Gainesville, FL – “Entering the new season, I’m definitely more optimistic than years past. It seems like we’ve had somewhat of a clean reset. We have a new look on the car, two brand new cars that we tested to start the season and some different parts and pieces. We brought Todd Smith back on board to work with Dickie (Crew Chief Dickie Venables). I think if you put two smart minds together like that, you’re bound for success. I hope the early indications we had in testing are a sign of what’s to come throughout the season.

“Pre-season testing went really well; that’s probably the most successful preseason test I’ve been a part of; the guys had a lot of work this season in preparing two brand new cars. For us to unload both of them in a span of three days and have them pretty much run identical down to a few thousands of a second speaks a lot to the preparation. That shows what those guys did at the race shop over the winter – those guys are awesome!

“I hope we can get the results they deserve because that’s the best way to pay them back for all their hard work. Conditions during testing were good, track conditions were good and the air conditions were good so it yielded some really good runs – some of my career-best speeds, but none of that really means a whole lot in preseason testing. Hopefully, it’s a good indicator of things to come during the season. Continue reading →

Gainesville, FL – “I feel good about the new season. We had a good test session down in Gainesville, so I think our entire Kalitta Air Careers team is looking forward to getting back there. The championship is obviously our goal – we’re definitely hoping to keep it at Kalitta Motorsports.

“I’m certainly not disappointed in last season’s second-place finish, but I know we have a championship-level team. Connie Kalitta (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) gives us all that we need to win, and when we have it all together as we have shown the last couple of seasons, we can be and have been the car to beat. I have very high expectations for 2026.

“We made some really strong runs during testing, but at the end of the day, it was a test session on a good track with really good conditions, so you kinda have to take that with a grain of salt. It was definitely nice to be able to make good runs like that and start the season off on the right foot. Continue reading →

Gainesville, FL – “It’s really nice to go to the first race and have the No. 1 on your car, for sure. The first race kind of resets everything, and it’s off we go again. I’m real proud of what our Mac Tools team accomplished last year; it’s nice to have that number one back on the car for the year, and seeing it there on the car never gets old. It’s taken a while – we had a long time of trying to accomplish this goal, and it looks good on there, I think.

“Testing went very well. The car performed well; all the things you hope to find at a test session – we were able to work through a lot of issues, and I think we’re hopefully in good shape. The car ran really well, but we always win testing. It’s good to get everybody working again and doing our thing. We’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

“To pick our callout opponent, I think it’s just see how everybody does on Friday and then pick from there. Everybody will have a couple of runs before you have to make a decision, but they’re all tough. I can tell you the one guy we’re not gonna pick is Shawn (teammate Shawn Langdon). That car of his was really running in testing so hopefully we’ll save running Shawn for the final round – that’ll be our goal for the call out this year. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Two iconic brands that partner on multiple levels in multiple businesses, 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 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 6-8 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

What started some two decades ago as an agreement to sponsor race cars is now a multi-faceted relationship that enjoys success on and off the racetrack including charitable efforts, business-to-business networking and track-side experiences for DHL customers.

In addition to winning NHRA Funny Car championships with Todd (2018) and Del Worsham (2015), DHL and Team Kalitta partner in the fight against food insecurity. Through “The Race to End Hunger,” DHL, Kalitta Motorsports and Kalitta Air combine forces each season to raise funds equivalent to at least one million meals through Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – One of the longest-running partnerships in sports marketing history is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2026 as Mac Tools continues its decades-long Kalitta Motorsports partnership. The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing season begins March 6-8 at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Doug Kalitta will once again pilot the red and white Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, but the 2026 livery features a 25th anniversary logo along with additional, more subtle recognition of the silver anniversary. Team Kalitta’s Mac Tools primary partnership spans more than two decades in a relationship that feels and functions more like a friendship. Mac Tools is a significant part of the long-term success Kalitta Motorsports enjoys in NHRA Drag Racing.

“Our partnership with Kalitta Motorsports continues to strengthen the Mac Tools brand while also advancing the sport of drag racing and inspiring future generations of automotive professionals,” said Phil Cox, president of Mac Tools. “For over 25 years, Kalitta Motorsports has represented Mac Tools with distinction, and we are thrilled to continue this legacy, especially following Doug’s second NHRA Top Fuel championship win last year. We look forward to what lies ahead for the entire Kalitta Motorsports organization. Continue reading →

POMONA, CA – Just one day after Doug Kalitta clinched his second NHRA Top Fuel championship in the last three years, NHRA officials made the unfortunate decision to cancel this weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip due to persistent and adverse weather and unsafe track conditions.

After an exhaustive effort from the NHRA Safety Safari and following close consultation with safety officials this weekend, NHRA decided to cancel the race.

Kalitta entered this weekend’s event needing only to make a qualifying attempt to clinch the title. When rain forced cancelation of qualifying and set today’s field on points entering the event, Kalitta clinched the title. The 2025 title is the sixth for Kalitta Motorsports.

With the event cancelation, Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary driver Shawn Langdon, who entered the weekend second in points, now finishes the season in second giving Kalitta Motorsports its first one-two Top Fuel finish. It’s the second time a single team finished one-two in Top Fuel points. Schumacher Racing did it in 2012 when Antron Brown won the title, and Tony Schumacher finished second. DHL Funny Car driver J.R. Todd finished the season in 11th place. Continue reading →

POMONA, CA – Twenty-five years after he made his first NHRA start in 1998, Doug Kalitta won his first NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2023. Just two years later, the nephew of team owner Connie Kalitta has a pair of them.

Kalitta clinched the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship when the field for tomorrow’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip was set. All four rounds of qualifying were canceled due to rain, and the field was set on point standings entering the season’s final race.

Kalitta reached the final round of the first four playoff races, winning in St. Louis and Dallas to take control of the chase for the championship. That led to the Saturday clinch allowing Kalitta to celebrate with his team before eliminations even started.

“I’ve never had a relaxing Pomona at the end of the year,” Kalitta said. “It’s always seemed to come down to the last race, the last day, but we had a nice string of runs throughout the countdown and even at Sonoma and Brainerd before the Countdown. Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) and my whole team have had my car going down the track. I have to admit, going A to B a lot of times has been nice – just not doing something stupid on the track and getting a good solid run. Alan is always throwing down and always has something up his sleeve. I’m just real proud of him and my whole team. It’s a huge relief to be able to win the championship before the last round at the last race so we’re all just super happy.” Continue reading →

Applied Innovation, BMRS, Dayco, Fifth Third Bank, Mac Tools, New Image Building Services, SoundGear, Superior, Toyota Also Contribute 

YPSILANTI, MI – Earlier today, DHL Express and the 2025 “Race to End Hunger” partners donated two million meals to Feeding America and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, bringing the program’s overall six-year total to 14 million meals. With some 47 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.

Hunger affects people of all ages; everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families. Yet in 2025, one in seven people experiences food insecurity in the United States.

For the past six 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.”

Combined with DHL’s corporate match of employee donations and its contribution to “Race to End Hunger” partner program with Kalitta, the company’s total contribution reached nearly one million meals. NHRA fan donations are also included in this total. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – The ups and downs of the season take a toll on everyone, but ending the season on a high note would mean a great deal to J.R. Todd and the crew known as the Yella Fellas. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs concludes Nov. 14-16 at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

The 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion definitely enjoyed some highlights in 2025. With four-time NHRA Funny Car championship crew chief Dickie Venables joining the team in the off season, expectations were high, and the DHL GR Supra team made steady progress from the season’s start to winning the race in New Hampshire in June. Add a runner-up finish in Brainerd, Minn., and Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty wins in Bristol, Tenn., and Indianapolis, and it becomes a nice list of highlights.

“We definitely had some high notes during the season,” Todd said. “The win and the runner up were great – and we made a lot of other really strong runs during the season, but we have to get to the point where we can make that happen every time we go down the track. Switching over to the system Dickie runs was a major adjustment, and nobody knows how long things like that take. I’ve been saying it all season; we have to stay patient and keep working until we get there.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – For any competitor in any sport, the goal is always to win a championship; when that’s no longer possible, second place is pretty good, and that’s now Shawn Langdon’s goal. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs concludes Nov. 14-16 at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

With Doug Kalitta nearly assured of clinching his second NHRA Top Fuel championship in three years during qualifying for this weekend’s race, Langdon will have to wait until next year to continue pursuit of his second championship. With that in mind, the goal in the season’s final race is simple: win and finish second.

“Our plan is the same,” Langdon said. “Doug basically has it; our goal is to finish second, so the Kalitta cars finish the season one-two. That would be amazing. Both Top Fuel cars have had great seasons. (Crew Chief) Brian Husen has done a fantastic job with my Kalitta Air team bringing in Aaron (Cave) this year to join Justin (Groat) and the rest of the team, and obviously Doug, AJ and Mac (Crew Chief Alan Johnson and Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) have done a really good job. We have a really good combination going on, and I feel like we have the two best cars in the class. Fortunately, the results back that up. It’s signs of all the hard work the teams have put in over the years, and it’s neat to have success follow the effort. Continue reading →