Story By: ROB GOODMAN / KALITTA MOTORSPORTS – YPSILANTI, MI – Prior to the Toyota U.S. Nationals, Kalitta Motorsports launched the 2024 “Race to End Hunger,” a partnership among Kalitta Motorsports, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and five new partners, Applied Innovation, Dayco, Future Energy Solutions, Revchem Composites and Toyota, to accelerate the fight against food insecurity.
For six NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series national events, starting with the U.S. Nationals and ending with the Nevada NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas, every time a Kalitta Motorsports driver turns on a race day win light, Kalitta Motorsports will donate $1,000 to Feeding America, and DHL, Kalitta Air and the new partners will match the donation making each race day win light worth $4,000 or 40,000 Feeding America meals.
Indianapolis: J.R. Todd (0), Doug Kalitta (0), Shawn Langdon (0).
Reading: Doug Kalitta (0), Shawn Langdon (3), J.R. Todd (1); money donated: $16,000; meals generated: 160,000
Charlotte: Doug Kalitta (2), Shawn Langdon (1), J.R. Todd (0); money donated: $12,000; meals generated: 120,000
St. Louis: J.R. Todd (0), Doug Kalitta (0), Shawn Langdon (1); money donated: $4,000; meals generated: 40,000
Totals To-Date: Money Donated $32,000; Meals Generated: 320,000
By clicking here, fans can join the fight with a personal donation and be entered into a drawing for a VIP experience for two at the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing event of their choice – donation not necessary to be entered into the drawing. Unfortunately, Team Kalitta did not win any rounds at the U.S. Nationals.
DOUG KALITTA RUNS MOBIL 1 50TH ANNIVERSARY LIVERY IN TEXAS, STRIVES FOR LONE STAR STATE COUTNDOWN WIN
Doug Kalitta will run special Mobil 1 50th anniversary livery at this week’s Texas NHRA FallNationals – a fitting tribute to a Texas-based company at an event set for the heart of the Lone Star state. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs resumes Oct. 11-13, 2024 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas, the fourth of six playoff races.
Kalitta is a veteran racer. He’s been in just about every racing situation one could imagine, and he fully understands that for his Mobil 1 Toyota team, the time is now. One year ago, Kalitta entered the second half of the Countdown with the points lead. This week, he enters the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in fourth place in points. He trails his teammate, third-place Shawn Langdon, by 27 points, leads fifth-place Steve Torrence by one point and trails points leader Antron Brown by 87 points with three races remaining in the season. This race team is hungry and prepared for battle.
“I was just talking with Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) and commented that we probably needed to win the last three races, and he brought up a good point,” the reigning Top Fuel champion said. “He said, ‘We have the people and the parts. We just need a little bit of luck for things to go well, but we definitely have the team behind us and the cars and the parts and everything else.’ That was pretty good coming from Connie. He has a lot of confidence in what he’s put together with my team, and J.R., Shawn and their teams, so I think we should be looking good.”
Notching his 56th-career win this weekend would be monumental in its timing. The Mobil 1 team has three wins in six final rounds this season, but Kalitta’s last winner’s circle celebration was late June in Richmond, Va., in extremely hot conditions – somewhat similar to those expected in central Texas this weekend. Like the other teams in the hunt for the championship, Kalitta wants to win the last three races.
“That’s definitely the goal so we’ll start with that and see how it shakes out, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t,” Kalitta said. “We’ve won at all three of those tracks so we’ll set our goals for that and see what happens. With any luck, the other guys will get beat early and make it a little easier for us.”
To win the last three, Kalitta must win this weekend’s race that completes the Stampede of Speed, also billed as the fastest 10 days in Texas. Hosted by Texas Motorplex, site of this weekend’s race, the Stampede of Speed is a 10-day festival of concerts, autographs and racing building to its culmination with the final round Sunday afternoon.
“It’s definitely pretty exciting what Billy and his daughter (Track Owners Billy Meyer and Christie Meyer Johnson) are doing with the whole Stampede of Speed weeklong promotion for the race,” the two-time Texas Motorplex winner said. “It’s pretty impressive if you look at the schedule of what they’re doing. There’s a lot of excitement going into that race, and I’m sure it’ll be a huge success with all the activities they’re doing to promote the event. It’s kind of a ‘Billy Myers program’ for sure. When he came out with that track, it was all concrete and really something special. Now he’s doing this Stampede of Speed thing leading by example in how to promote a race, and he has the state of Texas behind him – it’s a great business model.”
Just like winning the season’s final three races.
Race Information:
Texas NHRA FallNationals
Texas Motorplex; Ennis, Texas
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
Finals: 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
2023 Texas NHRA FallNationals Recap: Qualified No. 2; defeated Josh Hart; lost to Leah Pruett.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 600 events, 55 wins, 62 runner-up, 792 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.
Brainerd: Qualified No. 4; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Shawn Langdon.
Indianapolis: Did not qualify.
