YPSILANTI, MI – It’s a familiar storyline – “we just need to be more consistent.” But what happens when consistency is within reach? That’s something J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team are working on entering the season’s fifth race. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 26-28, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Todd won the season’s opening race in Gainesville, Fla., and has three semifinal showings in the races since winning the Gatornationals when he “doubled up” with teammate Shawn Langdon who won the Top Fuel race the same day. Reaching at least the semifinals in each of the four races so far this season is consistent, but the 2018 Funny Car champ says now the goal is fine-tuning the consistency the team is achieving.

“Consistency comes with going down the track, and we are” Todd said. “You have to make clean runs to learn from them and kind of pick away at it as we work to fine tune it. We still have room to be a little more aggressive, but we’ll get it. It’s hard to fine tune the consistency and be more aggressive when you’re not going down the track. You have to have the runs to pull data. That’s how you give yourself opportunities to fine tune the tune-up. We’re doing that. It’s a matter of making small adjustments here and there, and I think we’ll be in the hunt.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Winning breeds winning.” After winning two of the season’s first four races, Shawn Langdon and his Autodesk team enter the fifth race hungry and hoping the comment from the late UCLA coach, who won 885 games in his career, also applies to motorsports. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 26-28, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Langdon joined his teammate, DHL Funny Car driver J.R. Todd, in the winner’s circle at the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla., last month for the team’s first-ever double victory, and then the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion won in Phoenix two weeks later. Flying the Autodesk colors this weekend, the team will look to make it three out of five with what would be Langdon’s third win at zMAX Dragway.

Autodesk is no stranger to Team Kalitta having adorned the sides of either Langdon’s or Doug Kalitta’s Top Fueler once in each of the last three seasons in addition to nearly a decade of partnership with the race team and Kalitta Air. Autodesk solutions help Team Kalitta design and make engine components that create 11,000 horsepower to power Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – What started with Doug Kalitta’s 2023 NHRA Top Fuel title continued in the season’s first four races with the latest chapter of the Kalitta Motorsports resurgence coming two weeks ago in Las Vegas. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 26-28, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

After some challenging years, Kalitta Motorsports is in quite an impressive stretch. Kalitta won three of the six Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoff races at the end of last season. After Kalitta won a special event in February, his teammates, Shawn Langdon and J.R. Todd earned the first double victory in team history at the season’s opening race in Gainesville, Fla. Those Top Fuel and Funny Car wins came on the day Kalitta received his 2023 championship ring on the weekend the late Scott Kalitta was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Two weeks later, Langdon took the Top Fuel title in Phoenix, and then Kalitta earned his first four-wide victory in Las Vegas the following weekend. Entering the fifth race of the season, the Kalitta teams are second, second and fourth in points. Not terrible. When asked how this Team Kalitta resurgence came to life, Kalitta credited not only his uncle and team owner but also the entire three-car operation. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 8 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. He recorded his quickest qualifying attempt in the final qualifying session Saturday afternoon when he ran a 3.798-second pass at 305.56 mph.

Eliminations: After winning two of the season’s first three races, Langdon lost to his teammate, Doug Kalitta, and Steve Torrence in the first round of eliminations. The first-round loss was his first of the season.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Las Vegas in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails first-place Justin Ashley by 23 points and leads third-place Steve Torrence by 28 points.

Langdon on Las Vegas: “We were in a tough quad in the first round, and we smoked the tires down the track; it happens. When you run (Steve) Torrence and Doug (Kalitta), you have to make a good run to advance, and we smoked the tires down there. I’m not really worried about it; it’s just one race. All in all, everything still looks good. Everyone on our Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team is still excited about this season. Sometimes things don’t go your way, but we still have a great team and a great car. We’ll move on and be ready to go at Charlotte for Revchem, Safety-Kleen and everyone else that supports us.” Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 3 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came in the final session Saturday afternoon when he made a 3.930-second run at 322.19 mph.

Eliminations: Todd and the DHL Toyota team defeated Dan Wilkerson and Doug Richards before losing to Ron Capps and Matt Hagan in the semifinals.

When Todd advanced to the quarterfinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte in two weeks. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the quarterfinals in Las Vegas will re-run the quarterfinals in the 4-Wide format with the four winners advancing to the “finals” earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Las Vegas in second place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails first-place Austin Prock by 48 points and leads third-place Bob Tasca by 42 points. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. It was his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 54th of his career. His best qualifying attempt was during the first session Saturday afternoon when he made a 3.738-second pass at 336.82 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated his teammate, Shawn Langdon, and Steve Torrence in the first four-wide round, Brittany Force and Josh Hart in the semifinals followed by Justin Ashley, Steve Torrence and Tony Stewart in the final round of 4-Wide eliminations. Kalitta had the low elapsed time in each of the three eliminations rounds. His 3.715-second final round run was low elapsed time of the weekend, and his semifinal speed, 336.65 mph, was the fastest speed of race day.

It was Kalitta’s 53rd-career victory, and with Kalitta’s win, and Langdon’s wins in Gainesville and Phoenix, Kalitta Motorsports now has three Top Fuel wins in the season’s first four races. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta’s title defense is underway, but it hasn’t gone as well as hoped…yet. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 12-14, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kalitta has two Las Vegas wins in seven final-round appearances, and while the Mac Tools team hasn’t won a race yet this season, recent changes have the team liking its chances this weekend.

“We switched to a different car before Phoenix, and it was pretty happy actually,” Kalitta said. “Alan (crew chief Alan Johnson) and the guys like what they’re seeing with this new chassis so we’re all looking forward to seeing what we can do in Las Vegas. What I know for sure is how hard Mac (assistant crew chief Mac Savage) and all my guys are working to get this Mac Tools car running the way we all want it to run. We’re hungry and want to get a race win under our belts as soon as we can.”

Kalitta has three quarterfinal finishes in three races so far this season and enters the fourth race sixth in points. That’s a solid start for some, but the defending Top Fuel champion is ready to move deeper into elimination rounds going forward, and this weekend’s four-wide race in Las Vegas would be the perfect time to do it. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – As the old song said, “two outa three aint bad.” Shawn Langdon, Crew Chief Brian Husen and the Kalitta Air Careers team are on a tear entering the season’s fourth race with two wins in the first three. After a flawless season debut in Florida, Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team will roll into Las Vegas as the points leader hoping to keep rolling. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 12-14, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After last week’s win in the Arizona desert, Langdon and first-time crew chief Brian Husen enter the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas on quite a tear. The team won 10 of the available 12 rounds of racing to start the season, and although the competition is incredibly intense in Top Fuel, the current points-leading team shows no signs of slowing down. After struggling a bit over the last few years, running consistently well is a welcome change.

“It feels great; I’m just really proud of everybody with all the hard work that went on in the off season,” Langdon said. “It was hard to struggle for the last couple of years. You have to bite your tongue a little bit, keep your head down and keep working, and eventually, the tide is gonna roll the other way. You don’t know how long that’s gonna take, but it’s paying dividends right now. Internally, we feel very confident with the team we put together, and we feel very confident in ourselves. Now we have to keep working hard and hope the results show it.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Ten years ago this race, J.R. Todd was a part-time Top Fuel driver sitting in Indianapolis watching college basketball on television. Then on Friday evening of the spring Las Vegas race, his life would change forever. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes April 12-14, 2024 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Todd received a call to join Kalitta Motorsports in Las Vegas following the first two rounds of qualifying. Unusual, yes, but definitely doable – especially if you’re a part-time driver looking for a fulltime ride.

“It’s crazy that it’s already been 10 years; it’s definitely flown by, and a lot of good things happened,” Todd said. “We won a lot of races since then, won a championship, and I’m very thankful for that call from Connie Kalitta 10 years ago. At the time, I was racing part time for Bob Vandergriff, and we weren’t scheduled to race that weekend. I had been out used car shopping with my Mom and Dad, and it was March Madness. Continue reading →

Phoenix, AZ – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the NHRA Arizona Nationals; it was his best qualifying position of the season. Late Friday afternoon, Kalitta made a 3.697-second pass at 323.66 mph to claim the No. 3 position.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Terry Totten before losing to Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals.

When Kalitta advanced to the quarterfinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at next week’s NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the quarterfinals in Phoenix will re-run the quarterfinals in the 4-Wide format with the four winners advancing to the “finals” earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Phoenix in sixth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Antron Brown by one point and leads seventh-place Tony Schumacher by one point.

Continue reading →