Story By: ROB GOODMAN / KALITTA MOTORSPORTS – YPSILANTI, MI – When he’s strapped into the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster this weekend, Doug Kalitta will become the first Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to compete in 600 races. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes Aug. 16-18, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
Kalitta joins Funny Car drivers John Force (681), Cruz Pedregon (678) and Ron Capps (641) as the only four drivers in NHRA history to reach the 600-race plateau.
“I have to admit, I don’t really watch a lot of the statistics stuff,” Kalitta said. “So that kind of was a reminder, obviously, that I’ve been at this for quite a while and it’s a very cool milestone for me. It’s been, obviously, an interesting ride, and I didn’t realize nobody else (in Top Fuel) had made it to 600, but it’s been a cool ride. It’s been a great opportunity for me out there running with the NHRA and competing for as long as I have, and I certainly still enjoy driving the cars and surrounding myself with great people and great teams. We’re hoping to have a great event up there at Brainerd this weekend. It’s always a great place to go – I look forward to it every year. Hopefully, it’ll be a great weekend for us.”
If first 12 races of the season are any indication, it will be. Kalitta has three wins in six final rounds and leads the point standings by 125 points over his teammate, Shawn Langdon. In the 18 races since he won his 50th race at Reading, Pa., last September, Kalitta has six wins in nine final-round appearances. He enters this weekend’s race with 55 race wins including two wins in four Brainerd final-round appearances.
“When you catch a wave like this, you hope that you can stay on it as long as you can,” Kalitta added. “It’s fun to watch what Alan, (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) just with his knowledge of these cars and all the different variables that go into getting that thing to the starting line, does with this Mac Tools car. I’ve been able to put up the big numbers. I haven’t really spent a lot of time tuning the car or doing any of that, but watching what he’s doing and the changes he makes is pretty cool. He’s one of the best crew chiefs out there, in my opinion, and I’m glad he’s on my car, that’s for sure. That Mac Tools car is only as good as the guys putting it together and the consistency of all the parts. It’ s definitely a team effort. As intense as the competition is, and as intense as driving one of these cars is, my guys are rowing pretty good right now.”
Since his first start at the 1998 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., through the day he clinched his first NHRA Top Fuel Championship at In ‘n Out Burger Raceway in Pomona on Nov. 12, 2023 to the time he’s strapped into the Mac Tools car this weekend, the competitive fire inside Doug Kalitta burns as brightly now as it did all those years ago when he fought the butterflies when he made that first run more than 26 years ago.
“It’s just the challenge, really, and everybody doing their part,” Kalitta said. “It’s just the competition, really, that drives me; it’s just kind of in your blood once you get going. But the speed of that thing and just the raw horsepower that car produces – it’s quite a ride. It’s definitely something to look forward to each and every time we go out there. We’re always trying to beat one another with better runs or reaction times – it’s just the whole process. It’s just fun.”
Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16 on FS1
2Fast2Tasty Challenge: 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 on FS1
Finals: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug 18 on FOX
2023 Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 8; lost to Justin Ashley.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 599 events, 55 wins, 62 runner-up, 791 round wins, 58 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date (wins in italics):
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.
Epping: Qualified No. 1; defeated Scott Farley, Tony Stewart, Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher.
Bristol: Qualified No. 14; defeated Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, Brittany Force; lost to Tony Schumacher.
Richmond: Qualified No. 2: after first-round bye, defeated Josh Hart, Tony Stewart and Shawn Langdon.
Norwalk: Qualified No. 1; defeated Kyle Wurtzel, Billy Torrence and Steve Torrence; lost to Antron Brown.
Seattle: Qualified No. 4; defeated Billy Torrence and Jasmine Salinas; lost to Steve Torrence.
Sonoma: Qualified No. 1; lost to Ron August, Jr.
LEARNING-CURVE SEASON CONTINUES FOR SHAWN LANGDON, KALITTA AIR CAREERS TEAM
A season that started with a bang with two wins in the first three races leveled off, but 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon finds himself in the thick of the battle for the 2024 title. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes Aug. 16-18, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team won those two races early in the season, and since that time, he reached the final round three times but lost to Antron Brown in the Chicago final, his teammate, Doug Kalitta in the Richmond final and Steve Torrence in the Seattle final round. That has the Mira Loma, Calif., native in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings 125 points behind Kalitta. With two races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, things are about to get real.
“Every race from here on out really counts,” Langdon said. “It’s obviously very important to do well this weekend and to do well at Indy to set yourself up for the countdown. We’re kind of full steam ahead with everything at this point. Our plan is to go out there, do the best we can with everything and try to keep the Kalitta cars one-two in points. At this point, it’s about making sure all of your stuff is right – your parts and pieces, your crew guys. The car’s been running well – we’ve hit a couple bumps here or there, but we’ve been qualifying well. We just need to continue doing what we’re doing; we don’t really need to change anything.”
Some could be concerned about winning two races early in the season but not in the more-recent months, but this Kalitta Air Careers team knows to evaluate what happened so they can apply what they learned.
“It’s just a matter of making sure everything is set up right,” Langdon said. “We have all the same stuff we had at the beginning of the season; the car was running great. We got to the right races at the right time, and we were able to win some races. Lately, we’ve still been making good runs. We were a little too aggressive at some tracks – learning curve. We had some races where we were a little too soft on the setup – learning curve. Now we just have to find the happy medium.”
While taking first place in points after the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis feels like a reach at the moment, the standings are far tighter behind Langdon. He leads third-place Steve Torrence by 25 points, fourth-place Justin Ashley by 33 points and fifth-place Antron Brown by 34 points. Some shuffling among those positions is certainly possible in the regular season’s final two races, but is Langdon thinking about those pursuing him most closely?
