YPSILANTI, MI – Shawn Langdon started the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs knowing he had a chance to win a second NHRA Top Fuel Championship after a difficult season thanks to the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs points reset. After the opening playoff race at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania, the 2013 champion has even more reason to be optimistic. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., the second of six races that make up the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.

Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers team advanced to the second round of eliminations before losing to his teammate, Doug Kalitta, but despite the second-round loss, the Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team made six strong runs in qualifying and the first two rounds of eliminations without hurting parts along the way. All six of those runs came with elapsed times within .046 seconds – that’s consistency this team had not enjoyed this season.

“After what our Kalitta Air Careers team did in Reading last weekend, I have a confident feeling I haven’t felt in a long time,” Langdon said. “I feel good; I feel good about having a good car and knowing we have a shot to win the race. My mindset is different because I feel like we have a chance. Before, we were just making laps. We were just a part of the show, but when you feel like you have a chance, it gives you a different mentality and a different spark. I feel good about our team. The guys have done a great job so as much as we’ve struggled this year, it would mean everything to have a car that starts winning some races in the Countdown.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – J.R. Todd entered the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs as the fifth seed on the strength of reaching at least the semifinals at seven of the previous nine races including a win and three runner-up showings. The DHL team was optimistic about its chances in the Countdown, but that optimism may be a bit tempered after last weekend’s race in Pennsylvania. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., the second of six races that make up the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.

Todd’s Reading, Pa., weekend started with a solid qualifying attempt that had him sixth after one round. He ran quicker in the Friday evening session but slipped to 10th. In the final qualifying attempt, the DHL GR Supra was on a very good run before mechanical issues slowed him to a 3.926-second effort. That relegated him to the No. 11 spot and an opening-round matchup with Matt Hagan which Hagan won with a 3.871-second effort to Todd’s 3.930-second run.

“We backed ourselves into a corner starting with where we qualified, and getting a first-round draw like Matt Hagan, one of the favorites to win the championship, is definitely not ideal,” Todd said. “We have to qualify better (in Charlotte) to start with so we need to go out there and go hard from the start. It’s a three qualifying-round event, which I’m not a big fan of in the Countdown, but everyone’s in the same boat. We have to hit the ground running Friday and make that run count. Then we just go from there, and I’d say run as hard as we can and try to win the race. That’s kind of the situation we’re in right now.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta’s long and winding road to win No. 50 finally reached its destination at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania last weekend, and the win pushed him up to third in points and into the championship conversation. Now, it’s time make that 50th win mean even more. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., the second of six races that make up the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.

With No. 50 in the rear-view mirror, the focus shifts to a potential championship run. With five races remaining, Kalitta trails points leader Steve Torrence by 26 points and second-place Justin Ashley by 19 points. The veteran Michigan driver knows, at this point in the season, it’s all about the old sports cliché, ‘one game/round/race at a time.’

“You just go up there for each round; it’s all about collecting round wins at this point,” the Reading winner said. “Each time you go up to the starting line, it’s a new opportunity. We want to stay towards the front. Qualifying is huge, and we’ve been qualifying up towards the front so it can give you a little better opportunity to let things settle in on race day. Hopefully we can keep that up, but it’s drag racing – you never know what’s going to happen. I obviously have a great group of guys and great people behind me like Mac Tools, Toyota, Revchem, SealMaster and Future Energy Solutions, and getting that win was huge for all of us. Hopefully we can all just settle in and keep doing our jobs. There’s a lot of rounds left so I just hope we can keep going rounds and be there at the end.”

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Reading, PA – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 11 qualifier at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the Friday-evening session when the DHL GR Supra reached the finish line in 3.923 seconds at 327.90 mph.

Eliminations: Todd raced Matt Hagan in the first round and ran a solid 3.930-second run at 332.75 mph, but it was not enough to beat Hagan’s 3.875-second effort. Todd’s run would have beaten four of the eight first-round winners, but that’s small consolation for the first-round loss. It was the first time the DHL GR Supra team lost in the opening round since June 11 in Bristol, Tenn.

Unofficial Point Standings: With the first-round loss, Todd dropped two spots in points. He leaves Reading in seventh place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails sixth-place Alexia DeJoria by 10 points and leads eighth-place Tim Wilkerson by 14 points.

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Reading, PA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 6 qualifier at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals; Langdon made his best qualifying attempt in the opening session Friday evening when he made a 3.728-second run at 331.12 mph. The elapsed times of Langdon’s four qualifying attempts were all within .046 seconds showing impressive consistency for the Kalitta Air Careers team.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Dan Mercier before losing to his teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the second round. Langdon’s 3.733-second pass was good but not good enough to beat Kalitta’s 3.692-second effort at 329.58 mph. The elapsed times on Langdon’s six Reading runs were all within .046 seconds

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Reading in 11th place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails 10th-place Clay Millican by two points and leads 12th-place Josh Hart by 17 points.

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Reading, PA – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals; it was his 10th-top four qualifying effort of the season. During the Friday-evening session, Kalitta raced to a 3.696-second elapsed time at 331.45 mph for his best qualifying attempt.

