because you want to SEE it

Kalitta Motorsports

Shawn Langdon and DHL Top Fuel Ready to Make Noise as Countdown Begins

Reading, PA – Shawn Langdon and the DHL Toyota Top Fuel team have been making positive strides throughout the back half of the 2022 NHRA regular season to position themselves for a strong run in the Countdown. With just six races left in the season the 2013 Top Fuel world champion is eager to grab his second championship starting with a strong event at Maple Grove Raceway. Langdon secured two runner-ups, a semifinal and three quarterfinal finishes over the final eight races of the regular season. His race day performances have highlighted his skill behind the wheel and on the starting line as he has won several rounds on Sunday as the lower seeded car. Recognized as one of the best drivers off the starting line Langdon will have the advantage of experience and confidence during the Countdown.

“The season has come down to six races now,” said Langdon. “We start with three races in a row and if you can get off to a good start then anything can happen. You want to be in contention going into the last race of the season and we have a team that can make a run for the championship.”

Langdon’s crew chief line-up of drag racing legend Connie Kalitta, Kurt Elliott and Jason McCulloch is one of the toughest and smartest collections of talent in the sport. Throughout the season they have given Langdon a race car that is quick and fast and the veteran driver, who also excels in the sportsman ranks, that can win races. Langdon won the Reading Nationals in 2013 on the way to his first Top Fuel world championship.

Continue reading

Share

CMR To Ride with Doug Kalitta in Maple Grove

YPSILANTI, MI – Top Fuel championship contender Doug Kalitta will start the 2022 NHRA Countdown racing an 11,000-horsepower blue and white CMR Construction and Roofing Top Fuel dragster at historic Maple Grove Raceway. The 49-time national event winner will be looking for his second national event win at the picturesque racetrack nestled in the hills surrounding Reading, Pennsylvania. The six-race battle for the NHRA Top Fuel championship will be underway this Friday with Kalitta along with Top Fuel teammate Shawn Langdon and Funny Car teammate J.R. Todd looking to capture another world championship for Kalitta Motorsports.

“This is a big weekend for our team getting the playoffs started and running this CMR Construction and Roofing Top Fuel dragster,” said Kalitta. “CMR has been a great sponsor and we love the opportunity to highlight their company especially on a FOX race. They have done work on a couple of our buildings including our shop in Ypsilanti and they also do a lot of charity work across the country. We are looking forward to getting the Countdown started with a strong race in Maple Grove.”

This season Kalitta has been building momentum with the new crew chief tandem of Alan Johnson and Brian Husen calling the shots and this weekend’s race should be a great opportunity for the CMR Top Fuel dragster to continue that positive trajectory. A semifinal finish in Sonoma combined with strong qualifying efforts throughout the season have Kalitta poised to make a move in the playoffs. Earlier this year he qualified No. 1 at the NHRA Arizona Nationals and most recently in five of the last six races he has qualified in the top half of the field.

Continue reading

Share

Shawn Langdon and DHL Top Fuel Turn Attention to Countdown Title Hopes

Indianapolis, IN – The 68th U.S. Nationals was Shawn Langdon’s chance to pick up his second Top Fuel win at the most prestigious drag race in the country and his third overall at the NHRA’s oldest national event. Langdon was racing the DHL Toyota dragster looking to improve his points position at the final regular season race of the season before the NHRA’s six-race Countdown starts in two weeks at historic Maple Grove Raceway. Through three days of qualifying that saw one of the five scheduled sessions face cancellation because of rain Langdon qualifying No. 15 in the quickest Top Fuel field in NHRA history. Two dozen of the quickest and fastest Top Fuel dragsters from across the country were vying for one of sixteen spots in the Monday race day field.

In the opening round Langdon squared off with Toyota teammate Justin Ashley, the No. 2 qualifier. In an epic race between two of the best drivers off the starting line it was Langdon taking the advantage with his DHL Toyota dragster leaving first with a strong .033 reaction time. His lead was short-lived as Ashley moved around him and crossed the finish line with a winning time of 3.690 seconds over his 3.788 second run. It took the quickest pass of the first round to end Langdon’s day.

“This wasn’t how we wanted our U.S. Nationals to go but we have six races to get after it for the championship,” said Langdon. “There is no quit in this DHL team. I won Reading when I won the championship in 2013 so I have great memories from that track.”

