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DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Sonoma Raceway; Sonoma, Calif.
Post-Event Wrap-Up
Finals Broadcast Replay: 7-10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1 on FS2
J.R. Todd, FUNNY CAR RACE WINNER, DHL Funny Car
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 8 qualifier at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. His best qualifying effort came in the first pass of the weekend when he ran a 3.966-second pass at 324.90 mph Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Todd raced in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in a rematch of the semifinals and finals from last week’s race near Seattle. Todd defeated Chad Green in the “semifinals” and followed with a win over Blake Alexander when the DHL Toyota team posted a 3.977-second effort at 322.81 mph.
Eliminations: Todd won the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals – it was his first win since March of 2021 in Gainesville, Fla., where he last hoisted the “Wally” after winning the race. It was also the last time Kalitta Motorsports won a race making today’s win a monumental moment in team history. This race win follows last week’s runner-up showing in Seattle and semifinal finishes in Denver, Norwalk, Ohio and Bristol, Tenn. Todd collected his 20th-career win by defeating Blake Alexander, Bob Tasca, Matt Hagan and Chad Green. The win follows Todd’s win in yesterday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge giving the Jupiter, Fla., driver a Sonoma sweep in Funny Car.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Sonoma in eighth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails seventh place Bob Tasca by three points and leads ninth-place John Force by 56 points.
Todd on Sonoma: “Man I forgot what this was like. It’s been a long road to get here,” Todd said. “We’re getting a good handle on it, and the consistency is coming around. It kinda started there in Bristol. We went to a semi and then another in Norwalk. We started out with a new combination at the beginning of the year, and (co-crew chief) Todd Smith said, ‘it’s gonna take me a while to figure this thing out,’ and I feel like he’s finally getting it dialed in.
"He’s been making small changes, and the car responds. We’ve been making good, consistent runs, and that’s something that we lacked early in the season. Now I feel like they have a good handle on it, and it’s a lot of fun driving that DHL Toyota GR Supra right now. When you’re going down the track like we are, it just gives everyone more confidence. I keep saying Funny Car is the toughest class in the sport, and it’s definitely not easy. When you go two-plus years without winning, you don’t know if it’s going to happen again.
“I’ve never had a throttle floored so hard in that thing. I was trying to shove it through the floor board every time, and when that win light came on, it was instant relief. I’m glad to finally pay these guys back. They’ve been busting their (butts) all season long after what happened in Pomona. That was a big setback. They never gave up; they dug deep, kept their heads down and kept working, and it feels good to pay them back now. Also really happy for DHL, Revchem, Mobil 1, Toyota – everybody that supports us. They make it possible.”
Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 8 qualifier at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Kalitta waited until the final qualifying session to post his best run – a 3.770-second effort at 318.54 mph.
Eliminations: Kalitta made his best run of the weekend in the final round but lost to Justin Ashley. Kalitta’s 3.750 at 328.38 mph wasn’t good enough to knock off Ashley and his 3.707-second effort
Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Sonoma in seventh place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails sixth place Austin Prock by 43 points and leads eighth place Mike Salinas by 18 points.
Kalitta on Sonoma: “This Mac Tools team is definitely headed in the right direction, but unfortunately today, we had a tough first round draw. We made a good run but were a little behind on the run against Justin. Coming out of the first two races of the swing with runner up finishes, we definitely were carrying some momentum coming in here, and we still are. We’ll just shake it off and head to the next one. Super proud of my guys we just gotta keep digging, and we’ll get it.”
Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air is Hiring Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals; it was his best qualifying effort since he was the No. 2 qualifier in Epping. His best qualifying attempt came in the Friday evening session when he ran 3.740 at 330.55 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon defeated Leah Pritchett before losing to Josh Hart in the second round of eliminations.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Sonoma in 11th place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails 10th place Clay Millican by 16 points and leads 12th place Tony Schumacher by 103 points.
Langdon on Sonoma: The Kalitta Air Careers car did great this weekend,” Langdon said. “We made a lot of progress this weekend and on the Western swing. We came in here after two semifinals looking to keep improving. We didn’t get to the semifinals today, but we’re really looking forward to Topeka because we feel really good about the progress we made in the last couple of weeks. Good job to the team and the crew chiefs – everybody at Kalitta Air, Revchem, Toyota – it’s good to be going rounds!”
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action Aug. 11-13, 2023 at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
