Toyota Motorsports final report

WORSHAM WINS FOUR-WIDES, AL-ANABI RACING TOYOTAS FINISH 1-2

TORRANCE, Calif. (April 17, 2011) – After a 15-year absence from the Top Fuel ranks, Del Worsham continued his storybook return in winning his second race of the year by edging Al-Anabi Toyota teammate Larry Dixon with a 3.813-second pass to Dixon’s 3.821 run at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. The win is the fifth straight for a Toyota-sponsored car in Top Fuel competition.

Del Worsham, Al Anabi Racing Top Fuel driver

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Worsham earlier had won the Gatornationals in March and has advanced to the semi-finals or beyond in each of the season’s first four events.

Worsham and Dixon finishing one-two completed a dominating weekend by the Al-Anabi team. In addition to the finals performance, both drivers won each of their four-car elimination runs leading up to the final round. In addition, Worsham was the number one qualifier and Dixon led two of the four qualifying sessions. Neither driver ever placed below third in any of the qualifying sessions. Worsham and Dixon will be rewarded for their efforts by leaving Charlotte first and second in the points race.

Not to be overlooked was a strong weekend for Shawn Langdon that resulted in his joining Worsham and Dixon in the finals. It was Langdon’s second finals appearance of the season and put three Toyota-sponsored vehicles in the finals - marking the third final in the last five races that featured at least two Toyota-sponsored dragsters.

After winning the most recent round at Las Vegas, Antron Brown advanced to the second round today before he was eliminated. Morgan Lucas was eliminated in his first run of the day to round out the Toyota ranks in Top Fuel.

In Funny Cars, Cruz Pedregon had the number three seed for his four-car elimination, but lost traction at about 300 feet. He kept on it down the track, but was eliminated in a pedalfest. Pedregon wasn’t the only favorite to be eliminated early as none of the top-four qualifiers advanced past the second round today.

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will have an off-weekend next week before resuming action at the Royal Purple Raceway in Houston for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals Spring Nationals, April 29-31.

NOTES:

- Del Worsham’s victory today is his second of the season and the 27th overall of his NHRA career with 25 of those coming in Funny Car competition.

- By winning today’s 4-Wides, Del Worsham has now made it to the semi-finals or finals in each of the season’s first four races. Worsham returned to the Top Fuel ranks this season for the first time since 1995.

- The victory for Al-Anabi Racing today is the team’s 13th in the last 23 races.

- Toyota-sponsored Top Fuel drivers occupy the top three spots and five of the top eight in the point standings with Del Worsham first, Larry Dixon second, Antron Brown in third , Shawn Langdon in sixth and Morgan Lucas currently in eighth-place.

- Toyota-sponsored Top Fuel cars have won 16 of the last 23 NHRA Top Fuel events and eight of the last 11.

- Despite being eliminated in the first round today, Cruz Pedregon remains comfortably in the top-five overall at fourth after four events – just nine points out of third-place.

Quotes:

Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: “We had to race (Larry) Dixon three times in one day. It's hard enough to beat him once!"

-source: toyota motorsports