By james art 
LANGDON, KALITA AND TORRANCE IN HEADLINES FOR LAS VEGAS NATIONALS
The NHRA Countdown to the Championship reaches its penultimate eliminations
LAS VEGAS (November 2, 2024) – Eager to close the gap on the top fuel points standings with just two races remaining, Sean Langdon earned the No. 2 seed at Sunday’s Las Vegas Fall Nationals after posting a 3.672 elapsed time in the final qualifying session on Saturday. This is the fourth consecutive race in which Langdon has finished in the Top Fuel top 6, and the sixth time in the last seven events. Landon currently sits third in the Top Fuel Points standings, 76 points behind the leader, as he seeks his second world championship with the NHRA season coming to a close.
Langdon’s teammate and defending Top Fuel World Champion, Doug Kalita, won the third overall qualifier for Sunday, followed by Steve Torrance in fourth. Justin Ashley, the Top Fuel points leader, will be the No. 7 seed to start tomorrow, and his closest competitor in the championship battle, Antron Brown, is the 11th seed.
Ron Capps leads the Toyota GR Supra Funny Car contingent, earning a seventh-place finish on Sunday. After back-to-back appearances in the final round in the last two races, Capps is also looking to close in on those ahead of him in the points standings, starting tomorrow in fourth position. JR Todd qualified eighth and Alexis DeJoria will shoot 10th on Sunday.
Tomorrow’s eliminations from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begin at 2:00 PM EST with a live telecast at 5:00 PM EST on FS1.
Toyota recap after qualifying
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Fall Nationals
Race 19 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | a car | Qualifying position | First round opponent |
| Brittany Force* | Chevrolet Top Fuel Dragster | 1st | J. Hart |
| Sean Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 2nd | J. Salinas |
| Doug Kalita | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | the 3rd | I. Zetterstrom |
| Steve Torrance | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th | T. Schumacher |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 7th | S. Massey |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | the 11th | T. Stewart |
| Billy Torrance | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | the 12th | C. Millican |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | a car | Qualifying position | First round opponent |
| Austin Prock* | Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Funny Car | 1st | T. Gibbons |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 7th | A. DeJoria |
| JR Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | the 8th | C. Pedregon |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra Funny car | the 10th | R. Capps |
* non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
SEAN LANGDON, Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Score: 2nd
How do you feel about tomorrow’s eliminations?
“The car is really running great – great job by Brian (Huysen, crew chief) and that whole team at Kalitta Air Careers Toyota. We put ourselves in a pretty good place on the ladder and feel that we will be able to control our own destiny. The car looks good and runs well – that gives me a lot of confidence so I’m pretty excited for tomorrow.”
RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports
FC Qualifying Score: 7th
Describe your outlook for tomorrow’s eliminations.
“Yeah, obviously the weekend showed some weird (Las) Vegas weather and perfect conditions for these race cars. In Saturday night’s (qualifying) run, we threw everything at it to see if we could go the fastest we’ve ever gone here (Las Vegas). You know, sometimes you have to find that edge and step back a little bit. I’d rather do it Saturday night then do it Sunday morning. No matter what, we always try to have a lane pick in the first round and being in the top eight does that for us. And tomorrow is a brand new day, but there will be cool conditions. They say it’s windy, probably some of the coolest conditions we’ve seen on race day in (Las) Vegas in a long, long time. So I have a lot of confidence in our NAPA car care team with Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew chief) and our GR Supra flew right off the trailer. It always makes me feel good. We have a lot to make up for. We are less than two rounds (worth points) away from second place (in the points standings) and I think it will be a great time to put a lot of points together.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been part of the cultural fabric of North America for more than 65 years and is committed to developing next-generation sustainable mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks in our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s North Carolina plant will begin producing car batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 30 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.