Kalitta, Torrence, Brown and Capps also qualify in the top five
MOHNTON, Pa. (September 16, 2023) – Toyota Top Fuel driver, Justin Ashley, will start from the top spot in tomorrow’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Sitting atop the Top Fuel standings to begin the Countdown to the Championship, Ashley heads a Top Fuel top five dominated by Toyotas with Doug Kalitta qualifying third, Steve Torrence in fourth and Antron Brown in fifth.
In Funny Car, Ron Capps led the way for Toyota by qualifying fourth with Alexis DeJoria in eighth and J.R. Todd in 10th.
Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Maple Grove Raceway
Race 16 of 21
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Justin Ashley | Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 1st (3.687) | S. Farley |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 3rd (3.696) | J. Hart |
| Steve Torrence | Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th (3.698) | M. Salinas |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 5th (3.716) | D. Foley |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th (3.719) | D. Mercier |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Bob Tasca* | Motorcraft Ford Mustang Funny Car | 1st (3.874) | C. Lee |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 4th (3.879) | A. Laughlin |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 8th (3.915) | B. Alexander |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 10th (3.923) | T. Wilkerson |
(*non-Toyota driver)
TOYOTA QUOTES
JUSTIN ASHLEY, Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Maynard-Ashley Racing
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
How good do you guys feel starting off the Countdown with the No. 1 qualifying position?
“We feel great. Obviously, qualifying is very important. Once race day comes, it’s all behind you, but nonetheless, theoretically, you’re putting yourself in the best position to win on Sunday and I think we accomplished that. We went down the track three out of four times. Obviously, we had the 3.687, the quickest time of the weekend, but tomorrow is going to be different and faster than we’ve seen. Nonetheless, we feel very good about the position we’ve put ourselves coming into this race and the reminder of the Countdown, and obviously so far this weekend.”
You talked about the three out of the four runs, with the first not being what you wanted. I’m sure you were confident you guys would bounce back in a hurry from Q1 on Friday.
“Absolutely, I think it’s a good problem to have when you don’t make it down in the first session and you’re wondering why it happened. That’s always the position you want to be in. It’s going to happen. We have four sessions and you’re not going to make it down each and every time, but one of the amazing things about Mike Green and Tommy DeLago (crew chiefs) is how consistent they are and how they’re able to find a way wherever we qualify. They make sure the car goes up and down the racetrack and they have a very methodical approach in how they tune this race car.
RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 4th
Can you describe your qualifying runs today?
“What a great ending to qualifying! I can’t say enough about Guido (Dean Antonelli crew chief) and the NAPA Auto Parts team. They had a plan going up there and we discussed with the Toyota engineers, and we felt like we could improve on our time earlier today. With the sun still out, a lot of people would’ve questioned if we could have improved. It’s what makes this team great. The data we get from our Toyota engineers at the racetrack, Guido’s confidence in going up there and my ability to try to keep the car in the groove and go 3.87 seconds and over 330 mph really makes this Toyota GR Supra really fun to drive, especially when you’re trying to improve on qualifying and throw down your quickest time of the day. Great job by the guys and looking forward to Sunday! It’s going to be an early start and great conditions, and we’ll probably see the quickest time of the weekend, so we have to be on our game.”