YPSILANTI, MI – Multi-time world championship winning drag racing team Kalitta Motorsports and long-time sponsor Clean Harbors will be recognizing the sacrifice and commitment of our brave servicemen and servicewomen on Veteran’s Day at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California. The Veterans Day Appreciation event will include tickets to the races on Friday, access to Kalitta Motorsports VIP hospitality, a welcome banner at Kalitta VIP hospitality, a custom engraved piston, and a gift bag for each of the veterans being honored. The goal of the Veteran’s Day Appreciation event is to honor 75 veterans from across all the branches of service with a day of thanks for their commitment to protecting our great country.

“This was an idea we have been talking about throughout the season and we are proud to be able to honor these service men and women at the races,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “Clean Harbors has been doing great things to support their veteran employees and we have many veterans across all the companies Connie Kalitta has founded that we want to celebrate.”

Earlier this year Kalitta Motorsports representatives and Clean Harbor executives began talking about how to honor veterans both inside and outside each of the companies. There are well over 500 veterans working throughout Kalitta Motorsports, Kalitta Air and Kalitta Charters with Clean Harbors employing nearly 1,000 veterans. The Clean Harbors veterans resource group has been active for many years in supporting the needs of their veteran employees and was instrumental in organizing this event.

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Las Vegas, NV – Veteran driver Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel team were looking at the NHRA Nevada Nationals as the chance to close out their season with a win and secure a third career Countdown national event win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Heading into race day as the No. 8 qualifier the 49-time Top Fuel national event winner, was facing Countdown competitor Antron Brown, the No. 9 qualifier. The two dragsters were only separated by .002 seconds in their best qualifying effort.

Kalitta was first off the line with a starting line reaction time advantage of .055 to .062 and as the Mac Tools dragster advanced off the starting line the perennial championship contender was on a smooth pass. Brown made his quickest pass of the weekend to get out in front of Kalitta to secure the win. Kalitta’s elapsed time of 3.751 seconds was slightly off his best qualifying run, but Brown’s 3.709 second pass held him off as he was charging to the finish line.

The final race of the season the Auto Club Finals will be held at a track Kalitta has won six times in previous seasons. The opportunity to finish the season with a 50th career win and momentum heading into the off-season is the goal for Kalitta and the Mac Tools team.
“We are going to put this race behind us and turn our attention to finishing the season on a high note,” said Kalitta. “I have a lot of confidence in this entire team from top to bottom. This weekend we didn’t have the success we wanted to, but we are going to take the positives and move on to Pomona.”

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Las Vegas, NV – Racing the pink DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster supporting breast cancer research and men’s health 2013 Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon rolled into the NHRA Nevada Nationals looking to finish the 2022 season strong. The multi-discipline driver who is the only driver in NHRA history to win national titles at the junior dragster, sportsman and professional level was looking to pick up his first Top Fuel win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Through two days of qualifying that included two runs on Friday and two on Saturday Langdon and his DHL Toyota dragster earned two qualifying bonus points and advanced into race day as the No. 5 qualifier in a stout Top Fuel field.

Langdon’s first round opponent was newcomer and developing driver Krista Baldwin, the No. 12 qualifier. The DHL dragster was first off the line and never trailed in the drag race posting a winning elapsed time of 3.770 seconds at 324.98 mph against Baldwin’s 3.879 second run at 293.03 mph. The win for Langdon meant a move to the quarterfinals, but also a donation of 40,000 meals to Feeding America, through a partnership with Kalitta Motorsports and primary sponsor DHL.

In the second round Langdon drew the eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher who was making his return to NHRA racing this season after a three-year hiatus from full-time racing. It was a battle between the No. 5 and No. 4 qualifier. Both dragsters took off nearly simultaneously and they were welded together going down the track. Schumacher was able to get the nose of his 11,000-horsepower dragster out in front and at the finish line Langdon’s 3.762 second pass at 324.44 mph was not enough to move him to the semifinals for the seventh time this season.

