Defending Top Fuel Champion Antron Brown sprinted his MATCO Tools dragster to victory at the Strip at Las Vegas Speedway. It was Brown’s first victory of the young season. Alexis De Joria won the Funny Car finale and Jason Line took home another Pro-Stock Class first place trophy. The DENSO Internationals in Las Vegas was the fourth out of 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series.
Antron Brown powered his hot-rod to a 3.843 second run at over 314 miles per hour to out duel fellow finalist Troy Buff. This was Buff’s first ever final, but his 3.918 second run at 307.58 miles per hour wasn’t enough to close the deal. The victory put Antron Brown in second place in the NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series point standings. Brittany Force, who lost to Brown in round two, still sits atop the leader-board.
“It never gets boring,” Antron Brown said. “It’s more than just a trophy. It’s all the hard work it takes to get here. We struggled the first three races, but we just kept digging; we kept our head down and just kept going.”
In the Funny Car final, De Joria out-dueled fellow dragster and defending world champion Del Worsham to win her first event in 33 races. De Joria guided her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry to a 3.968 second run at 315.49 mile per hour. Worsham, although registering a faster overall speed at 323.58 miles per hour, managed to get beat out of the gate and ran the distance in 3.988 seconds.
“This fourth trophy was definitely a difficult one,” said DeJoria, who had not won in the last 33 races. “It took a lot of risks to get here. We made consistent passes down the race track all four runs in qualifying and on race day as well. I don’t know when the last time was that we did that. It’s incredible to be a part of this.”
The win marked the first time in drag racing history that three women collected victories in the nitro division in consecutive weeks. De Joria’s triumph was preceded by wins from Britany Force in last weeks event and Leah Pritchett the week before that. Robert Hight still remains atop the Funny Car standings while the victory moved De Joria into eighth spot.
Two-time world Pro Stock champion Jason Line defeated KB Racing teammate Bo Butner in a Chevrolet on Chevrolet final. Line’s speed and time were completely irrelevant because Butner jumped on the red light at the start and was disqualified. It was a disappointing finish to an eventful afternoon at The Strip in Las Vegas. For Line, a win’s a win.
“It’s been special to say the least,” said Line, who beat Matt Hartford, Chris McGaha, and Erica Enders en route to the final. “It’s been a fun ride. Hopefully it continues like this for the rest of the year.”
The victory was Jason Line’s 39th career win and was the fourth straight win for the KB Racing family of drivers. Line widened his lead over teammates Greg Anderson who lost to Bo Butner in the semi-finals and Butner sits in third after moving up the standings with his first finals appearance of the year. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues April 22nd through the 24th in Charlotte, North Carolina with the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
NHRA Top Fuel Point Standings:
| Position | Driver | Points | PB | Change | Make | |
| 1 | Brittany Force | 307 | 0 | – | Force | |
| 2 | Antron Brown | 269 | -38 | – | DSR | |
| 3 | Doug Kalitta | 267 | -40 | – | Kalitta | |
| 4 | Steve Torrence | 249 | -58 | – | MLR | |
| 5 | Clay Millican | 242 | -65 | – | Hadman | |
| 6 | J.R. Todd | 229 | -78 | – | Kalitta | |
| 7 | Dave Connolly | 217 | -90 | – | MLR | |
| 8 | Terry Mc Millen | 209 | -98 | – | DSR | |
| 9 | Tony Schumacher | 190 | -117 | – | DSR | |
| 10 | Leah Pritchett | 188 | -119 | – | Hadman | |
| 11 | Richie Crampton | 187 | -120 | – | MLR | |
| 12 | Troy Buff | 155 | -152 | – | Bill Miller | |
| 13 | Shawn Langdon | 130 | -177 | – | DSR | |
| 14 | Scott Palmer | 93 | -214 | – | McKinney | |
| 15 | Morgan Lucas | 84 | -223 | – | MLR | |
Funny Car
| Position | Driver | Points | PB | Change | Make | |
| 1 | Robert Hight | 341 | 0 | – |  |
|
| 2 | John Force | 294 | -47 | – | |
|
| 3 | Ron Capps | 289 | -52 | – |  |
|
| 4 | Del Worsham | 283 | -58 | – |  |
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| 5 | Jack Beckman | 271 | -70 | – | |
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| 6 | Courtney Force | 265 | -76 | – | |
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| 7 | Chad Head | 236 | -105 | – | |
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| 8 | Alexis De Joria | 233 | -108 | – | |
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| 9 | Tim Wilkerson | 221 | -120 | – |  |
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| 10 | Matt Hagan | 150 | -191 | – | |
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| 11 | Tommy Johnson | 149 | -192 | – | |
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| 12 | Cruz Pedregon | 146 | -195 | – | |
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| 13 | John Hale | 126 | -215 | – | |
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| 14 | James Campbell | 109 | -232 | – | |
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| 15 | Terry Haddock | 98 | -243 | – | ||
| Position | Driver | Points | PB | Change | Make | |
| 1 | Jason Line | 463 | 0 | – | |
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| 2 | Greg Anderson | 415 | -48 | – | |
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| 3 | Bo Butner | 331 | -132 | – | |
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| 4 | Drew Skillman | 264 | -199 | – | |
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| 5 | Chris McGaha | 214 | -249 | – | |
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| 6 | Allen Johnson | 212 | -251 | – | |
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| 7 | Jeg Coughlin | 191 | -272 | – | |
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| 8 | Vincent Nobile | 175 | -288 | – | |
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| 9 | Erica Enders | 171 | -292 | – | |
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| 10 | Alex Laughlin | 154 | -309 | – | |
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| 11 | Deric Kramer | 135 | -328 | – | |
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| 12 | V Gaines | 124 | -339 | – | |
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| 12 | Matthew Hartford | 124 | -339 | – | |
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| 14 | Shane Gray | 117 | -346 | – | |
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| 15 | Joey Grose | 94 | -369 | – | |
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