“You can’t say you don’t because you do, but at the end of the day, all the points reset after Indy so it’s not the end of the world,” Langdon added. “That said, you still want to do the best you can to finish as high as possible. During the Countdown, every point matters so if you can get seeded a little higher, it kinda gives you a little better starting advantage.
Also this weekend, the driver Langdon trails will start his 600th career race – the first in the Top Fuel class to reach that milestone.
“That’s a lot of races – really cool for Doug,” Langdon said. “He’s been around for years, and there aren’t many guys who have gone 600 races. It shows the Kalitta commitment to the sport is second to none. I’m really happy for him.”
Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16 on FS1
2Fast2Tasty Challenge: 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 on FS1
Finals: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug 18 on FOX
2023 Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 5; defeated Leah Pruett; lost to Josh Hart.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 342 events, 19 wins, 24 runner-up, 366 round wins, 21 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date (wins in italics):
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.
Epping: Qualified No. 4; defeated Shawn Reed and Billy Torrence before losing to Doug Kalitta.
Bristol: Qualified No. 4; defeated Shawn Reed; lost to Tony Schumacher.
Richmond: Qualified No. 1; defeated Lex Joon, Steve Torrence & Antron Brown before losing to Doug Kalitta.
Norwalk: Qualified No. 6; lost to Clay Millican.
Seattle: Qualified No. 13; defeated Justin Ashley, Josh Hart and Clay Millican; lost to Steve Torrence.
Sonoma: Qualified No. 4; lost to Tony Stewart in the first round.
STRESS-FREE J.R. TODD SET FOR NHRA PLAYOFF PUSH
J.R. Todd made the most of his off week, but now it’s time to get dialed in for a strong push to the U.S. Nationals and the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes Aug. 16-18, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
With two full weeks off between races at Sonoma, Calif., and Brainerd, Minn., Todd was ready for some down time and knew the perfect place to take his mind off drag racing while spending relaxing time with friends.
“I went to the Knoxville Nationals, which is basically the Indy 500 or U.S. Nationals for winged Sprint Cars,” Todd said. “I got to see a bunch of my old buddies I hadn’t seen in a while. It was a good getaway to take my mind off drag racing more than anything. I always think it’s good to get your mind off things especially when you have two weeks off to sit and think about things. You can wear yourself out. It’s nice to go out there and have some fun with some old buddies I don’t get to see too often – it’s a good stress release.”
With the stress now released, it’s time to focus on the final third of the NHRA season. With two races remaining in the regular season, Todd is fourth in the NHRA Funny Car point standings – 46 points behind third-place Matt Hagan, 89 points behind second-place Bob Tasca and 122 points ahead of fifth-place Ron Capps. The next two races are all about finishing the regular season as high as possible to assure the best-possible starting position in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.
“I’ve been thinking about it since we were leading the points early this season,” Todd added. “Every round, every qualifying point; everything matters. It matters because we’re coming into the part of the season where you want to be as high in the standings as possible entering the Countdown. Now’s when we really need to go to these later rounds to at least keep pace with the guys around us, but it would be nice to get ahead of them. First place definitely isn’t gonna happen for us. Is it important? Yes, but second would be a great way to start the countdown, and we have two races to make it happen. More than anything else, it would be nice to start building momentum going into Indy and the playoffs. That’s when you really want to start heating up.”
Brainerd International Raceway has not been kind to the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion over the years. He’s never won there and never been to a final round in the land of 10,000 lakes, yet he knows it’s the kind of atmosphere in which he should be comfortable.
“It’s definitely a unique atmosphere,” Todd said. “I’d compare it to where I just came from, Knoxville, Iowa. The fans like to camp out and have a really good time. They’re really supportive, and that means a lot as a driver. I haven’t done well at Brainerd in the past so it would be nice to reverse that.
“Most of the teams are testing at Brainerd Monday getting ready for the U.S. Nationals and the Countdown to the Championship Playoffs so it’s a pretty important event for sure. I like to test with everybody to kind of gauge where we are, not that everybody shows their hand, but you get a sense of how important it is in the season when everyone stays over to make test runs. It shows how important the U.S. Nationals and Countdown to the Championship are.”
Also this weekend, Todd’s teammate, 2023 NHRA Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta, will start his 600th-career race – a monumental moment in his career.
“When I was a younger guy, I remember when he came into the sport, and I was a fan of his because of his USAC background,” Todd said. “He’s definitely one of the GOATs of our sport, and now that he has a championship, he’s accomplished just about everything there is to do in a Top Fuel car for sure.”
Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show 1: 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16 on FS1
2Fast2Tasty Challenge: 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 on FS1
Qualifying Show 2: 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 on FS1
Finals: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug 18 on FOX
2023 Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 8; defeated Blake Alexander, Bob Tasca, Matt Hagan and Chad Green.
Funny Car Career Stats: 310 events, 21 wins, 26 runner-up, 345 round wins, 14 No. 1 qualifiers.
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results To Date (wins in italics):
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.
Epping: Qualified No. 3; defeated Dave Richards and Bob Tasca before losing to John Force.
Bristol: Qualified No. 11; defeated Terry Haddock, Ron Capps, John Force; lost to Austin Prock.
Richmond: Qualified No. 7; lost to Matt Hagan.
Norwalk: Qualified No. 2; defeated Chris King; lost to Ron Capps.
Seattle: Qualified No. 4; defeated Buddy Hull and Bob Tasca; lost to Austin Prock.
Sonoma: Qualified No. 6 defeated Jason Rupert, lost to Ron Capps.