Information By: ROB GOODMAN / KALITTA MOTORSPORTS – NORWALK, OH
Doug Kalitta, Applied Innovation Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. It was his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season, the 57th of his career and his fifth at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. Kalitta’s best run was a 3.693-second effort at 332.92 mph during the Friday evening qualifying session. During the final round of qualifying on Saturday, Kalitta won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge with a 3.703-second run at 337.16 mph to defeat Antron Brown. Kalitta’s speed set the track record.
Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Kyle Wurtzel, Billy Torrence and Steve Torrence before losing to Antron Brown in the final round. Brown’s 3.736-second run defeated Kalitta’s 3.747-second effort. The margin of victory was .0202 seconds. It was Kalitta’s fourth-straight final round and his fifth in last six races. A Team Kalitta dragster raced in nine of the 10 final rounds this season.
Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Norwalk in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Justin Ashley by 134 points.
Kalitta on Norwalk: “We made it to the final, but it was one of those races you just wish you could have gotten. It’s our home race, and we had Applied Innovation on the car this week. We just needed a little bit more power and a little bit more reaction time. I think we could have pulled it off for Revchem, SealMaster, Mac Tools and Toyota with a little bit better reaction time so that’s one of the things I look at. It was one of those deals so we’ll just be happy with it and press on.”
Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 6 qualifier at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the final qualifying session Saturday evening when he reached the finish line in 3.736 seconds at 329.99 mph. Langdon made four good qualifying attempts each of which was quicker than the previous attempt. Langdon set the track speed record when he reached 335.73 mph in the third qualifying round, but Doug Kalitta reset it in the next round reaching 337.16 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon left the starting line first in his first-round matchup with Clay Millican and was leading the race when the Kalitta Air Careers dragster’s engine dropped a cylinder causing additional engine problems. Millican drove around Langdon and won the race with a 3.742-second run to Langdon’s 3.802-second effort.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Norwalk in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Justin Ashley by two points and leads fourth-place Antron Brown by 58 points.
Langdon on Norwalk: “The Kalitta Air Careers team had four good qualifying runs, and we got a little bit better each time. We were on a good run in the first round against Clay, but we dropped a cylinder, and Clay got around us and won the race. It’s really unfortunate for Kalitta Air, Revchem, Toyota, FlexJet and everyone that helps us because this team is running really well, but it happens. We’ll be ready to go when we get to Seattle in a couple weeks.”
J.R. Todd, DHL Funny Car
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 2 qualifier at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. It was his best qualifying effort of the season. His best run came during the Friday evening qualifying session when he posted a 3.865-second effort at 332.92 mph.
Eliminations: Todd and the DHL GR Supra team defeated Chris King in the first round and raced Ron Capps in the second. Todd left the starting line first and was ahead in the run when the tires on the DHL Toyota began to spin allowing Capps to cruise to the win light.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Norwalk in fifth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails fourth-place John Force by seven points and leads sixth-place Ron Capps by 125 points.
Todd on Norwalk: “It was nice to qualify second – that’s the best we’ve qualified this season. We made a nice run in the first round but then smoked the tires again in the second round. It’s frustrating because two races ago, we took the DHL GR Supra to the final round in Bristol. It’s like I’ve been saying all season: the teams that are ahead of us in points get down the race track almost every time. We just can’t seem to do that. To run with these guys and start climbing in points, we have to figure out our consistency for SealMaster, Revchem and Toyota. We have a couple weeks off now so we’ll work on it and be ready for Seattle.”
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action July 19-21, 2024 at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash.