which moved Kalitta inside the top five qualified Top Fuel dragsters. He would start fifth and draw Scott Palmer in the first round.

Fellow Countdown driver Palmer gave Kalitta the early victory by leaving early on the starting line. However, the Mac Tools Toyota was still strong with a 3.755 second pass, which was better than Palmer’s effort.

In the second round, the Mac Tools team came up against Brittany Force. Unfortunately, an air line came loose, so when Kalitta hit the gas pedal, the Mac Tools machine did not move. Brittany Force struggled down the track, but was able to pick up the round win. 

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 5 (3.735 sec., 323.19 mph)

E1: Kalitta defeated Palmer – 3.755 sec., 327.03 mph to Foul

E2: Kalitta defeated by Force – 22.684 sec., 56.97 mph to 4.343 sec., 231.83 mph

Quotable: “Disappointing to lose that way with this Mac Tools Toyota team. However, we still have a shot at it going into Pomona. We will get everything ready and run hard at the World Finals.”

Point Standings: Third; leads Antron Brown by 51 point for fourth, trails Brittany Force by  points for second

Crampton falls in the first round

Race Recap: Richie Crampton and the SealMaster team fell early at the Toyota Nationals earlier today.

The SealMaster team had a strong second day of qualifying. Crampton’s early numbers were the best among all competitors in the third qualifying session and they turned around and laid down a 3.779 in the final pass at only 301mph to earn the 11th starting spot. 

Crampton was the second Top Fuel pair to see the track on Sunday. Terry McMillen was the draw. Crampton got the jump at the tree but soon after hit tire smoke. McMillen made a clean pass and picked up the round win. 

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 11 (3.779 sec., 301.60 mph) 

E1: Crampton defeated by McMillen – 8.568 sec., 87.90 mph to 3.784 sec., 319.45 mph

Quotable: “This SealMaster Toyota team definitely had some good runs this weekend and we are making some progress on the tune-up. We will run hard in Pomona and try to knock out some of Shawn and Doug’s competitors.”

Todd suffers tough first round loss at the Toyota Nationals

Race Recap: J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry team had a tough weekend in Las Vegas.

The Jon Oberhofer and Todd Smith tuned Toyota machine had a strong run in the Friday evening session as Todd drove to a 3.884 second pass, which clinched a top half starting position for the team. Despite failing to make it down the track in any of the other qualifying passes, Todd was able to earn the fifth starting spot and a first round draw of the former DHL driver Del Worsham.

Todd moved first and had fourth hundredths of an advantage on the starting line. However, Todd’s DHL Toyota suffered tire smoke down track, and Worsham was able to drive by for the round win. 

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 5 (3.884 sec., 330.23 mph) 

E1: Todd defeated by Worsham – 4.651 sec., 183.82 mph to 4.022 sec., 319.29 mph

Quotable: “Very tough weekend for the DHL Toyota team. We wanted to run strong with all of the Toyota people here for their race, but it was not our weekend. We will make a few laps tomorrow, get it figured out and go to Pomona and try to pick up the win there.”

Point Standings: Ninth; leads Cruz Pedregon by 70 points for 10th; trails Tim Wilkerson by four points for eighth

DeJoria gets a Vegas round win

Race Recap: Alexis DeJoria began her quest for the NHRA Toyota Nationals Wally with a round one matchup against fellow Toyota driver, Cruz Pedregon. DeJoria had the advantage off of the starting line and navigated her Patrón Camry down the Las Vegas dragstrip in 3.958-seconds, easily defeating Pedregon’s tire-smoking 5.282-sec pass.
 
With her round one victory, DeJoria earned the advantage of lane choice over her round two competitor and fellow Breast Cancer Awareness month crusader, Courtney Force. Again, DeJoria was first out of the gate, but her black and pink hot rod encountered problems passed half track. Force made a clean run and was able to drive away with the win ending Team Patrón’s day, and DeJoria’s chances of capping off her final Las Vegas event with a trip to the Winners Circle.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 10 (3.926 sec., 323.04 mph)

E1: DeJoria defeated Pedregon – 3.958 sec., 327.27 mph to 5.282 sec., 143.55 mph

E2: DeJoria defeated by C. Force – 4.099 sec., 259.96 mph to 3.933 sec., 330.15 mph