Pomona, CA – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 9 qualifier at the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals. The Funny Car class was able to complete one qualifying session Friday afternoon before rain washed out the second session. Todd made his best qualifying attempt in the first session Saturday afternoon when his DHL GR Supra reached the finish line in 3.878 seconds at 331.45 mph.

Eliminations: Todd raced Cruz Pedregon in the first round for the third-consecutive race. Todd got the win and advanced to the second round with an excellent 3.858-seocnd effort at 330.07 mph. Unfortunately, he raced newly crowned NHRA Funny Car champion Austin Prock in the second round. Todd left the starting line first, but the DHL GR Supra didn’t have enough. Todd ran 3.900 secs. at 332.84 to Prock’s 3.850-second effort.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd finished the season in eighth place in the NHRA Mission Foods Funny Car point standings. Continue reading →

Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 4 qualifier at the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals. After entering the season’s final race 45 points behind first-place Justin Ashley. With 30 points available through each round of qualifying, Langdon hoped to earn at least 16 points in qualifying to move within one round of Ashley entering Sunday. Unfortunately, rain caused cancelation of both Friday sessions leaving only Saturday’s two sessions to set the field.

Langdon smoked the tires in the first session and was not in the field entering the final qualifying session of the season. No problem for the Kalitta Air Careers team. Langdon made the quickest run of his career with a 3.653-second pass at 331.45 mph. That run put Langdon atop the field, but three drivers made quicker runs moving him to the No. 4 position. Despite losing the first two sessions, Landon picked up 12 points on Ashley, moved to second in points and entered eliminations 33 points out of first place.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Josh Hart in the first round setting up a second-round matchup with Antron Brown who defeated points leader Justin Ashley in the first round and entered race day trailing Langdon by three points. Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers dragster smoked the tires almost immediately when the run began, but Brown also smoked the tires. Langdon pedaled the car, but Brown’s car hooked up first. He won the round, advanced to the semifinals, took the points lead and went on to win the 2024 NHRA Top Fuel Championship. Continue reading →

Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the In ‘n Out NHRA Finals. After rain forced cancelation of both Friday qualifying sessions, the Mac Tools Toyota team made two excellent qualifying runs. Kalitta was second after his first pass Saturday afternoon. In his second and final qualifying attempt, the 2023 Top Fuel champion made a 3.650-second pass at 335.98 mph to claim the No. 3 starting position.

In that final qualifying attempt, Kalitta reached 300.53 mph at the eighth mile becoming just the second driver in NHRA history to reach this milestone. Mike Salinas was the first to accomplish the feat last season; Kalitta earned the $13,000 Phillips Connect 300 at the 1/8 Bonus.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Ida Zetterstrom, Jasmine Salinas and Tony Stewart on his way to the final round. When Antron Brown defeated Brittany Force in the other semifinal, Kalitta was eliminated from championship contention. In the final round, Kalitta raced Brown in a battle of the outgoing champion vs. the incoming champion. The Mac Tools Toyota team made an excellent run, but it wasn’t enough. Brown’s 3.687-second pass beat Kalitta’s 3.710-second effort. The final round was Kalitta’s 15th at In ‘n Out Burger Pomina Drag Strip. Continue reading →

Applied Innovation, Dayco, Future Energy Solutions, Revchem Composites, Toyota Also Contribute

YPSILANTI, MI – Earlier today, DHL Express and the 2024 “Race to End Hunger” partners donated two million meals to Feeding America and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, bringing the program’s overall five-year total to 11 million meals. With some 49 million people in the United States currently experiencing food insecurity, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and Kalitta Motorsports united their efforts in the “Race to End Hunger.” The initiative provides critical hunger relief for families in need, both during the upcoming holiday season and beyond.

For the past five years, DHL and its dedicated U.S. employees have been actively collaborating with local food pantries and the Feeding America® network of local food banks, as part of their annual volunteering and charitable-giving campaign. This ongoing program supports families in need while aligning with DHL’s mission of “Connecting People. Improving Lives.”

This year, DHL expanded its internal campaign, giving employees the option to also donate through its DHL online retail store purchases, with proceeds benefiting Feeding America. Combined with DHL’s corporate match of employee donations and its contribution to the “Race to End Hunger” partner program with Kalitta, the company’s total contribution reached 1.25 million meals. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – After a nearly perfect start to the season eight months ago, J.R. Todd and his DHL team look to close the season the way it began. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs conclude Nov. 15-17, 2024 at the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., the last of six playoff races.

Todd won the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla., winning the historic NHRA Gatornationals with his teammate, Shawn Langdon, winning the Top Fuel title in the first “double-up” win in Kalitta Motorsports history. Todd is a two-time Pomona winner – he swept the southern California races in 2018 on his way to the NHRA Funny Car championship. Winning his third-career Pomona race this weekend would bookend the season in perfect fashion.