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Las Vegas, NV – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car came into the NHRA Nevada Nationals looking to recapture their winning ways at the track located 20 minutes north of sin city. After four rounds of qualifying Todd entered race day as the No. 4 qualifier, his best starting performance of the season, and picked up two qualifying bonus points along the way. His qualifying run in the second session was the second quickest run and set the team up with a tune-up they could work with on race day.

Todd’s first round match up against two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon was a tough draw for a top four qualifier. Todd and his pink DHL Toyota Funny Car were up to the task outrunning Pedregon with a 3.944 second pass at 328.54 mph. Todd was first off the line with a .058 reaction time and the 2018 Funny Car world champion never trailed in the race.

The quarterfinal race against 16-time world champion John Force was the chance for Todd to avenge several early season losses. The DHL team led by crew chiefs Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer laid down a huge run to grab the round win lighting up the scoreboard with a 3.889 second run at 329.83 mph. Todd’s 3.889 second run was the quickest of the session and turned out to be the second quickest run of race day. Both round wins contributed to the Feeding America program with an additional 80,000 meals to the national organization working to end food instability across the country.

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LAS VEGAS – Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster will head to the desert for the NHRA Nevada Nationals chasing career win No. 50 and a strong finish to the 2022 NHRA season. Since the historic U. S. Nationals in Indianapolis Kalitta has raced to three semifinals and a quarterfinal finish to continue to keep his Top Ten position in the points and highlight the progress the Alan Johnson and Brian Husen tuned 11,000-horsepower dragster have made since taking over at the beginning of the 2022 season. With two races left on the racing calendar Kalitta is heading to familiar territory and a track where he has enjoyed sustained success.

The veteran driver has race to two NHRA Nevada Nationals winner’s circles at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway most recently in 2015 and 2004. Additionally, Kalitta has raced to the 2007 Nevada Nationals final round and four final rounds at the spring national event (2021, 2014, 2005 and 2003).

“We love racing at Las Vegas,” said Kalitta. “There are just some tracks where you go rounds and The Strip is one of those places for me. We will be looking for four win lights on Sunday to make a big donation to Feeding America and also get that 50th Top Fuel win.”

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LAS VEGAS – The DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team and J.R. Todd are fired up to be returning to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the NHRA Nevada Nationals. The track located 20 minutes north of the Las Vegas strip has been the site of some of Todd’s biggest wins and dominant performances. During his 2018 Funny Car championship season Todd won both the spring national event and the fall national event, the second win putting him the driver’s seat for his first Funny Car championship. The following spring Todd won the Funny Car title for the third consecutive time at the track. This season Todd would like nothing more than to turn on four win lights and capture his fourth win at The Strip.

“We had a great run here a few years ago and I would love to get another win streak started at The Strip,” said Todd. “These DHL Yella Fellas have been busting their tails all season and I know a win is right around the corner. This would be a great event to win and close out the season on a high note.”

In addition to his Funny Car success in Las Vegas, the versatile driver has three runner-up finishes in Top Fuel at the Nevada Nationals. Todd raced to the final round in 2016, 2014 and 2006. The success in both categories is something Todd is proud and appreciates.

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LAS VEGAS – As the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season is winding down with two more races on the schedule 2013 Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon and the DHL Toyota team are heating up heading to the North Las Vegas desert. The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the penultimate Countdown national event and Langdon will be looking to secure the win and end his season on a high note. The past two national events have shown a resurgence that Langdon and the DHL keep showed in the summer months when they raced to two runner-up finishes and two semifinal finishes in a five-race stretch.

“We had a good stretch in the summer and I think we have found our stride again,” said Langdon, who will be campaigning a pink DHL dragster for the final two national events. “The last two races we have been running pretty well and I have been really comfortable in the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster. We would like to finish the season with a couple wins and I feel like we have a team that can do that.”

