Final round-by-round results from the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 23rd of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

Antron Brown will clinch his second straight and third overall Top Fuel championship if closes this event with at least a 130-point margin between him and his closest competitor.

The Matco Tools / Toyota / U.S. Army Dragster driver for Don Schumacher Racing, a seven-time winner this season, also is seeking his fourth victory in five Countdown races. He already has won six of the past 10 playoff races, dating back to last year – and he already has assured that he’ll lead the series in victories for the fourth time in five seasons.

Brown opened this weekend with a 150-point lead over second-place Doug Kalitta and a 172-point advantage over third-place Shawn Langdon. (The three have an association with Toyota, and their point standings assure that a Toyota-branded Top Fueler will claim the title for the sixth time in seven years.

The Funny Car field already had an official stunt-car driver in Jon Capps. But in Saturday’s marathon third overall qualifying session, Gary Densham gave the sizeable crowd his best version of one. Driving a ’14 Mustang that used to be among the John Force Racing fleet, Densham got a workout while trying to corral the fishtailing car that at one point tilted on two wheels as it flirted with the guard wall. Five pairings later, Alexis DeJoria – finally starting to feel more normal following her July wallbanger at Sonoma – wasn’t able to haul in her rebellious Toyota Camry. After she crossed the finish line, her car skated across the center line and smacked the left-lane wall hard on the driver’s side. She exited on her own power.   

Clay Millican came to the The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in search of his first career NHRA Top Fuel win.

After Saturday’s action before a sell-out crowd, the excitable driver from Dummonds, Tennessee, was feeling lucky about cashing in on his history in the NHRA Toyota Nationals.

LE Tonglet, the 2010 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, will race as a teammate to White Alligator Racing’s Jerry Savoie as part of a two-bike effort in 2017. Tonglet’s bike will carry the familiar colors of Kenny Koretsky’s Nitro Fish brand and both Suzuki entries will be powered by engines from Vance & Hines.
 
“I could not be more excited to be racing with Jerry and [crew chief] Tim Kulungian next year,” said Tonglet, who spends his weekdays as professional firefighter in his hometown of Metairie, La. “They have built an incredible, competitive program and I can’t wait to be a part of it. Ever since I started racing, it has been mostly me, and my brother [GT] and our dad [Gary]. We haven’t had the resources or the manpower that some of the other teams have. With two bikes, we’ll have twice the data which should help both of us. I can’t thank Kenny and Nitro Fish enough for putting this program together.”

Jerry Savoie had two reasons to feel happy Saturday night at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The charismatic alligator farmer from Cut Off, Louisiana, earned the No. 1 qualifying spot for the NHRA Toyota Nationals. He then confirmed a new partnership with fellow Louisiana racer LE Tonglet.

Rickie Smith secured his third NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series championship by qualifying for the series event during the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is the final NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series race of the 2016 season and is presented by Aeromotive Inc.

Smith, who won the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series championship in 2013 and 2014, raced to a strong start of the season to propel himself to the series crown. In his IDG ’15 Camaro he opened the season with a win at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornational in Gainesville, Fla., defeating Danny Rowe in the finals. He raced to a runner up finish at the next event in Houston and won the third race of the season at Atlanta. He most recently raced to a runner-up finish in St. Louis. He was also the No. 1 qualifier at two events.

Clay Millican piloted his dragster to the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier on Saturday at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 23rd race of 24 on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The NHRA Toyota Nationals is the fifth event of the of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.

The most important quality of a winning racing organization and business is commitment and loyalty.

Few in the world of motorsports reflect that better than the relationship between Matco Tools and Don Schumacher Racing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

That is exemplified today with the announcement by Matco Tools, with its network of over 1,700 premier independent mobile tool distributors, and DSR, the most dominant racing operation in NHRA, that their 16-year marketing partnership is being extended with a new multiyear agreement that will include Antron Brown continuing as the driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster.