Madison, IL – For the second week in a row Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster stormed through the Top Fuel field in qualifying and on race day. After two days of nearly 20 Top Fuel dragsters battling for 16 spots in the field Kalitta secured the No. 4 spot on the strength of his 3.684 second pass. In a strong field that featured seven teams posting run in the 3.60s to set the field Kalitta and the Mac Tools team featuring Ferguson and WypAll knew race day was going to be a tough battle.

A first round race with veteran Doug Foley was no easy race for the 49-time Top Fuel national event winner. Kalitta grabbed a starting line advantage and just past half track his Mac Tools dragster began to haze the tire robbing the perennial championship contender of much needed horsepower, but he was far enough in front of Foley who was having his own issues to grab the win. Kalitta stayed on the throttle and muscled his race car across the finish line for the win.

In the quarterfinals Kalitta had a chance to take out a Countdown contender and start closing the gap on the handful of cars in front of him in the points. He grabbed a starting line advantage with a .055 reaction time in front of Brittany Force’s .079 and he never trailed in the race. His 3.768 second run outran Force’s slower 3.833 second run and moved him into the semifinals for the second consecutive race and fourth time this season.

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Madison, IL – Heading into the third NHRA Countdown race with a semifinal finish from the Carolina Nationals Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel team can feel the momentum building. Four races remain in the NHRA playoffs and the Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway would not come at a better time for the 49-time Top Fuel National event winner. Kalitta has won the Midwest Nationals four times most recently the 2020 title. The perennial championship contender has the second most Top Fuel wins at the popular track located just outside of the St. Louis. The Mac Tools team will also get an added boost this weekend from Ferguson Facilities Supply, a division of Ferguson Enterprises, along with WypAll towels and wipes which will join Mac Tools on his dragster as they move in the right direction at the right time heading to a track they have had a long history of success.

“I am ready to get to St. Louis for sure,” said Kalitta. “We had a solid race in Charlotte and we made some big steps forward. We were provisional No. 1 qualifiers and raced to the semifinals. This is the time of year you need to start getting round wins and our Mac Tools team is starting to get that done.”

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Madison, IL – The Midwest Nationals this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway will be a critical turning point for Shawn Langdon and the DHL Toyota Top Fuel team. There are four races remaining the NHRA Countdown with the season finale earning the team points and a half. A strong performance by his DHL team that will also be promoting career opportunities at Kalitta Air with the KalittaAir.com/Careers logo could move him into position to maximize the final three races of the season. Fortunately for the 2013 Top Fuel world champion has some unique history of success at the track located just outside of St. Louis. Langdon is one of only two drivers to have won both nitro categories at the track positioned in the shadow of the famed St. Louis Arch. In 2016 he won Top Fuel and in 2019 he outran teammate J.R. Todd for his second Funny Car national event. The only other driver to achieve this special double win is Hall of Famer Gary Scelzi.

“It is cool to be one of only two drivers to have won Top Fuel and Funny Car at a national event, but we are focusing on getting another Top Fuel win this weekend,” said Langdon. “We got on a roll earlier this season and we need to get make into that kind of groove.”

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Madison, IL – The race for the 2022 NHRA Funny Car championship will reach a critical turning point this weekend for not just J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team but the entire category still has a shot at reeling in the points leader. Todd, who is sitting in seventh place is just 150 point off the lead and with four races and points and half at the season finale race in Pomona, California, it is still very much anyone’s championship. In 2018 when Todd won his first world championship the driver who came up through the junior dragster ranks before a successful career in Top Fuel made the back half of the Countdown his playground. The Midwest Nationals was the lone event he did not dominate during his championship run but the 10-time Funny Car national event winner knows this track could be the key to his second championship.

“In 2018 we made it to the semifinals at the Midwest Nationals and that kept us in the championship hunt,” said Todd. “A win this weekend could give this DHL Toyota team just the push we need to grab another title. This team is ready for a win and I know we are hungry for the championship.”

In 2019 Todd raced to the final round and squared off with his teammate Shawn Langdon who was in his second year piloting an 11,000 horsepower Funny Car. It was a close race that went Langdon’s way that Sunday. With Langdon back in the Top Fuel ranks Todd has turned his attention to the other tough Funny Car competitors.

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YPSILANTI, MI – Race three of the NHRA Countdown will feature Top Fuel championship contender Doug Kalitta racing his familiar red and white Mac Tools Toyota dragster with an added boost from Ferguson Facilities Supply, a division of Ferguson Enterprises, along with WypAll towels and wipes. During the Midwest Nationals, September 23-25, Ferguson and WypAll will take advantage of the VIP hospitality pit side experience with Kalitta Motorsports. The international corporation will utilize the unique atmosphere to develop B2B relationships with KMS partners and well as promote their relationship with WypAll.

“This is our second season with Ferguson and we appreciate how they leverage our motorsports program to highlight companies like WypAll,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “Ferguson is a global company with business relationships with some of the biggest brands in the world. The fact that they showcase our brand and VIP entertainment experience to their customers says a lot about the power of NHRA and our business-to-business relationship.”

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Charlotte, NC – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car rolled into zMax Dragway looking for their first career win at the track located in the heart of NASCAR country. In 2018 during his Funny Car championship season Todd raced to a runner-up finish and this weekend he was looking for one more win light. Four win lights today would have created the opportunity for Kalitta Motorsports and primary sponsor DHL to donate 80,000 meals to Feeding America. The two companies are collaborating during the month of September to donate 20,000 meals for every win light beginning this weekend and for the following three NHRA national events.

Through two days of qualifying Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra made solid runs with their two passes on Saturday earning him four qualifying bonus points as the second quickest run of each session. Heading into race day his quickest time of 3.873 seconds at 328.54 mph gave him lane choice over Toyota teammate Alexis DeJoria.

In the opening round today both Funny Cars rolled into the staging beams and it was Todd taking a starting line advantage with a .056 second reaction time in front of DeJoria’s .071 second start. As soon as his racecar left the starting line it began moving around and the 10-time Funny Car national event winner had his hands full. The loss of one cylinder robbed Todd of valuable horsepower and had Todd manhandling his race car down the track. DeJoria posted a career quickest pass to turn on the win light.

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Charlotte, NC – Driving the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster with Kalittaair.com/Careers emblazoned on the side Shawn Langdon raced into the Carolina Nationals looking to rekindle some of their previous success. Langdon had won at zMax Dragway in Top Fuel and Funny Car and with the Countdown underway the 2013 Top Fuel champion was looking to make a move in the points. Through two days of qualifying Langdon battled to enter race day as the No. 12 qualifier in an extremely quick field. His best time of 3.746 seconds at 322.19 mph set him up with a tough first round race against teammate Doug Kalitta, the No. 5 qualifier, who after the first day of qualifying was the provisional No. 1 Top Fuel dragster.

On Sunday morning Langdon knew his best chance against the perennial championship contender was to get a jump off the starting line and make his best run of the weekend. The veteran driver who is recognized as one of the quickest drivers off the starting line took a starting line advantage with a .049 second light to Kalitta’s .058 second reaction time. As both 11,000-horsepower land rockets flew down the track they were side-by-side but Kalitta was able to get the nose of his dragster out in front.

In one of the closest races all day Kalitta advanced to the second round with a 3.710 second pass over Langdon’s 3.731 second run. It was Langdon’s best effort of the weekend, but it was not enough to get a win light for the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster. The margin of victory at the finish line was six feet with both dragsters running 327.19 mph.

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Charlotte, NC – Racing the familiar and dominant red, black and white Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster Doug Kalitta brought confidence to the NHRA Carolina Nationals this weekend. Right off the trailer Kalitta ran to the provisional No. 1 spot after Friday’s lone qualifying session. The team earned three valuable qualifying bonus point but more importantly it set them up to run at the back of the pack the rest of the weekend.

“We left Reading super excited after our test session,” said Kalitta, a 49-time Top Fuel national event winner. “I am happy we came in here and made a good run in the first session. This would be an awesome time to start going rounds. I am an eternal optimist by nature and I have a great team behind me. My goal is to seize this opportunity. It is exciting to have a team like I have.”

His Friday quick run held up as one of the best times throughout Saturday with his Mac Tools team trying to find the competitive edge of zMax Dragway’s all-concrete racing surface. Coming into race day Kalitta was the No. 5 qualifier he was lined up against his teammate Shawn Langdon in an all-Kalitta Motorsports match-up.

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Charlotte, NC – Last weekend’s quarterfinal finish by J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team has motivated the 2018 Funny Car world champion as the playoffs move to zMax Dragway just north of Charlotte. At the end of the Western Swing in July Todd raced to a runner-up finish at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle giving the team a boost as the regular season wound to a close. Over the past eight races Todd has advanced out to the first round seven times and the veteran driver who has competed in Top Fuel and Funny Car at the Betway Carolina Nationals knows consistency is the key for another championship run.

“You have to start winning rounds early in the Countdown,” said Todd. “You can have a slip up, but you can’t make a huge mistake. Early exits will make winning the championship almost impossible. We are in a decent position to make a move with a good weekend in Charlotte. I have a great DHL team behind me and I have won rounds here. We just need to put a good race day together this Sunday.”

Last year Todd was the runner-up at the spring Four-Wide Nationals and during his championship season of 2018 his runner-up finish at the Betway Carolina Nationals sustained his momentum that put the title trophy in his hands at the end of the season. In 2015 he qualified No. 1 in Top Fuel and raced to another runner-up finish at the fall national event. Having the experience in both nitro classes is an asset that Todd and few others bring to the table.

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Charlotte, NC – The competition for the 2022 NHRA Top Fuel championship has never been fiercer but 2013 Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon feel he is up to the task of adding another world title to his resume. The two-time 2022 Top Fuel finalist entered the Countdown driving the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster with confidence. In addition to the two runner-up finishes Langdon has also posted two semifinal finishes and a handful of quarterfinal finishes. The veteran driver knows these races are critical to his championship hopes.

“At the start of the season you want to put yourself in position to race for the championship,” said Langdon. “We did that and now we need to just keep fighting to move up in the points. These first three races will set the tone. We didn’t get off to the start we wanted but we can correct that this weekend in Charlotte with a good race.”

Langdon has had a wide variety of success at zMax Dragway. He won the 2012 Betway Nationals in Top Fuel and then seven years later he won his first Funny Car career title taking the win at the spring Four-Wide Nationals. He also has a runner-up finish in Top Fuel at the Four-Wide Nationals from 2014 and a Top Fuel runner-up from 2009 at the Betway Nationals. In 2012 and 2014 he scored No. 1 qualifiers at the fall and spring races respectively.

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