Phoenix, AZ – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 5 qualifier at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. During the first round of qualifying Friday afternoon, Todd made his best qualifying run – a 3.923-second effort at 320.58 mph. It was his best qualifying effort of the season.

Eliminations: Todd defeated Cruz Pedregon and John Force before losing to Austin Prock in the semifinals – it was a rematch of the Gainesville final round Todd won. In the Phoenix semifinal, Todd left the starting line first, but Prock won the race by two thousandths of a second. Todd now has a win and two semifinals in the season’s first three races.

When Todd 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.

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Phoenix, AZ – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the final qualifying round Saturday afternoon when he posted a 3.750-second elapsed time at 327.74 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Josh Hart, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence and Justin Ashley on the way to his second winner’s circle celebration in the season’s first three races. Langdon was off the starting line first in the final and never looked back racing to the win light with a 3.760-second run at 318.69 mph to Ashley’s 3.849-second effort. It was Langdon’s 19th-career victory in a rematch of the Phoenix final-round matchup, which Ashley won, last season.

When Langdon 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.

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CHANDLER, AZ – J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra Funny Car team raced to the winner’s circle in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge featuring a rematch of the semifinals and finals from the season’s second race in Pomona, Calif., two weeks ago. On the day the NCAA is playing its men’s basketball Final Four not far from the race track, NHRA raced in front of a sellout crowd at Firebird Motorsports Park.

When Todd advanced to the Pomona semifinals, he earned a spot in today’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. During Friday’s first qualifying session, Todd defeated Matt Hagan in a rematch of the Pomona semifinal Hagan won. In the final round, which was also the second round of qualifying for tomorrow’s NHRA Arizona Nationals, Todd defeated Pomona race winner John Force. It was Todd’s second win in this special event – he won it at Sonoma Raceway last summer and went on to win the race the next day.

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YPSILANTI, MI – NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta has some good memories from the last time he raced in Phoenix. This year, he hopes to do even better with SealMaster livery on his car. The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes April 5-7, 2024 at Firebird Motorsports Park in Glendale, Ariz.

SealMaster is a longtime Kalitta Motorsports corporate partner. In addition to the primary placement in Phoenix, SealMaster is a full-season associate partner on Kalitta’s dragster as well as J.R. Todd’s DHL GR Supra Funny Car. One year ago in Phoenix, Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier and won the inaugural Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge; it was his first victory-lane celebration in four years. He would, of course, go on to win three races and the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel title, but that race in Phoenix was the start of a very special season.

“We’re excited to see Doug pilot the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster,” SealMaster franchise representative Jason Hedlesky said. “We have the top fuel champion flying our colors at one of the NHRA’s greatest tracks. We see the Arizona Nationals as a celebration of that, along with the return of NHRA to Firebird. It’s going to be a very exciting event.”

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YPSILANTI, MI – If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. After a successful inaugural campaign last season, Future Energy Solutions (FES) Lighting, a national “Lighting-As-A-Service” provider, extended its Kalitta Motorsports agreement to be a primary partner on Shawn Langdon’s Top Fuel dragster. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes April 5-7, 2024 at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Glendale, Ariz.

FES will be the primary partner on Langdon’s car at the Gerber Collision and Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by Peak Performance May 16-18, 2024 in Joliet, Ill. In addition, FES is a full-season associate partner on the Top Fuel dragsters driven by Langdon and reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta.

FES completed the lighting upgrade at more than 20 Kalitta Air buildings that comprise its facilities in Oscoda and Ypsilanti, Mich. After a successful first phase, a second phase is underway to complete the balance of the facilities; Kalitta Motorsports will follow. This process will provide Kalitta Air and Kalitta Motorsports with not only state-of-the-art LED lighting but also significant savings.

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Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 7 qualifier at the Lucas Oil Winternationals. His best effort came during the rain-delayed Saturday qualifying session when he ran a 3.785-second pass at 303.30 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Jasmine Salinas before losing to Billy Torrence when the Mac Tools dragster smoked the tires almost immediately at the start of the second-round run.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Pomona tied with Brittany Force for sixth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. They trail fifth-place Antron Brown by two points and lead eighth-place Josh Hart by 24 points.

Kalitta on Pomona: “It was unfortunate to go out in the second round, but fortunately, our Mac Tools team got past the first round in both of the races so far this season. It was kinda tricky this weekend with only two qualifying runs, and the first qualifying run probably shouldn’t even count because the track was so bad. It was tricky for everybody; we’ll have to save it for Phoenix. Really appreciate everyone at Revchem, SealMaster and Toyota for everything they do for us.”

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Pomona, CA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 7 qualifier at the Lucas Oil Winternationals. During the first round of qualifying late Friday, Langdon posted a 3.788-second effort at 318.24 mph for his best qualifying attempt.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Krista Baldwin before losing to Tony Schumacher in the second round when the Kalitta Air Careers car dropped a cylinder very early in the run.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Pomona in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. The final round of eliminations was postponed by rain and will be run at the next race in Phoenix. With the incomplete race, Langdon either leads second-place Billy Torrence by 18 points or leads second-place Justin Ashley by 11 points depending on which driver wins the weather-delayed final round.

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Pomona, CA – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 13 qualifier at the Lucas Oil Winternationals. With weather reducing qualifying to just two rounds, Todd’s best qualifying effort came during the rain-delayed Saturday round when the DHL GR Supra was on an excellent pass before slowing to a 4.207-second run at 223.80 mph.

Eliminations: Todd and the DHL Toyota team defeated Cruz Pedregon and Paul Lee before losing to Matt Hagan in the semifinals. Todd won the first six eliminations rounds of the season before the Pomona semifinal loss.

When Todd advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the next race near Phoenix. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Pomona will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

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YPSILANTI, MI – The last time Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team were at In ‘n Out Burger Raceway in Pomona, Calif., they won the race and claimed the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel title in a “winner take all” final round at the season’s final race. Later this week, they return to the site of perhaps the most monumental day in Kalitta’s career. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes March 22-24, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Including the win last November, Kalitta has seven wins in 14 final-round appearances at the historic southern California race track, but none was more special than what happened on that fateful November day. On the final day of the season’s final race in the final round, Kalitta defeated Leah Pruett to clinch the championship. Going back to a place where one has enjoyed success before is always nice, but this time will be a bit more special.

“I always love Pomona and have had good luck there over the years,” Kalitta said. “We pulled off the championship last time we were there, and going back will be really cool actually. I love Pomona – the history of that place – we’re definitely looking forward to it, and we’ll see how we’re running when we get there.

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YPSILANTI, MI – Flawless. That’s how Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon described his car at the season-opening Gatornationals two weeks ago in Florida. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes March 22-24, 2024 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Consider:

• No. 1 qualifier for the first time since 2020? Check.
• Consistent race car with four race day runs with elapsed times within .03 seconds? Check.
• Race win for the first time since 2020? Check.
• First double win in Kalitta Motorsports history? Check.

That’s a pretty solid start to the season, and oh by the way, it was Brian Husen’s first race as Langdon’s crew chief…as anyone’s crew chief, although he spent the last two decades working with 14-time Top Fuel championship tuner Alan Johnson. Everything that happened to Langdon, Husen and their Kalitta Air Careers Toyota team at the season’s first race bodes extremely well for the season. And for Langdon to break a four-year winless streak is an added if not forgotten bonus.

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