Toyota Top Fuel drivers Larry Dixon and Antron Brown made history on Saturday as they combined for the fastest side-by-side run in NHRA history as both ran in the 3.77s to secure the top two spots in qualifying for Sunday’s Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
Dixon (Al-Anabi Racing) won the pole with a 3.772 run, the second-quickest run in history and just ahead of Brown’s 3.777-second run – the third-quickest run ever. Dixon’s 323.19 mph speed also was the second-fastest ever.
The two Toyota-sponsored drivers have dominated qualifying this weekend with each topping the time charts twice in the four qualifying runs. With his pole run, Dixon has now qualified in the top three in each of the season’s first five races. He has placed first once, second twice and third twice. For Brown (Don Schumacher Racing), today’s showing was his fourth consecutive top-four qualifying performance. He was the top qualifier at Gainesville, second today, third at Charlotte and fourth at Phoenix.
Each of the two enter this Sunday’s competition in the top five in points with Dixon in fourth and Brown in fifth and both helped their cause considerably this weekend as each earned eight bonus points in qualifying.
Shawn Langdon made it three Toyota-sponsored cars in the top seven with a 3.860 run. Langdon’s teammate, Morgan Lucas, rounds out the Toyota contingent in 11th with a top run of 3.939 seconds.
Del Worsham (An-Anabi Racing) qualified seventh overall, while fellow Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon (Cruz Pedregon Racing) placed 14th in Funny Car competition. Worsham received one bonus point in qualifying after logging the third-quickest time in Saturday’s first qualifying session.
Eliminations for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Spring Nationals will begin at 12 noon EDT/11:00 a.m. CDT (local) time on Sunday. ESPN2’s coverage begins with NHRA RaceDay at 2:30 p.m. EDT, followed with coverage of Sunday’s eliminations running from 8 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EDT.
Toyota Drivers Spring Nationals Qualifying position (Sunday’s first round match-ups)
Top Fuel
- Larry Dixon – Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster – 1st (Cox)
- Antron Brown – Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster – 2nd (Massey)
- Shawn Langdon – Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel Dragster – 7th (Buff)
- Morgan Lucas – GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster – 11th (Torrence)
Funny Car
- Del Worsham – Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car – 7th (Wilkerson)
- Cruz Pedregon – Snap-On Tools Toyota Camry Solara – 14th (Hight)
