YPSILANTI, MI – The season is off to a pretty good start for J.R. Todd and his DHL Toyota team, and that’s putting it lightly. Todd joined teammate Shawn Langdon in the winner’s circle at the season-opening race and “doubled up” for the first time in Kalitta Motorsports history. Next on the to-do list is continuing that success in Southern California. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes March 22-24, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Raceday was certainly eventful for the 2018 Funny Car champ. The first three rounds did not go as planned – the DHL team could easily have been eliminated in any of them, but to borrow a college basketball tournament term, race day is all about survive and advance. The DHL team saved its best for last and raced to the finish line with a 3.88-second effort to defeat Austin Prock, win the Gatornationals and take the first points lead of the season.

“It’s great; that’s the goal,” Todd said. “We show up to win every race. Leaving Gainesville (Fla.) as the points leader, I don’t know when the last time I was able to say that was, but it’s a long season. You want to stay up there in the top five going into the Countdown to the Championship which is a long time from now, but hopefully we can get a few more of these along the way and let it eat those last six races of the year.”

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GAINESVILLE, FL – Seventeen times. That’s how many chances Kalitta Motorsports had over the years to win the Top Fuel and Funny Car titles at the same race. On the day Doug Kalitta received his 2023 championship ring on the weekend his cousin, the late Scott Kalitta, was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the 18th time was the charm. Team Kalitta made history when Funny Car driver J.R. Todd and Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon raced to the winner’s circle in the season-opening Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

“We’ve been trying to double up for a long time,” Todd said. “There were times when I was driving Shawn’s car that Del (Worsham) and I were in the finals together. Then I’d be in the final with Shawn or Doug, but for whatever reason, it just never worked out. You’re definitely not rolling up to the starting line thinking about doubling up, but leading up to it, you know there’s an opportunity. It’s in the back of your mind, but more than anything, I was worried about racing Austin Prock – he had the best car all weekend long.

“The stars lined up for us here in Gainesville. Scott’s sons were here, Scott’s wife, Kathy, was here, and I think it was her first time at the race track since 2008 so it was pretty awesome. I’m just the lucky one who gets to drive Scott’s car – that’s forever his car; his name is still on the side of it. I almost screwed it up in the second round today, but I’m just happy we were able to redeem ourselves and get the trophy for DHL, Revchem, Safety-Kleen, SealMaster and everyone else that supports us.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – One year ago at the season’s opening race, 2018 NHRA Top Fuel champion J.R. Todd posted a runner-up finish in his DHL GR Supra Funny Car, and while the pre-season goal is always championship No. 2, the first aspiration is one more round win and a race win to kick off the new year. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing season begins at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals set for March 8-10, 2024 at historic Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

Todd won in Sonoma last summer, but despite three additional final-round appearances, the wine country win was his sole 2023 triumph. With Gatornationals success one year ago, useful pre-season testing as well as the energy and excitement of the new season could propel Todd and his DHL team to the Gatornationals winner’s circle.

“It would be great to come out and win Gainesville – we’ve done it in the past (in 2021),” Todd said. “We went to the final round last year so hopefully we can go back to last year’s notes and pick up on that performance this weekend. We’re definitely trying some different parts and pieces in pre-season testing. We didn’t get to try everything we wanted to try in Bradenton (pre-season testing in Bradenton, Fla.) so we’re going to test Tuesday and Wednesday before we race in Gainesville. Hopefully, that brings us some good results heading into the race.

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YPSILANTI, MI – When 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon eases the Kalitta Air Careers dragster to the starting line for his first qualifying attempt of the 2024 season, he’ll do so with a new crew chief, a revamped race team and a car that’s similar to the one his teammate drives. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing season begins with the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals set for historic Gainesville Raceway March 8-10, 2024 in Gainesville, Fla.

Brian Husen joins Langdon’s team as crew chief for the first time in his career, and it’s a reunion of sorts from when the two worked together at Alan Johnson Racing where Langdon won the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel championship. Husen comes to the Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team following two seasons as Crew Chief Alan Johnson’s assistant on Doug Kalitta’s Mac Tools team that won the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel title. The changes to his team have Langdon energized, to say the least, entering the new season.

“I’m definitely looking forward to this new year,” Langdon said. “We had a couple really trying years so going into this year and bringing in a couple new guys and having Brian Husen lead the way on our Kalitta Air Careers team changes everything. I’m really excited for Brian to have the opportunity to get his shot at being crew chief. He’s very, very talented, and I’ve had a lot of respect for him since I worked with him at Alan Johnson Racing 10 years ago. I’m just really excited for him to get the opportunity to show what he can do.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta, defending champion. That has a nice ring to it. The veteran racer, for the first time in his career, enters the season with the No. 1 on his car as the defending NHRA Top Fuel champion. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing season opens this weekend at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals set for March 8-10, 2024.

Kalitta won the 2024 title when he won the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., last November. It was his third win of the six-race Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, and the entire season came down to the final round of the final race. When it was all over, Kalitta was the champion.