Reading: Qualified No. 3; lost to Dan Mercier
Charlotte: Qualified No. 3; defeated Tony Stewart and Shawn Langdon; lost to Antron Brown.
St. Louis: Qualified No. 12; lost to Shawn Langdon.
SHAWN LANGDON, KALITTA AIR CAREERS TEAM DUE FOR WIN
The 2024 season has been good to Shawn Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team, but this team wants more – its focus now is the same as it was before the season. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs resumes Oct. 11-13, 2024 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas, the fourth of six playoff races.
Like everyone else, Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers team set sail on the 2024 season in search of a championship, and that goal not only remains, it’s within reach. Langdon has two wins in seven final-round appearances and enters Dallas third in points. He trails second-place Justin Ashley by 26 points, leads his teammate, fourth-place Doug Kalitta, by 27 points and trails points leader Antron Brown by 60 points with three races remaining. Entering the second half of the Countdown, this team needs to win.
“The first half (of the Countdown) went well – we just lost some tough races,” the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion said. “Heading into Dallas – it’ll be a pretty big race. There’s probably about seven people in contention for the Top Fuel title so now is the part of the year when there’s no mistakes. Every mistake is crucial so you have to excel and win races. We have to work together as a team – the guys have been doing a good job all season so it’s everybody pulling together to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.”
With five runner-up finishes over the course of the season, Langdon and his Brian Husen-tuned Kalitta Air Careers team have been right there. Langdon’s most-recent runner up came in the first Countdown race at Reading, Pa., last month. This team feels as though its time is coming and that another winner’s circle celebration could come at any time.
“I’ve felt like we’ve been due for a win for a long time,” Langdon said. “Fortunately, the runner ups have kept us in contention, but we need to turn those into wins. Now’s the time to turn the round wins and runner ups into race wins. We’re at the point in the season where the people who will be in contention at Pomona will start to separate themselves. We hope to be one of them. This part of the season is what you work for all year – to put yourself in a position to have a shot at the championship – that’s our goal and it’s what we’re going to keep trying to do.”
Race Information:
Texas NHRA FallNationals
Texas Motorplex; Ennis, Texas
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
Finals: 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
2023 Texas NHRA FallNationals Recap: Qualified No. 10; lost to Leah Pruett.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 344 events, 19 wins, 25 runner-up, 369 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.
Brainerd: Qualified No. 5; defeated Shawn Reed, Doug Kalitta and Ida Zetterstrom; lost to Justin Ashley.
Indianapolis: Qualified No. 16; lost to Brittany Force.
Reading: Qualified No. 5; defeated Ida Zetterstrom, Tony Stewart and Justin Ashley; lost to Antron Brown.
Charlotte: Qualified No. 6; defeated Josh Hart; lost to Doug Kalitta.
St. Louis: Qualified No. 5; defeated Doug Kalitta; lost to Justin Ashley.
J.R. TODD, DHL TEAM WORKING FOR LATE-SEASON WIN
The last few races were not kind to J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team, yet the team continues to work as hard as it can to win a race in the closing stage of the season. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs resumes Oct. 11-13, 2024 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas, the fourth of six playoff races.
Todd enters Dallas in sixth place in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series point standings. He trails fifth-place Matt Hagan by 58 points and leads seventh-place Alexis DeJoria by 46 points with three races remaining. The team had visions of challenging for its first championship since Todd hoisted the championship trophy in 2018, but the first half of the playoffs did not evolve as hoped,
“You wait all season long for this part of the year,” Todd said. “It’s what you gear up for and earn all those points for, and then to going in the Countdown fourth is kind of where you want to be. But you have to make up some ground on the championship favorites early in the Countdown to get in position to challenge for the championship. We didn’t make that happen so it’s frustrating, but you can’t quit or give up. You go out there and do the best you can.”
Todd has one win in three final-round appearances at Texas Motorplex; he was runner-up at this race on the way to his 2018 championship. While the 2024 title is most likely out of reach, opportunities for improvement definitely remain.
“It’s not over until someone tells us it’s over,” Todd said. “We just need to go out there and try to win – that’s always the gameplan. With a strong finish in these last three races, we have an excellent chance of making the top five – that’s something we haven’t done in a long time so that would be a good result at this point.”
Race Information:
Texas NHRA FallNationals
Texas Motorplex; Ennis, Texas
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
Qualifying Show: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
Finals: 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 on FS1
2023 Texas NHRA FallNationals Recap: Qualified No. 6; defeated Blake Alexander and Terry Haddock; lost to John Force.
Funny Car Career Stats: 312 events, 21 wins, 26 runner-up, 347 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.
Brainerd: Qualified No. 8; defeated Paul Lee, Austin Prock; lost to Matt Hagan.
Indianapolis: Qualified No. 10; lost to Ron Capps.
Reading: Qualified No. 11; defeated Matt Hagan, lost to Jack Beckman.
Charlotte: Qualified No. 6; lost to Dan Wilkerson.
St. Louis: Qualified No. 13; lost to Jack Beckman.