Story By: ROB GOODMAN / KALITTA MOTORSPORTS – YPSILANTI, MI – The number is one. One track remains. Epping, N.H., is the location of the sole remaining NHRA track on which Doug Kalitta has never won. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes May 31-June 2, 2024 at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.
Kalitta enters the NHRA New England Nationals in third place in the Top Fuel point standings. Last season, he clicked off his long-awaited 50th win and later won his highly-anticipated first season championship. Now, with his first title defense well underway and a 2024 victory already under his belt, the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer looks to collect his first-career win at New England Dragway – the only Mission Foods Drag Racing Series track on which he’s never won.
“Yeah, it’s the only track where I haven’t won so it would be really nice to check that one off the list,” Kalitta said. “That would be a real tribute to all my guys who have been with me through the years – and that’s a pretty good list of great people. I’m pretty optimistic we have a good shot get to the final, get another crack at it and hopefully check that last box. It’s a beautiful area, and we’re hungry to go rounds so we’re looking forward to getting there to get started.”
Kalitta raced to a runner-up finish at the 2014 installment of the New England Nationals in his best showing to date. The No. 2 qualifier took out Terry McMillen, Khalid AlBalooshi and Richie Crampton before dropping a close final round to Tony Schumacher.
Regardless of the team’s on-track performance, New England Dragway is a Team Kalitta favorite for another very important event, Eddie’s Lobsterfest – a New Hampshire staple for Team Kalitta. After Scott Kalitta passed away in a 2008 racing accident in Englishtown, N.J., the team debuted this event in 2009 in memory of Scott naming it after one of his nicknames. When NHRA stopped racing at Englishtown, Eddie’s Lobsterfest moved to New England Dragway.
“We’re really fortunate with our friendship, through Mac Tools, and now he has his own business, with Joe Poulin, and his wife, Donna; they’re good friends from a heck of a family,” Kalitta added. “Over the years, Joe would always send us lobsters for wins. It was kind of a friendship thing we had going on. Then after Scott passed, we switched it to this Lobsterfest thing. Joe was always nice enough to come with his family to cook and have this gathering with all the team members who knew Scott.
“We have a nice tradition with this get together. It’s good food, it’s good company and it’s something Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) definitely looks forward to. We get together and drink a Coors Light because that’s what Scott used to always drink. I’m not a big cigar person, but that’s the other thing. Scott used to smoke these Swisher Sweet cigars so that’s also part of it. Jon-O (DHL Funny Car Co-Crew Chief Jon Oberhofer) is typically the guy who gets up and says something about Scott – whatever comes to mind – so hopefully he’ll do that again this year. Everybody just enjoys the evening.”
Race Information:
NHRA New England Nationals
New England Dragway; Epping, N.H.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 7:30-9 p.m. Friday, May 31 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on FS1
Mission Foods Challenge Show: 8-9 p.m. Saturday, June 1on FS1
Finals: 7-9 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on FS1
2023 NHRA New England Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 12; lost to Leah Pruett.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 593 events, 53 wins, 60 runner-up, 775 round wins, 55 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date:
Gatornationals: Qualified No. 7; defeated Clay Millican; lost to Steve Torrence.
Pomona: Qualified No. 6; defeated Jasmine Salinas; lost to Billy Torrence.
Phoenix: Qualified No. 3; defeated Terry Totten; lost to Justin Ashley.
Las Vegas 4W: Qualified No. 1; defeated Shawn Langdon in the first round, Brittany Force and Josh Hart in the semifinals followed by Justin Ashley, Steve Torrence and Tony Stewart in the final round.
Charlotte 4W: Qualified No. 1; defeated Shawn Reed and Cody Krohn in the first round, Billy Torrence and Jasmine Salinas in the semifinals before beating Antron Brown but losing to Justin Ashley and Clay Millican in the final round.
Chicago: Qualified No. 3; lost to Justin Ashley.
SHAWN LANGDON HOPING STELLAR TWO-WIDE SUCCESS CONTINUES
Life is pretty good in the Kalitta Air Careers pit these days. The team is performing at a high level, but in one type of races, Shawn Langdon and team are racing at an even higher level of performance. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes May 31-June 2, 2024 at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.
In the season’s first six races, Langdon and the Kalitta Air Careers team have two wins in three final-round appearances, including a runner-up showing two weeks ago, and are second in points entering the New England Nationals. In two-wide races only, which comprise the remainder of the 2024 season, Langdon has two wins in three final rounds in the first four races. That bodes well for the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, first-year crew chief Brian Husen and the rest of the team.
“It’s absolutely a great feeling,” Langdon said. “All the credit to (Team Owner) Connie Kalitta, (General Manager) Chad Head, everybody at Kalitta Air, Kalitta Motorsports, Brian Husen – the entire team and all our partners like Revchem, Future Energy Solutions and Toyota. They’ve given us all the tools we need to have the success we’ve had in 2024. Brian’s exceeded everybody’s expectations, and the team is doing a great job. I feel like I’m just holding on trying to do my job.”
That seems to be the mentality for everyone: do your job to the best of your abilities, and hopefully, the rest will take care of itself. Langdon has never won at New England Dragway, but perhaps this weekend’s race will be his time.
