National Hot Rod Association

For Dixon, the win continues a dominating stretch that has featured five victories in the last seven races and also made him the first driver to clinch a spot in the NHRA Countdown playoffs. Over the seven-race stretch, Dixon has accumulated a remarkable 24-2 record in elimination races. He has now reached the semi-final round or beyond in each of the last seven events.

Making Dixon’s run to the Victory Circle even more impressive was the list of challengers he defeated along the way. After beating Steve Chrisman, he beat arch-rival Tony Schumacher in the second round, followed by number two qualifier Brandon Bernstein in the semi-finals before knocking off Brown for the win.

Englishtown marked Brown’s fourth finals appearance in 11 races this season. He defeated Scott Palmer, Terry McMillen and Doug Kalitta on the way to Monday’s final.

It was an all-Morgan Lucas Racing match-up in the first round on Sunday with Morgan Lucas advancing after Shawn Langdon suffered a breakdown in the parachute system's safety override preventing the car from turning over. When the crew tried to reset the system, the parachutes deployed, ending any chance of him making a run. Lucas made a solo run to advance, but was subsequently eliminated in the second round.

In Funny Car, after two previous semi-final appearances, Worsham made his first final of the 2010 season and appeared to secure his first victory after the win light came on at the end of his run. Unfortunately, the win light was triggered at the quarter-mile mark and not at 1,000 feet. It was quickly announced that it was Tasca that had reached 1,000 feet first as he won a narrow victory on a whole-shot, despite Worsham’s low ET at 4.107.

Worsham had earlier driven his Toyota Camry Solara to victories over points leader Robert Hight and Jack Beckman in the second and third rounds. Worsham also had to win an all-Toyota elimination run on the way to the finals, as he defeated number eight qualifier Cruz Pedregon in the opening run.

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes the trek to Bristol, Tennessee, and the Bristol Dragway next weekend for the third of four consecutive race weekends with the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, June 18-20.

Toyota Drivers, Results – SuperNationals, Qual./Finish

Top Fuel:
Larry Dixon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster, 3/Winner
Antron Brown, Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster, 4/Finals
Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel Dragster, 7/First-round
Morgan Lucas, GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster, 10/Second-round

Funny Car:
Del Worsham, Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car, 9/Finals
Cruz Pedregon, Snap-On Tools Toyota Camry Solara, 8/First-round

NOTES:

– Larry Dixon’s victory is the 54th of his career – good for second all-time among NHRA Top Fuel drivers.

– Monday’s finale was a repeat of last year’s Englishtown final where Larry Dixon also defeated Antron Brown.

-- Few drivers have ever dominated a single race track like Larry Dixon’s done at the Old Bridge Township Raceway. Today’s win is his record-tying sixth at Englishtown and his fifth in the last seven years. He also won in 2007, 2005 and 2004. His other victory at the track came in his 1995 rookie season.

-- Antron Brown’s appearance in the finals is his fourth of the season. He also made the final at Gainesville, Charlotte and Houston

Del Worsham’s appearance in the Funny Car finals is the best result for a Toyota-sponsored Funny Car this season. Worsham had previously made the semi-finals twice. With this weekend’s result, he climbs from 10th to eighth in the Funny Car standings.

2010 Wins (6) - Larry Dixon, Pomona, Houston, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Englishtown
2010 Poles (6) - Antron Brown, Gainesville, Las Vegas, Topeka; Larry Dixon, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago

Quotes:

Morgan Lucas, GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: "I feel like we're making progress, we just need to speed up the rate. The car is telling us what it wants so we have to listen to it. Once we starting doing that, we'll be fine. We don't need to be thinking about points or making the Countdown right now, we just need to worry about getting this car down the racetrack."

Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: “It's frustrating. We've finally got the car where it's making consistent runs during the weekend, and now these little mistakes have killed us lately. We've got to be running out of bad luck, so we'll look to step it up in Bristol next week."