“It’s kinda nice,” the three-time Gatornationals winner said. “Obviously, a lot of people are proud we pulled this (championship) off, and it’ll be fun to see the fans at all the places we go and have some fun being the champ coming in. After our (pre-season) testing, I think our Mac Tools car is running well so we’re feeling confident coming into the season.

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YPSILANTI, MI – In one of the longest-running and most-successful sports marketing partnerships, DHL and Kalitta Motorsports signed a multi-year contract extension for J.R. Todd’s DHL GR Supra Funny Car, the team announced today. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins Friday at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

The 2024 NHRA season is the 17th of the DHL-Kalitta Motorsports partnership. What started in 2007 as an agreement to sponsor race cars is now a relationship that enjoys success on and off the race track, including charitable efforts, business-to-business networking and track-side experiences for DHL customers.

In addition to winning NHRA Funny Car championships with Del Worsham (2015) and current driver J.R. Todd (2018), DHL and Team Kalitta partner in the fight against cancer as well as the fight against food insecurity. Through “The Race to End Hunger,” DHL, Kalitta Motorsports and Kalitta Air worked together last season to raise funds equivalent to one million meals through Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States.

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YPSILANTI, MI – Kalitta Motorsports, home of 2023 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Doug Kalitta, will field teams for the same three drivers in 2024, but the team made significant changes in its Top Fuel crew chief positions promoting Brian Husen to crew chief and hiring Mac Savage to replace him, the team announced today. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 8-10, 2024 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Husen, 50, was named crew chief of Shawn Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers team and will now lead the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion’s tuning efforts. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native comes to Langdon’s team after two seasons assisting crew chief Alan Johnson on Kalitta’s Mac Tools team.

Prior to joining Team Kalitta, Husen assisted Johnson at John Force Racing, Scrappers Racing and Alan Johnson Racing. Justin Groat, who came to Team Kalitta after working on Top Fuel teams at John Force Racing and with Clay Millican, is Husen’s assistant crew chief. With more than a decade as Johnson’s assistant crew chief and another decade working as a crew member on his teams, Husen is more than ready to lead his own team.

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YPSILANTI, MI – When a partnership is successful, the natural inclination is to enhance it, and that’s exactly what Applied Innovation and Kalitta Motorsports did when they agreed to extend and expand their agreement for the upcoming NHRA season, the team announced today. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 8-10, 2024 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Applied Innovation, with its “Power of One” 2024 theme, will be the primary partner for 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta’s dragster for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series events in Joliet, Ill. May 17-19, 2024 and Norwalk, Ohio June 28-30, 2024. In addition, Applied Innovation will be an associate partner on Kalitta’s Mac Tools entry for the remaining 2024 races.

“What this team accomplished last season was amazing,” Applied Innovation owner John Lowery said. “We watched them work, improve and grow all season until it all came together, and we joined Team Kalitta on the road to the championship that culminated with the No. 1 on Doug’s car for 2024. If that’s not the perfect example of “the power of one,” I don’t know what is. That championship season was the power of one team working as a cohesive unit, and we are so proud to increase our partnership with Team Kalitta this year and look forward to our continued success together.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Dayco is the newest member of the Kalitta Motorsports family of corporate partners, and Kalitta Motorsports is the newest distributor of Dayco belts, the team announced today. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 8-10, 2024 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Through this new partnership, Dayco will have branding on J.R. Todd’s DHL GR Supra Funny Car, and Kalitta Motorsports is now the exclusive at-track distributor of Dayco 11 mm racing blower belts for nitro engines. Dayco and Team Kalitta will work together to expand the available Dayco blower belt offerings in the near future.

The Dayco 11mm blower belt is specially engineered for Top Fuel and Funny Cars with nitromethane engines. Featuring a hybrid carbon cord encapsulated in custom rubber compounds and patented low friction PTFE tooth fabric, the belt offers one of the highest load ratings in racing and has helped numerous teams cross the finish line first. That success is due in large part to the Dayco team’s utilization of real-world track data to enhance its belt designs. Additional information about Dayco’s commitment to motorsports is available here.

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YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta picked up right where he left off in November when he won both the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals and the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel championship. After qualifying second at the inaugural SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout in his Applied Innovation dragster, Kalitta blasted through the eight-car field to win the special event and its $250,000 winner’s prize Saturday night in Bradenton, Fla.

Following pre-season testing at Bradenton Motorsports Park, the PRO Superstar Shootout was a special event with an eight-car field hosted, planned and implemented by the Professional Racers Organization (PRO), a trade consortium comprised of NHRA team owners and drivers. Kalitta will begin defense of his championship when the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 8-10, 2024 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Kalitta defeated Justin Ashley in the first round after both cars lost traction. In a rematch of the November final round in Pomona, Calif., the 2023 champion defeated Leah Pruett with a 3.709-second effort at 330.63 mph. In the final round, Kalitta left the starting line before No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican and never looked back blasting to the finish line with a 3.706-second pass at 325.14 mph to turn on the win light and claim the $250,000 prize.

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