Continue reading

Share

U.S. Nationals Ends with Quarterfinal Finish for Todd and DHL Funny Car

Indianapolis, IN – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car were racing for their third win at the NHRA U.S. Nationals and with points and half on the line they were looking to hold off any pursuers as the regular season ended today. Over three days of qualifying Todd’s Supra Funny Car steadily improved and established themselves as a car to beat on race day. In the third and fifth qualifying sessions Todd posted the fourth quickest elapsed time picking up qualifying bonus points and positioning the team in the top half of the qualified field.

Entering the first round as the No. 8 qualifier Todd faced two-time Funny Car world champion Cruz Pedregon. This was the third time the pair had squared off this season with Todd holding a 2-1 edge in the races. It was Todd’s day once again as his Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer tuned Funny Car blasted down the track with the quickest Funny Car run of the event, a monster 3.856 second pass at 330.88 mph in front of a tire smoking Pedregon. Todd never trailed in the drag race with a .036 to .043 reaction time advantage.

“That was a great run by these DHL yella fellas,” said Todd, at the top end. “Todd and Jon have been working on a run like that for a while. We knew we could put up a good number based on what we had done in qualifying. This is the kind of race car you want for the Countdown.”

Continue reading

Share

Doug Kalitta and Mac Tools Race to Semifinals in Indy

Indianapolis, IN – The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster and driver Doug Kalitta rolled into the 68th NHRA U.S. Nationals looking to recapture their winning mojo from 2019 when Kalitta won the Top Fuel title for the first time in his illustrious career. This weekend’s race schedule with five qualifying runs over three days and race day today, on Labor Day Monday, mirrored the schedule Kalitta navigated on his way to victory three seasons ago. The team lost one qualifying session to rain on Saturday but entered race day as the No. 12 qualifier with a best elapsed time of 3.741 seconds at 324.44 mph in the quickest Top Fuel field in NHRA history.

The opening round had Kalitta taking on veteran Clay Millican and the 49-time Top Fuel champion came off the starting line with his quickest run of the event a strong 3.713 second pass at 328.06 mph which was enough to get the win over Millican’s 3.727 second pass by approximately four feet at the finish line.

In quarterfinals Kalitta was off the line first and never trailed as both dragsters chewed up their engines in an internal combustion war of attrition. As Kalitta’s Mac Tools Revchem dragster was reeling in the finish line Mike Salinas’ dragster was spitting fire behind him in the neighboring lane. The win moved Kalitta to the semifinals and a race against the No. 1 qualifier.

Continue reading

Share

Fourth U.S. Nationals Trophy Up For Grabs for Shawn Langdon

Indianapolis, IN – Shawn Langdon started winning the U.S. Nationals, the NHRA’s most prestigious national event, over a decade ago when he captured the Super Gas title in Indianapolis in 2010. Since that hard fought win the 2013 Top Fuel world champion has added two more Top Fuel U.S. Nationals titles to his trophy case winning in 2013 and 2020. The driver who is the only full-time professional to have a junior dragster national championship, a Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series championship and a Camping World Drag Racing Series championship is eager to race for his fourth U.S. Nationals title. This weekend behind the wheel of the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster Langdon will be looking to pick up his third Top Fuel win at the biggest race of the year.

“I live here so this is a home race for me which is nice,” said Langdon, who has competed in Top Fuel and Super Comp at select events this season. “Winning the U.S. Nationals is a big deal no matter what class you are competing in. We almost won Super Comp and Top Fuel earlier this season in Bristol and I would love to double up this weekend at the U.S. Nationals.”

At the Thunder Valley Nationals Langdon took the Super Comp national event win and was runner-up in Top Fuel. This weekend the driver who has spent almost every weekend this season behind the wheel of some sort of race car will be competing in two classes as well as managing sponsor commitments.

Continue reading

Share

Doug Kalitta Geared Up For Another U.S. Nationals Top Fuel Title

Indianapolis, IN – Another win at this weekend’s NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis would catapult Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team right into the middle of the Top Fuel championship discussion. The 2019 U.S. Nationals winner and three-time finalist has had a tough regular season but the resilient championship contender who is sitting eighth in the Top Fuel point standings knows all a driver needs is a chance to run for the championship.