The DHL GR Supra team definitely had some highlights in 2024. Todd won the opening race and advanced to at least the semifinals at 10 of the season’s first 13 races. In addition, he claimed three titles in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge featuring a rematch of the semifinals and finals from the previous race. Yet the DHL team enters the season’s final race in eighth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. Following a Monday test session after the most-recent race in Las Vegas, Todd and team hope to put a bow on the season with the season’s final Funny Car trophy. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta enters the season’s final race with a shot at successfully defending his 2023 NHRA Top Fuel championship. He’ll need a nearly perfect weekend to make it happen, but come-from-behind championship wins have happened before. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs conclude Nov. 15-17, 2024 at the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., the last of six playoff races.

One year ago, Kalitta entered this race 15 points behind points leader Steve Torrence. He would win the 2023 title in a “winner-take-all” final round against Leah Pruett. Kalitta enters this year’s final race tied with Torrence for fourth place in the NHRA Mission Foods Top Fuel point standings. He and Torrence trail third-place Shawn Langdon by 40 points, second-place Antron Brown by 41 points, points leader Justin Ashley by 85 and lead sixth-place Clay Millican by eight points.

Trailing Ashley by 85 points, repeating as NHRA Top Fuel champion is definitely a tall task – Kalitta must have a phenomenal weekend and get some significant help from not only Ashley but also the other drivers ahead of him in the standings. While multiple scenarios in which Kalitta could repeat as champion exist, the bottom line is the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer needs to win the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals and hope the rest of the chips fall in his favor. With points-and-a-half being awarded this weekend, a round win is worth 30 points instead of 20 adding extra intrigue to the different scenarios.  Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – To say Shawn Langdon had an interesting weekend in Las Vegas two weeks ago would be quite the understatement, yet he enters the final race of the season with a legitimate chance to win his second-career Top Fuel title. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs conclude Nov. 15-17, 2024 at the In ‘n Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., the last of six playoff races.

Most things went quite well for Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team in Las Vegas with one glaring exception: his semifinal run against teammate Doug Kalitta. Langdon was the No. 2 qualifier. He defeated Jasmine Salinas in the first round and then took out points leader Justin Ashley by .0027 seconds after leaving the starting line before Ashley which is quite an accomplishment.

In his semifinal matchup with Kalitta, he was cruising to an easy win because of Kalitta’s mechanical failure when the Kalitta Air Careers car veered towards the centerline. Langdon did all he could to correct it, but he still crossed the centerline, took out some scoring pylons, cut a rear tire and then veered towards the retaining wall. He did a masterful job keeping the car off the wall but was disqualified for his centerline violation. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 8 qualifier at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals. His best run of the four qualifying sessions was his first attempt Friday afternoon when he made a 3.898-second run at 327.82 mph.

Eliminations: Todd was off the starting line quicker than Cruz Pedregon, but the DHL GR Supra had traction problems early in the run. The 2018 Funny Car champion pedaled but could not catch Pedregon, who posted a clean 3.924-second pass to win the round.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Las Vegas in eighth place in the NHRA Mission Foods Funny Car point standings. He trails seventh-place Dan Wilkerson by 34 points and leads ninth-place Chad Green by 36 points with one race remaining in the season. Continue reading →

Las Vegas, NV – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals. During the final qualifying session Saturday evening, Kalitta made his best run of qualifying – a 3.674-second effort at 334.57 mph. It was his 12th top-four qualifying effort of the season.

Eliminations: Kalitta fell just short of a “season sweep” of the races on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kalitta defeated Ida Zetterstrom and Antron Brown to advance to the semifinals against his teammate, Shawn Langdon. In the semifinals, Kalitta had a rear-end malfunction, and Langdon was cruising to the round win when Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers car veered left and crossed the center line. At that moment, Langdon was disqualified, and Kalitta was awarded the round win. Cleanup from the incident and quickly-dropping temperatures forced postponement of the remainder of the race to Monday afternoon when Kalitta faced Brittany Force in the final round. Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster smoked the tires almost immediately, and Force cruised to the win. It was Kalitta’s seventh final round of the season.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta jumped three spots in the standings and leaves Las Vegas tied with Steve Torrence for fourth place in the NHRA Mission Foods Top Fuel point standings. He and Torrence trail third-place Shawn Langdon by 40 points, trail points leader Justin Ashley by 85 and lead sixth-place Clay Millican by eight points with one race remaining in the season. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 2 qualifier at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came in the final session Saturday evening when the Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team reached the finish line in 3.672 seconds at 334.57 mph. Langdon qualified in the top-five positions at six of the last eight races.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Jasmine Salinas and points leader Justin Ashley to reach the semifinals where he raced his teammate, Doug Kalitta. Langdon was off the starting line first, and Kalitta had a rear-end malfunction. Langdon was cruising to the round win, but the Kalitta Air Careers car veered left and crossed the center line knocking out some timing blocks. Langdon’s left-rear tire was cut and shredded pushing the car towards the right wall. The 2013 Top Fuel champion did a masterful job keeping the car off the wall, but he was disqualified when he crossed the center line giving the round win to Kalitta.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Las Vegas in third place in the NHRA Mission Foods Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Antron Brown by one point and first-place Justin Ashley by 45 points with one race remaining in the season. He leads the drivers tied for fourth, his teammate Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence, by 40 points. With 30 points per round win at stake in the season’s final race, Langdon is very much in contention for his second Top Fuel title. Continue reading →