As the Mac Tools dragster completed its 3.748-second qualifying run at 332.10 mph in the final qualifying session Saturday afternoon, the right-rear tire shredded damaging the rear wing and the chassis forcing the team to run its backup car for final eliminations. The Mac Tools team, with help from the Kalitta Air Careers team, worked late into Saturday night to prepare the backup car. Unlike the primary car, the backup car does not have a canopy so Kalitta drove the car with an open cockpit for the first time this season.

Eliminations: Kalitta claimed the 50th win of his legendary career when he won the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Kalitta defeated Josh Hart in the first round before rain caused a three-hour delay. After the delay, he defeated, his teammate, Shawn Langdon, and Leah Pruett to advance to the final round of eliminations. Pruett had a quicker elapsed time in the semifinal run, but Kalitta left the starting line first and advanced to the final round just before rain returned forcing the delay of the remaining rounds until Monday morning.

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MOHNTON, PA – Mac Tools Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta will race a backup car in today’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals following an incident during yesterday’s final round of qualifying.

As the Mac Tools dragster completed its 3.748-second qualifying run at 332.10 mph Saturday afternoon, the right-rear tire shredded damaging the rear wing and the chassis forcing the team to run its backup car for final eliminations today. The Mac Tools team, with help from the Kalitta Air Careers team, worked late into Saturday night to prepare the backup car.

“The tire did not fault – there was nothing wrong with the tire,” Kalitta Motorsports general manager Chad Head. “The car did not have any malfunctions on the run, but something caused the tire to explode; we do not know what caused the tire explosion.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – For 51 drivers competing in the four professional classes of NHRA Camping World Drag Racing, it’s playoff time. The top-10 finishers from each class and the drivers who competed at every regular-season event make the cut – Shawn Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team have a chance to turn around a challenging season. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend with race one of the six-race Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Sept. 15-17 in Reading, Pa.

Like Jim Carey said in the 1994 movie, “Dumb and Dumber,” “so you’re telling me there’s a chance.” While the regular season definitely did not go as planned, the Kalitta Air Careers team now has clean slate…and a chance. Following the points reset after the regular season, Langdon and team trail points leader Justin Ashley by 129 points, but the time for action is now.

“I love this part of the season – every reaction time means more, every run is more important, and a race win, especially this weekend and especially for us, can give you a huge jump in points,” Langdon said. “After all we’ve been through this season, the Countdown resets the points so even though we’re 11th, we’re only 129 points out of first place – that’s a lot, but it’s doable. We have to do our jobs this weekend and take advantage of the opportunity. This weekend isn’t a must-win race, but it’s pretty close. We need to go deep in eliminations to make a move up the ladder to put Kalitta Air, Revchem, Toyota and Future Energy Solutions in position for a run at the title.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta’s title hopes enjoyed a nice bump two weeks ago when the Mac Tools Toyota team jumped two spots to sixth place in the season standings putting Kalitta within striking distance of the points lead entering the first playoff race. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend with race one of the six-race Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Sept. 15-17 in Reading, Pa.

One year ago, Kalitta started the Countdown in ninth place in points – this year, he starts sixth. Two weeks ago, Kalitta’s up-and-down season continued with a semifinal showing at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. In his first-round win over Spencer Massey, Kalitta posted the quickest and fastest run of the entire event with a 3.692-second run at 336.49 mph. He qualified in the top four at nine races this season including six of the last seven. The momentum from some terrific performance, the Indianapolis semifinal and two West coast final-round appearances have this team poised for a strong start in the first of six races that make up the Countdown to the Championship.

“It’s been pretty exciting for sure, and Alan’s super stoked, too,” Kalitta said. “All my guys and (co-crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen) Alan and Brian, we all feel very positive that we can get this done if we keep doing what we’re doing. The timing is good with a lot of the positive energy and things that are hopefully coming to play here. We just gotta get out there on a Sunday and go rounds – that’s what we have to focus on, and hopefully a win or two will happen along the way – that’ll be great for Mac Tools, Toyota, Revchem, SealMaster and everyone else that helps us get it done.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – It was quite a ride. That’s one way to look at J.R. Todd’s regular season, but regardless of the twists and turns in the road, the destination was spot on: Todd and his DHL GR Supra team will start the 2023 NHRA Playoffs as the No. 5 seed. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series resumes this weekend with race one of the six-race Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals Sept. 15-17 in Reading, Pa.

The twists and turns did just that throughout the five-month regular season, but the overall body of work shows a strong start, a dip and then a summer return to form including a winner’s circle stop at Sonoma, Calif., in July. After reaching the 49th final round of his career at the recently-concluded U.S. Nationals, Todd jumped up to fifth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings and enters the Countdown as the fifth seed.

“That’s kinda the goal I set at the beginning of the year: be in the top five going into the Countdown,” Todd said. “Somehow, we made that happen – it’s definitely been a roller-coaster season up to this point, but I feel like the second half of the season, we turned corner and made some big gains. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re in the hunt now. For these last six races, you just let it all hang out and make it happen.”

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