“We have been close to the championship before and we are going into Indy and the U.S. Nationals with a great attitude. We are looking at points and a half at that race so we know we can make a move up the standings,” said Kalitta. “We have won this race before and been to a couple more finals. I feel good about our chances.”

For the first time since 2019 when Kalitta captured the U.S. Nationals title the event will be contested over four days with eliminations on Monday. Teams will have five qualifying rounds with each session offering the four quickest competitors bonus points for their efforts. Four points will go to quickest run, three points for second quickest, and so on for the top four. The additional possible 20 points just in qualifying runs could be a game changer for Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster.

Continue reading

Share

J.R. Todd Racing for Third U.S. Nationals Funny Car Title

Indianapolis, IN – With the 68th NHRA U.S. Nationals on tap this weekend J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra team will be looking to race into the history books as just one of seven drivers to have won the prestigious event three times in Funny Car. The back-to-back winner in 2017 and 2018 was runner-up in 2020 and has his sights set on a third U.S. Nationals crown.

“This is the biggest race of the season and you want to get that win and take some momentum into the Countdown,” said Todd. “We won this race in 2018 and went on to win the Funny Car championship. We are sixth in the points and we want to hold onto that spot in the standings.”

Todd and the DHL GR Supra team raced to a runner-up finish in Seattle at the end of the Western Swing. Over the past six races Todd has collected a runner-up a semifinal finish and three quarterfinal finishes to maintain his position in the standings. Throughout this season with the newly designed Toyota GR Supra Funny Car body Todd has been in the mix every weekend on race day. Over the off-season with the help from Toyota, Revchem Composites and his DHL team Todd worked to make sure the new Funny Car body was ready to make a statement in the 2022 NHRA season.

Continue reading

Share

Doug Kalitta and Mac Tools Leave Brainerd with Focus on U.S. Nationals

Brainerd, MN – Racing for his third Brainerd Nationals title today Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota team rolled into race day as the No. 10 qualifier. On Friday afternoon the team came off the hauler and posted the third quickest elapsed time of the first session earning a qualifying bonus point and setting the team up for the next three rounds. Kalitta is the second winningest Top Fuel driver at Brainerd International Raceway and as qualifying concluded he was paired up with Tony Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver at BIR, in a massive first round battle.

In the opening round Kalitta was first off of the line against Schumacher thanks to a .056 to .069 reaction time advantage. As both drivers approached half track Kalitta fell back slightly but he could see Schumacher having engine issues. Kalitta was beginning to haze his tires and pedaled, getting off the throttle and back on, his Mac Tools dragster trying to chase down his opponent, but he suffered a sizable engine detonation just before the finish line. He dropped a close race and will head to the U. S. Nationals in two weeks sitting in ninth place in the Top Fuel point standings.

“I got a great jump off the starting line and then I had to give it a quick pedal,” said Kalitta. “We have one more race in the regular season and it is the biggest race of the year, the U.S. Nationals. We can head into the playoffs with a lot of momentum if we get that Indy win in two weeks.”

Continue reading

Share

Todd and DHL Wrap up Brainerd Nationals with Quarterfinal Finish

Brainerd, MN – The Brainerd Nationals once again proved to be a performance playground for Top Fuel and Funny Car teams with weekend temperatures cooling off allowing for near record setting elapsed times and speeds. Following one of the hottest Western Swings followed by last weekend’s sweltering Topeka Nationals J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra team were ready to light up the scoreboard at the fan friendly racetrack. Through two days of qualifying Todd posted one of his quickest runs of the season landing in the No. 7 spot on the qualifying sheet with a solid 3.897 second run at 332.43 mph.

In the opening session on race day Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra made the third quickest run of the first round to take the win over No. 10 qualifier Jim Campbell. Todd was the first off the line and never trailed in the race. His winning elapsed time, 3.898 seconds, was just one thousandth of a second off his best qualifying effort.

“That first round run felt great and we went right down the groove,” said Todd. “We are in a tight battle with a lot of Funny Car teams trying to hold our position so getting that first round win was big. Todd and Jon O did a great job setting up this DHL Toyota GR Super Funny Car.”

Continue reading

Share
  • MBE Button 290x
Team/Series News
Follow Us On Facebook
Facebook Pagelike Widget