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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Friday night qualifying hasn't been real kind fo NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car driver J.R. Todd in recent weeks, but the former world champ changed that trend Friday at Heartland Motorsports Park, making his quickest pass of the season en route to the provisional No. 1 spot in qualifying at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
"We've been struggling to capitalize on the Friday night run that is usually pretty crucial for qualifying,'' said Todd, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. "It was nice to make a hell of a run. We haven't run that well in a long time. It's a testament to all the DHL Toyota guys for digging deep and not giving up.
"I feel like we've got some momentum coming from Pomona (Calif.) where we gained a lot of points on the cars in front of us. It's nice to get the three points tonight and, hopefully, we can keep pace with those guys heading into the Countdown. It's a good time to start building momentum."
J.R. Todd set the Funny Car qualifying pace Friday night in the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]J
Todd went 3.884 seconds at 332.67 miles per hour putting him in line to pick up his second No. 1 qualifier in '21 and the 20th in his career.
Alexis DeJoria is currently second after she went 3.894 at 329.67 in her ROKiT Toyota Camry:and Bob Tasca III is currently third with his run of 3.905 at 328.66.
"In the past here in Topeka, I haven't done that well,'' DeJoria said. "But with everything we've accomplished so far this year I knew coming into this race we were going to do something and right out of the box we ran an .89. We weren't expecting it.
"We thought we were going to run a .92. We're No. 2 right now. If we hold it through tomorrow, it will be our sixth No. 2 qualifier of the season. I'll take that. So hopefully we can carry tonight's run all the way through qualifying and into the finals on Sunday."
Along with his quickest pass of the season, Friday night was also the first time Todd made a run in the 3.80s in '21, giving him plenty of momentum for the weekend.
Todd is seeking his second win of the season and his first victory in Topeka.
![Billy Torrence had the quickest Top Fuel qualifying run Friday night in the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]](/images/aa-images/BillyTorrence.jpg)
Billy Torrence had the quickest Top Fuel qualifying run Friday night in the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]
Billy Torrence had the quickest Top Fuel qualifying run Friday night in the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]
Billy Torrence (Top Fuel) and Kyle Koretsky (Pro Stock) were also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories Friday night at the 11th race of the 2021 season.
Torrence rocketed to the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel, going 3.717 seconds at 322.27 m.p.h in his Capco Contractors dragster.
If it holds, the run would give Torrence his third low qualifier of the season and eighth overall.
Torrence won a Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race three weeks ago at the HMP in Super Comp and kept up his strong pace in Topeka as he looks for his second Top Fuel win of the year.
Former Top Fuel champ Brittany Force, who is looking for her first win of the season, went 3.734 at 329.42 to move into the No. 2 on Friday, while Mike Salinas took the third spot after a run of 3.739 at 316.08.
![Kyle Koretsky put himself in position to earn his first Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier with a strong run Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]](/images/aa-images/KyleKoretsky.jpg)
Kyle Koretsky put himself in position to earn his first Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier with a strong run Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by NHRA]
Koretsky impressed in his first appearance at Heartland Motorsports Park in Pro Stock, jumping to the provisional No. 1 spot with a run of 6.634 at 205.51 in his Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro.
If it holds, it would give the young standout his first career No. 1 qualifier. Following a strong showing in Pomona at the most recent race, Koretsky is trying to pick up his first career win.
Troy Coughlin Jr. is currently second with his promising pass of 6.635 at 203.74 and Greg Anderson is third after he ran 6.636 at 205.29. Anderson, the current points leader, is aiming for his ninth No. 1 qualifier in 2021.
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
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Three-time NHRA Top Fuel champ Antron Brown will launch his own team, AB Motorsports, in 2022. [Rebilas Photography]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown is quick to admit that he has had a pretty sweet deal with Don Schumacher Racing.
And because in large part of all the success he's had, the relationships he's built and the things he's learned at DSR, Brown is ready to take the next step in his career in 2022, launching his own team in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
"That's been something that I've been after for a long time,'' said the 45-year-old Brown, who is racing the Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster in this weekend's Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. "It's not something new, it's something that I've thought about for years and years and years and it's finally come to fruition.
"It was literally staying after it and it's been a dream. Covid slowed it down and it's one of those deals where I'm very excited, but the other side of it is that I'm also very nervous. There's nothing to lean back on so what we have to lean back on is each other.''
Antron Brown will be looking for his second career Top Fuel win at Heartland Motorsports Park this weekend in the Menards NHRA Nationals. [Rebilas Photography]
Brown's new venture, AB Motorsports, will be backed by many of his longtime sponsors, including Matco and Toyota, and Brown, third in Top Fuel history with 52 wins, will continue to purchase parts from DSR.
"What really is making this dream a reality, honestly, is all our partners,'' said Brown, who began the weekend second in Top Fuel points. "Matco Tools has been with us a long, long time and Toyota has always been behind us since Day 1. Whenever we needed something they always had our back. That's a big deal, a tremendous big deal.
"The partners have stuck with us through the thick and thin of this deal. It would have been really easy for partners to drop out during Covid, but our partners and our distributors stayed strong and always have our back. You have to have great people around you and I have a great family and my team.''
Brown, who will continue to drive in '22, said one of his major motivations in starting his own team is the prospect of tackling a new challenge.
"Being at Don Schumacher Racing for all these years I've learned tremendous things from Don, his whole organization and all the teams he had around us,'' Brown said. "It's a great place to be, but anybody knows in life that if you want to grow you have to get yourself uncomfortable.
"I've been comfortable for way too long and that's not like me to sit back. I've always wanted to move forward, to grow. I look at our sport and Don Schumacher picked that torch up a long time ago for his son (Tony) and built this championship organization. I've been very fortunate, very blessed to be a part of that and always grateful. I'm very, very, very grateful.''
Brown said he looks at his new venture as an opportunity to help the sport he loves move forward.
"I just looked at our sport as a whole and said, 'How can our sport grow?' '' Brown said. "Now Don can flourish and bring some new talent in, younger talent in, at DSR and then I can grow in my landscape and not just be a driver but be an owner and our team could bring in other talent underneath of us and maybe cultivate a second team down the road and maybe go to a third or four-car team and maybe other people can do the same thing.
"If we can keep doing this and building, our sport is only going to grow and go to new heights and new levels.''
Related Stories and Videos
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's been a lof tough calls for the No. 1 spot in TopSports.news' Best of the Best Shawnee County Top 25 lists.
Men's golf wasn't one of those.
Shawnee Heights product Gary Woodland all but assured himself of the top spot when he made it on the PGA Tour back in 2007 and the four-time Tour winner cemented that position when he won the 2019 United States Open.
Gary Woodland [PGA Tour]
Coming off a tie for seventh last week, the former basketball All-Stater and two-time Class 5A state champ for the T-Birds, is currently 45th on the PGA Tour's all-time career money list with more than $29 million in career earnings.
But while the 37-year-old Woodland is the unquestioned headliner, the TSN Top 25 list is loaded with other county stars who have carved out their own niche in the game.
Andrew Beckler [Washburn Athletics]
Justice Valdivia
Former Washburn Rural state champ Andrew Beckler, who received the 2021 Jack Nicklaus Award as the NCAA Division II Player of the Year holds down the No. 2 spot on the Top 25 local legends Frank Rose and Bill McDonald sit in the next two spots, followed by former Rural two-time state champion Parker Beal and multi-sport Silver Lake product Mark Elliott.
Three-time Washburn University All-American Matt Ewald and local stars Ben Moser, Bill Mosimann and Gary Lucas round out the top 10.
Former Hayden state star Justice Valdivia, a state individual and team champ and multi-time All-MIAA honoree topped Woodland for the Readers Choice award, with former Rossville state champ and four-time state medalist Garrett Donovan earning the third spot in reader votes.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST MEN'S GOLFERS
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NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria will compete in the Menards NHRA Nationals Friday through Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo courtesy of Rebilas Photography]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When NHRA Funny Car veteran Alexis DeJoria stepped away from the sport at the end of the 2017 season, the five-time race winner knew it was something she needed to do.
But that two-year break also proved to the 43-year-old driver of the Bandero ROKiT Toyota Camry just how important racing is to her.
"Taking that time off was imperative to just like balance my life out,'' DeJoria told TopSports.news. "I had so much going on and then my daughter (Bella) was turning 15 and I couldn't parent by proxy. I needed to be there with her and teach her how to drive and do all those great things and being on the road so much takes its toll on a marriage and that was really difficult as well, so I was lucky enough to be able to take that time away and kind of just take a look at everything and take time to clarify everything that was really important to me.''
One of those important things was drag racing, with the former U.S. Nationals champion teaming with NHRA veterans Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante to launch a new team in 2020.
Alexis DeJoria [Photo courtesy of Rebilas Photography]
"Taking that time away really did make me appreciate everything that I've accomplished in NHRA and everything that I want to accomplish,'' DeJoria said. "Sometimes you take a break and then when you come back to something, it's that much more better. I don't know even how to say it. There's no words, it's just like this was obviously what I was supposed to do in every way, shape or form and taking that time away really made that clear.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's probably a good bet to say that local stars Abby Glynn and Rachel Stous haven't reached their peak in women's golf, with their careers seemingly still on the upswing.
But Washburn Rural product Glynn and Topeka High's Stous have already accomplished enough to earn the top two spots on the TopSports.news Shawnee County Best of the Best Top 25.
Glynn edged Stous for the No. 1 spot after earning three Class 6A state medals and helping Rural capture three Class 6A state team championships and a runner-up finish during her prep career before going on to become a standout at Kansas and winning the Missouri Amateur title in 2020.
Abby Glynn [KU Athletics]
Rachel Stous [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Stous, meanwhile, was a four-time 6A state medalist for the Trojans and has established herself as one of the state's top amateurs, including a win in the Kansas Amateur earlier this summer.
Former four-time 4A state medalist and two-time state champ Brooke LaRue (Hayden) earned the No. 3 spot on the Top 25 while former state champs Lauren Falley (Hayden), Megan Lucas (Washburn Rural), Adin Stromgren (Washburn Rural) and Caroline Setter (Hayden) took the next four spots.
Glynn and Stous also finished one-two in the Readers Choice balloting, with Lucas, now playing at Wichita State, third in reader votes.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST WOMEN'S GOLFERS
