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Post-Race Report
Event 21: NHRA Texas FallNationals
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
October 5 - 7
Event 21: NHRA Texas FallNationals
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
October 5 - 7
Race Recap: J.R. Todd and the DHL/WIX Filters team remained one of the most consistent cars on the circuit with a final round appearance for the third time in the past four events. Unfortunately, for the first time in his five final round appearances in 2018, Todd was unable to pick up a victory.
Todd continued his incredibly consistent racing with three out of four qualifying runs in the 3.9-second range. He ended up fourth in qualifying and used a 3.982 at 321.35 to take down John Hale in the first round of eliminations.
In the quarterfinals, Todd lined up against Jack Beckman. The DHL team, led by Jon Oberhofer and Todd Smith, powered Todd to a 3.991-second pass, which was the fourth-best pass of the round to give him the victory against Beckman.
Todd lined up with No. 1 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. in the semifinals and used a .033 reaction time to defeat the DSR driver with a 3.952 at 320.89.
In the finals, Todd matched up with points leader Robert Hight. The DHL/WIX Filters team had another strong run at 3.984, but were unable to chase down Hight who left first and ended up with the win.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 4 (3.962 sec., 320.05 mph)
E1: Todd defeated Hale - 3.982 sec., 321.35 mph to 5.554 at 129.49
E2: Todd defeated Beckman - 3.991 sec., 318.69 mph to 4.055 at 260.36
E3: Todd defeated Johnson Jr. - 3.952 sec., 320.89 mph to 3.964 sec., 321.58 mph
E4: Todd defeated by Hight - 3.955 sec., 325.69 mph to 3.984 at 319.52
Quotable: "No rounds are easy out here. We had a very consistent DHL/Wix Filters Toyota all day long. We're just going out and racing smart, that's what it takes to contend for a title. We didn't exactly run what I was hoping to in the final. I didn't have the reaction time I was hoping to in the final, either. We lost some ground to the point leader, but we distanced ourselves from the cars behind us. So we'll battle it out over the last three races with Robert [Hight]. We still have a long way to go, but we need to keep pace with Robert. It would have been nice to take some points away from him in the final, but we're still within striking distance.
Point Standings: Second; trails Robert Hight by 50 points for first; leads Tim Wilkerson by 83 points for third
Race Recap: After a solid weekend of qualifying, Kalitta had a first round matchup with Antron Brown for the second consecutive event.
Kalitta entered Sunday as the No. 10 qualifier, and the Mac Tools team put up a solid 3.830 at 316.82, but it was not enough to take down Brown's 3.777 at 323.43.
Kalitta was knocked out in the first round for the second consecutive event, as he was also unable to add-on to his two career wins at Texas Motorplex.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 6 (3.789 sec., 319.98 mph)
E1: Kalitta defeated by Brown - 3.777 sec., 323.43 mph to 3.830 sec., 316.82 mph
Quotable: “This car was running well all weekend, but unfortunately we were not able to take down a strong run from Antron's team. We feel like we have a really strong car that is capable of putting up some good performances throughout the rest of the season."
Point Standings: Seventh; leads Mike Salinas by 19 points for eighth; trails Terry McMillen by 20 points for sixth
Race Recap: Shawn Langdon and the Global Electronic Technology team had a solid car throughout the weekend, but struggled in the first round and were unable to bring home a round win in Dallas.
After four consistent runs throughout qualifying, Langdon was unable to put together a clean pass on Sunday.
In the first round of eliminations, Langdon did get off the tree first, as his .146 off the line was better than Pedregon's .288. The Global Electronic Technology team ended up with a 4.495 at 217.60, which fell short to Pedregon's 4.015 at 310.27.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 9 (4.003 sec., 310.91 mph)
E1: Langdon defeated by Pedregon - 4.015 sec., 310.27 mph to 4.495 sec., 217.60 mph
Quotable: "We had a pretty good weekend overall, but obviously this was not the result we had hoped for. This Global Electronic team is going to regroup and be ready for Charlotte next week."
Point Standings: Tenth; trails John Force by 48 points for ninth.
Race Recap: Richie Crampton and the CRAFTSMAN group were not able to overcome a stout run from No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican in the first round at Texas Motorplex.
Qualifying wrapped up with Crampton 16th in the qualifying order, and his 3.784 at 314.83 was amongst his better runs over the past few events.
In his first round matchup with Millican, Crampton left first, but Millican was able to overcome the starting line advantage and turn on the win light. Crampton was unable to track down his opponent and now will look for better results in Charlotte next weekend.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 16 (3.942 sec., 303.71 mph)
E1: Crampton defeated by Millican - 3.784 sec., 314.83 mph to 3.744 sec., 328.54 mph
Quotable: "This was another good weekend for gathering some data and building a strong car for the rest of the season. We put together an impressive run but it wasn't quite enough to take down one of the championship contender cars today."
Photos are courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography
