YPSILANTI, MI – DHL Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon has a lot of strengths – sitting still isn’t one of them. While most teams and drivers enjoyed a holiday off weekend between Pomona and Las Vegas, Langdon was hard at it honing his skills running bracket races in Las Vegas. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Langdon raced in the “Spring Fling” on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. He reached the final 18 in the million-dollar race and the fifth round of nearly 700 entries in a race to win $100,000. He was a win light or two away from a six-figure weekend.

“I just enjoy racing – it’s nice to bracket race because it lets me do laps,” Langdon said. “I made close to 30 laps in just over two days of racing. That’s the part of racing I enjoy most – making laps down the track. It definitely helps me drive better and makes me more in-tune with the car. At the national events, we’re busy with all of the obligations that come with driving in a major Motorsports series. I make as many laps as I can during the off weekends to stay as competitive as possible in the DHL Top Fuel car.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – Bruton Smith, the late founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc., once had a vision of NHRA racing four-wide, and he followed that vision with action building drag strips in Concord, N.C. and Las Vegas that could accommodate four-wide racing, which returns this weekend. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Mac Tools Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta, the owner and president of Kalitta Charters, knows a thing or two about innovation and what it takes to be successful. It is that understanding and respect of the late SMI founder’s vision that fuels Kalitta’s desire to win a four-wide race.

“I look forward to racing in the four-wide events because it’s a cool idea from one of the greatest track developers of all time, Bruton Smith,” Kalitta said. “I mostly just love supporting one of his visions and one of the coolest innovations in the history of drag racing. It’s the same as far as getting to the finish line first to win the race, but it’s kinda nice on race day when the top-two cars advance to the next round. I think the fans really like these events, too. I’d love to win one of these one day – we raced in the final a couple years ago; maybe this weekend will be our time.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – J.R. Todd, a three-time Funny Car winner in Las Vegas, will look to make it four of a kind later this week in Las Vegas, and he’ll do that in the same new car the DHL Toyota team debuted at the start of the season thanks to some quick work from Team Kalitta. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After two racing incidents at the last race in Pomona, Calif., the DHL team worked quickly to put the team in position compete at the highest level this weekend. On Sunday as teams were racing in the Winternationals in Pomona, the primary chassis that was involved in the Saturday qualifying incident was already on a trailer headed back to Precision Built Race Cars in Indianapolis thanks to two members of the team’s hospitality staff who dropped their normal duties to get the car to Indianapolis for repairs as fast as possible.

Monday morning, rather than servicing the car and making the short hop to Las Vegas as planned, the entire DHL Funny Car team headed back to the Kalitta Motorsports shop in Michigan to prepare a new backup chassis and two Funny Car bodies for competition. Kalitta Motorsports picked up the repaired primary chassis from Precision Thursday evening. The team worked all day Friday and Saturday to prepare the car for competition. Many could be blown away by this fast work, but it was just another day at the office for Team Kalitta.

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Pomona, CA – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 5 qualifier at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. During the second round of qualifying, Todd made his best qualifying effort reaching the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 328.86 mph. After he passed the finish line, the driver in the other lane, John Force, crossed the center line and made contact with Todd’s car twice forcing the DHL Toyota GR Supra team to go to a backup car for the final round of qualifying and race day.

Eliminations: Todd raced Alex Laughlin in the first round. He was ahead and approaching the finish line when the tires on the DHL Toyota spun causing a massive explosion which destroyed the Toyota GR Supra body. Like the incident in qualifying, Todd was uninjured thanks to the safety features created by Toyota, TRD and Kalitta Motorsports.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Pomona in seventh place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails sixth-place Chad Green by 23 points and leads eighth-place Tim Wilkerson by 20 points.

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Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 11 qualifier at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. During Saturday’s final qualifying session, Kalitta posted a 3.793-second elapsed time at 325.30 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta raced Antron Brown in the first round of eliminations and lost when the tires on the Mac Tools dragster lost traction almost immediately.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Pomona in seventh place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails his teammate, sixth-place Shawn Langdon, by 14 points and leads eighth-place Antron Brown by five points.

Kalitta on Pomona: “This weekend definitely didn’t go as we hoped – it was a tough weekend, but that doesn’t take away from all the hard work my guys are putting into the Mac Tools dragster every day,” Kalitta said. “I really appreciate everything they do, and I know our hard work will pay off in the long run. We didn’t get the result we wanted this weekend, but I’m just as confident in our race team as ever. We’ll regroup, get prepared for Las Vegas and be ready to race when we get there.”

Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 7 qualifier at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. During Saturday’s third and final round of qualifying, Langdon reached the finish line in 3.758 seconds at 333.33 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon ran a 3.740-second pass and defeated Tony Schumacher by .0147 seconds in the first round. In the quarterfinals, he posted a 3.743-second effort but lost to Brittany Force’s 3.729-second pass by .0348 seconds.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Pomona in sixth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Leah Pritchett by 14 points and leads his teammate, Doug Kalitta, by five points.

Langdon on Pomona: “The Top Fuel competition level is very strong this year,” Langdon said. “You can easily have a first or second-round opponent you’d expect to see in the final. We qualified mid pack, and our first-round opponent, all three of our first-round opponents this year actually, could have been final-round opponents. All three of our first-round races were won or lost on a hole shot, which is awesome – I thrive on that. What gets me going is close races and the ability to win or lose the race on the starting line.

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POMONA, CA – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra team were involved in an on-track incident earlier today during the second round of qualifying for Sunday’s Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-‘N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Neither driver was injured. The Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals is set for Sunday, April 2, 2012.

After Todd crossed the finish line in the left lane, driver John Force, who was in the right lane, crossed the center line, made contact with Todd’s car, hit the left wall, made contact with the front of Todd’s car and then made contact with the right wall before the cars came to rest near the center of the race track. Thanks to safety features created by Toyota, TRD and Kalitta Motorsports, Todd was uninjured in the incident.

Following the incident, the DHL Toyota GR Supra was not repairable. Team Kalitta unloaded a backup car and backup Toyota Supra body to prepare the final round of qualifying and Sunday’s race. The backup car is what Todd drove at the end of the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season. Following preparation of the backup car, Todd explained what transpired:

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YPSILANTI, MI – J.R. Todd and his DHL Toyota team entered the second race of the season in Phoenix last weekend ready to pick up where they left off with a final round appearance in the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla., but while things didn’t play out as planned, the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion remains bullish on the new season. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes March 31-April 2, 2023 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

After starting the season with that final round in Gainesville and leaving there second in points, Todd raced in the inaugural Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in a rematch of the Gainesville semifinals. While qualifying didn’t happen as the team hoped, an excellent run in a first-round loss in Phoenix shows the potential this team has with a new car and a new setup.

“We just have to build on what we did in Gainesville and in the first round at Phoenix,” Todd said. “Since we unloaded this car, it’s been completely different from anything we’ve had in the last four or five years which is really encouraging. We have a new tune-up, a new car and a new mindset which is exciting. I think everybody’s really excited for the season. We just had a little hiccup in Phoenix, but it’s still really early in the season. We aren’t really counting points yet, but you still want to get as many as you can. Right now, we’re just focused on winning races. We’ll go to Pomona, try to win there and let the points fall where they may.

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YPSILANTI, MI – It had been a while since Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools team turned on a win light, and after winning the inaugural Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Kalitta and his Mac Tools team are even hungrier to return Kalitta Motorsports to the winner’s circle. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes March 31-April 2, 2023 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

In addition to winning the new NHRA special event, Kalitta earned his 52nd No. 1 qualifier in Phoenix. Despite suffering a quarterfinal loss to his teammate, Shawn Langdon, the weekend provided more evidence of a Team Kalitta comeback.

“It was awesome – we were happy to turn on the win light so hats off to Alan (crew chief Alan Johnson) and all my guys,” Kalitta said. “We took a lot of positives out of Phoenix with the No. 1 qualifier and our win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty challenge. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s going on. It was nice to be back in the winner’s circle, and that only makes our Mac Tools Toyota team even hungrier to win again- were working on it. We just have to be patient apparently because we’ve been trying for a long time now, but we’re sneaking up on it for sure. This week would be a perfect time to do that.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – DHL Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon has more race wins at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip than any other race track, and with the DHL Toyota team’s final round appearance last weekend in Phoenix, team and driver hope to turn on one more win light Sunday and return Kalitta Motorsports to the winner’s circle. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes March 31-April 2, 2023 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Langdon’s DHL Toyota team missed winning last weekend’s race by .0574 seconds when the DHL dragster slowed approaching the finish line. That final round appearance moved Langdon up to sixth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. With Langdon’s four wins in seven Pomona final rounds, he could easily be considered a favorite to win this weekend.

“The DHL team’s done a fabulous job getting the car prepared properly and giving Jake (co-crew chief Jason McCulloch), Kurt (co-crew chief Kurt Elliott), Ronnie (assistant crew chief Ronnie Thompson) and Connie (team owner Connie Kalitta) a good race car,” the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion said. “They’re making good calls and running big speeds. We have a good-running car right now so we just have to take advantage of it and make the best of it. We want to continue what we were doing in Phoenix. A win’s around the corner for this team.”

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