“I’d obviously love to get the win this weekend and win my first race in New Hampshire, but our goal is the same as always: make good, strong runs, qualify well and do our best to keep lane choice on race day. We definitely expect the car to continue making good runs like it’s done all season, and we’re excited to get up there. With the weather forecast, we should have some really good air and be able to make a lot of power.”
When Langdon advanced to the semifinals in Chicago two weeks ago, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge this weekend. During Saturday’s Epping qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Joliet, Ill., will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points giving an energetic fan base another wrinkle for Saturday afternoon.
“They have a great fan base in Epping – those New England fans love NHRA Drag Racing,” Langdon added. “It’s nice, as a driver, when you know the fans are excited to watch us race – everyone that works in this sport, we all love what we do. When it feels like the fans love the sport almost as much as we do, that makes us really want to put on a great show for them.”
Race Information:
NHRA New England Nationals
New England Dragway; Epping, N.H.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 7:30-9 p.m. Friday, May 31 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on FS1
Mission Foods Challenge Show: 8-9 p.m. Saturday, June 1on FS1
Finals: 7-9 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on FS1
2023 NHRA New England Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 2; lost to Tony Schumacher.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 336 events, 19 wins, 22 runner-up, 357 round wins, 20 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date:
Gainesville: Qualified No. 1; defeated Cody Krohn, Justin Ashley, Antron Brown and Billy Torrence.
Pomona: Qualified No. 7; defeated Krista Baldwin; lost to Tony Schumacher.
Phoenix: Qualified No. 5; defeated Josh Hart, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence and Justin Ashley.
Las Vegas 4W: Qualified No. 8; lost to Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence in the first round.
Charlotte 4W: Qualified No. 7; lost to Antron Brown and Brittany Force in the first round.
Chicago: Qualified No. 4; defeated Cody Krohn, Shawn Reed and Dan Mercier before losing to Antron Brown.
J.R. TODD, DHL TEAM READY TO REBOUND
YPSILANTI, Mich. (May 28, 2024) – For the first time this season, J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team did not reach the semifinals in Chicago. The disappointing result has Todd looking to rebound with stronger qualifying to start the weekend. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes May 31-June 2, 2024 at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.
Despite the speed bump, Todd still reached at least the semifinals at five of the season’s first six races and sits fourth in points with one win in two final-round appearances. He enters New England seeking his first win at the New Hampshire race track and stronger qualifying for a stronger start to the weekend, and with a cool, crisp New England forecast, the Epping race track could yield some epic numbers.
“We have to go down the track in Q1 (first qualifying session) to set ourselves up for Q2,” Todd said. “If we can do that, we’re not kind of ‘tip toeing’ to get down the track Friday night when you need to throw down and make your best run of the weekend – that’s the start. We have to stay aggressive more than anything. The cars in front of us, week in, week out, are qualifying at the top and setting themselves up for Sunday. That’s something we’ve struggled with lately. That’s kind of been our Achilles heel for the last however many seasons. We’ve been struggling to find the consistency we need to qualify better, get those qualifying points and ultimately get those points on Sunday.”
For the first time this season, Todd is not participating in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge featuring a rematch of the semifinals and final from the last race. Among his goals this weekend is earning a return to the special event next week in Bristol, Tenn.
“My goal was to make all of the Mission (#2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge) races, but that was gonna be a hard goal to accomplish,” Todd said. “Sometimes, when you’re not in that deal, you can focus more on qualifying as opposed to going down the track to collect that bonus money and bonus points. At the end of the day, I’ll take those points as much as we can get them. It’s a bummer not to be in it this weekend, but if we do our jobs, we’ll be back soon.”
And pulling for the DHL team will be the rabid New England fan base which seems not only starved for live drag racing but genuinely appreciative of the opportunity to watch the best and brightest of NHRA Drag Racing.
“It’s a different fan base from what we see in other parts of the country,” Todd added. “It’s an old school fan base that’s really appreciative of us being there. There’s not much drag racing in the Northeast so they’re really excited for us to be there in New England once a year – they’re definitely passionate about the sport. It’s one of the only places I know of where the fans thank us for being there.”
Race Information:
NHRA New England Nationals
New England Dragway; Epping, N.H.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 7:30-9 p.m. Friday, May 31 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on FS1
Mission Foods Challenge Show: 8-9 p.m. Saturday, June 1on FS1
Finals: 7-9 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on FS1
2023 NHRA New England Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 8; defeated Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan before losing to John Force in the semifinals.
Funny Car Career Stats: 304 events, 21 wins, 25 runner-up, 336 round wins, 14 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date:
Gainesville: Qualified No. 6; defeated Blake Alexander, Ron Capps, Bob Tasca and Austin Prock.
Pomona: Qualified No. 11; defeated Cruz Pedregon and Paul Lee; lost to Matt Hagan.
Phoenix: Qualified No. 5; defeated Cruz Pedregon and John Force before losing to Austin Prock.
Las Vegas 4W: Qualified No. 3; defeated D. Wilkerson, D. Richards before losing to M. Hagan and R. Capps
Charlotte 4W: Qualified No. 12; defeated Ron Capps and Buddy Hull in the first round, Cruz Pedregon and John Force in the semifinals before beating John Force but losing to Matt Hagan and Daniel Wilkerson in the final round.
Chicago: Qualified No. 12; lost to Alexis DeJoria.