Two weekends ago at the Texas Fall Nationals Langdon’s superior driver skills were on full display as he won a tough second round match up with fellow Countdown contender Brittany Force on a holeshot after outrunning four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence in the first round leaving the starting line first in that match-up as well.

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Ennis, TX – The familiar red and white Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster and driver Doug Kalitta took on the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals looking to add a third Top Fuel Fall Nationals title to their extensive record of success. The 49-time Top Fuel winner entered the fourth Countdown playoff race as the No. 7 qualifier on the strength of his 3.712 second pass at 327.75 mph. The veteran driver collected a qualifying bonus point for making the third quickest pass of the final qualifying session. It was enough to give the team a great combination going into race day.

Conditions changed dramatically overnight as track temperatures went from the mid-90s to the low-70s on race day. Kalitta faced a tough first round opponent in Toyota teammate Justin Ashley who was also the points leader. When the tree flashed both dragsters took off and accelerated down track as breakneck speeds. The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster was just a few ticks off its best qualifying effort, but Ashley was in the neighboring lane making his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend for the win.

“We just had a tough first round, but we have a race car that can win rounds,” said Kalitta. “We have two races and this Mac Tools team is hungry for a win. We will be back at it in Las Vegas.”

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Ennis, TX – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra were racing to support several initiatives this weekend at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex. The 2018 Funny Car world champion swapped out his traditional yellow and red DHL Supra Funny Car for a remarkable pink DHL nitro Funny Car for the final three races of the NHRA playoffs. The team will be casting attention to support breast cancer research and men’s health in October and November. Additionally, all three Kalitta Motorsports teams are racing for Feeding America and through three races have raised a cumulative 180,000 meals in conjunction with DHL and Kalitta Air.

“It is cool to be supporting Feeding America and also raising awareness for breast cancer research and men’s health with our sponsor DHL,” said Todd, during a sponsor meet and greet in the Kalitta Motorsports hospitality area. “We want to win on the track and also win by supporting important causes. We spent some time with kids from A Kid Again on Saturday and that was cool too. You get a whole new perspective when you meet kids who are battling some serious medical conditions.”

On the track Todd was focused on his pursuit of a second NHRA Funny Car championship trying to make the most of the four qualifying runs. His quickest run of 3.908 seconds landed him in the top half of the field as the No. 7 qualifier. The weather conditions for the runs Todd and his DHL Toyota GR Supra changed dramatically from Saturday to Sunday as a cool front and rain showers moved over Texas Motorplex.

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Ennis, TX – For the second consecutive NHRA playoff race Shawn Langdon raced to a semifinal finish. Today at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals the 2013 Top Fuel world champion raced the CMR Construction and Roofing Toyota Top Fuel dragster to the final four from the No. 11 qualifier position. Through two days of qualifying the Kalitta Motorsports driver took advantage of four qualifying runs and positioned his team for success on race day.

In the first round he faced fellow Countdown competitor Steve Torrence, the No. 6 qualifier. It was a battle of Top Fuel champions and Langdon took the win never trailing in the race. He got off the starting line first with a .052 reaction time and his CMR Toyota dragster stayed right in the groove. His winning elapsed time of 3.730 seconds was his quickest run of the weekend to advance him to the quarterfinals.

In the next round Langdon faced Brittany Force looking to get back to the semifinals and close the gap on the drivers in front of him in the points. With two races remaining Langdon and his CMR Toyota team were up to the task and Langdon took a huge advantage off the starting line and that proved to be the difference. Langdon’s dragster leapt off the starting line with a .039 second reaction time in front of Force’s .097. At the finish line Langdon had enough horsepower thanks to his Connie Kalitta, Kurt Elliott and Jason McCulloch tune-up to grab another round win with a 3.721 second pass. The CMR Toyota dragster continued to improve throughout the race as cloud cover and cooler temperatures equated to excellent performance conditions.

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