YPSILANTI, MI – It’s the goal for any drag racing team, and J.R. Todd and his team still seek that elusive level of excellence. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the fourth of six playoff races Oct. 10-12 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas.

If it sounds familiar, it should. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team have aspired to make consistently-strong runs throughout the race weekend all season. They had it in Epping, N.H., this past summer and won the race. They had it in Brainerd, Minn., and advanced to the final round. Yet at other races, it’s been as elusive as anything could. This team shows, nearly every race, that it has the ability to run with anyone in the class, but making those strong, consistent runs remains what it’s been: the goal. That, however, should take nothing away from the effort focused on achieving high-level performance every time the DHL GR Supra goes down the track.

“We’ve been throwing out some good runs in qualifying, but we keep stubbing our toe on race day; that’s where we still haven’t found the consistency to get us running with the guys at the top of the standings,” Todd said. “The car is definitely still showing promise – we’re making progress overall. We just have to put it together and finish the season on a high note. Hats off to Dickie, Jon-O (Crew Chief Dickie Venables and Assistant Crew Chief Jon Oberhofer) and the guys. The Yella Fellas never give up – I’ve said it before, but I’ll keep saying it. I don’t think there’s a harder-working group in the sport. It doesn’t matter what gets thrown at them – they figure it out and get our DHL GR Supra ready for whatever’s next. They’re the best.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Shawn Langdon has been here before; in fact, his points position with three races remaining is similar to 2024, but this year, he enters Texas in need of a win. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the fourth of six playoff races Oct. 10-12 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas.

One year ago, Langdon entered the Texas NHRA FallNationals third with two wins and was locked in a tight points battle with points leader Justin Ashley, his teammate, Doug Kalitta, and Antron Brown at the top of the standings. This year, he’s also third in points with three wins and battling the points leader, Kalitta, Ashley and Tony Stewart among a host of contenders still within reach of contention.

“With three races to go, we’re looking pretty good to have a shot at the championship, but we need to do well in Dallas this weekend,” Langdon said. “That’s our focus and what has our attention. We’re looking forward to the last few races, and it’s always nice to have an opportunity to race for a championship. Our Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary car has run well all season, but Doug’s car is running really well so we just have to get to Dallas and do the best we can.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta is in an excellent position at the moment, but if years of experience driving Top Fuel dragsters taught him anything, it’s that things can change in an instant. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the fourth of six playoff races Oct. 10-12 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals in Ennis, Texas.

Kalitta and his Mobil DELVAC 100th Anniversary Toyota team feel good about what they accomplished in the first half of the playoffs. Kalitta has one win in three final rounds in the first three of six playoff races, yet he and his team completely understand that much more work lies between themselves and their ultimate goal. Kalitta leads the Top Fuel class by 86 points with three races remaining. It’s an excellent position, but complacency is not an option.

“The points can swing out here; it’s all about getting as many as you can,” Kalitta said. “For me, staying ahead would be nice. We’re very fortunate right now, but we’ll see how it shakes out; being ahead is definitely where we want to stay, but it’s gonna take every point you can possibly get with the Top Fuel group; everybody’s running strong. Continue reading →

Madison, IL – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 10 qualifier at NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came in the opening qualifying session Friday evening when Todd made a 3.919-second run at 330.55 mph.

Eliminations: Todd and Cruz Pedregon had an epic first-round race. The drivers left the starting time at the same time, and Todd led the race before Pedregon’s car was a touch quicker in the latter part of the race. Despite Todd’s 3.962-second pass at 327.59 mph, Pedregon won the round by .0088 seconds.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves St. Louis in 12th place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails 11th-place Bob Tasca by four points and leads 13th place Dave Richards by 85 points. Continue reading →

Madison, IL – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 13 qualifier at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the first session Saturday afternoon when Langdon posted a 3.768-second effort at 324.59 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Shawn Reed setting up a second-round matchup with Justin Ashley who was just ahead of Langdon in points. The drivers left the starting line at virtually the same time, but Ashley’s car made a slightly better run than the Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary dragster. Ashley’s 3.794-second pass at 330.55 mph defeated Langdon’s 3.817-second effort at 329.42 mph by .0285 seconds at the finish line.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves St. Louis in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Ashley by 41 points and leads fourth-place Tony Stewart by 26 points. He trails the points leader, teammate Doug Kalitta, by 127 points with three races remaining in the season. Continue reading →

Madison, IL – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals; it was his eighth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 66th of his career. The Mac Tools Toyota team made its best run of qualifying in Friday night’s second session. Kalitta reached the finish line in 3.675 seconds at 334.82 mph to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifier and held on to it through the two Saturday-afternoon sessions.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Will Smith, Steve Torrence, Justin Ashley and Ida Zetterstrom on the way to his third victory of the season, his fifth at Worldwide Technology Raceway and the 58th of his career.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves St. Louis in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Justin Ashley by 86 points with three races remaining in the season.

Kalitta on St. Louis: “It’s incredible! This whole Mac Tools Toyota team has this thing really running. I’m real proud of these guys; the thing is going down the track and putting up good numbers. I’m doing my best to do my job, and it worked out today. The Safety Safari did their thing as always and gave us a good track. We’re just happy to get the win here today halfway through the countdown and take what we can get. We’ll just keep at it. I’m really happy. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – As the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and one could say the same about rebuilding a race team. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the third of six playoff races Sept. 26-28 at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill.

J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra Funny Car team are experiencing and feeling some growing pains this season. The team has shown flashes of the brilliance it seeks along with sometimes puzzling not-so-stellar results. Todd won in New Hampshire this summer; the team appeared on the upswing in the later part of the regular season, but despite solid consistency in qualifying, it has yet to win a round in the Countdown.

“We definitely need more performance,” Todd said. “We’ve shown we can make strong runs in just about any conditions, and we’ve had some strong qualifying results. But when race day rolls around, we’ve struggled. Like I’ve been saying all season, we’re still learning. We made a lot of changes when Dickie (Crew Chief Dickie Venables) joined the team before the season started. I think it’s all part of the process. This team is strong, the Yella Fellas work as hard as any crew out here, and we’ll get there eventually.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Shawn Langdon has a single focus: win as many rounds as possible. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the third of six playoff races Sept. 26-28 at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill.

To do that, the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion knows to keep his head down and avoid distractions. Langdon advanced to the second round at the first playoff race and made a semifinal run at last weekend’s first-ever four-wide playoff race. They were positive overall results, but both were short of what the 25th Anniversary Kalitta Air team expects of itself. In the four-wide final on Sunday, Langdon finished third behind his teammate, Doug Kalitta, and race winner Justin Ashley. He now trails the points leader, Kalitta, by 59 points and trails second-place Justin Ashley by nine points. The top five is separated by less than 100 points with four races remaining.

“The Kalitta Air Careers car’s good,” Langdon said. “We set the low ET (elapsed time) of the semifinals (in Charlotte), but it should have run faster than it did in the final round. We’re addressing that this week and will go from there; we’ll be alright. We really want to have a great weekend in St. Louis and get this Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary car back on top of the standings.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – In some sports, the key to playoff success is survive and advance, but Doug Kalitta knows that in NHRA, the key to success is take the points lead and keep it. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the third of six playoff races Sept. 26-28 at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill.

Kalitta leads the Top Fuel point standings by 38 markers over second-place Justin Ashley with four races remaining. After starting the playoffs as the third seed, the 2023 Top Fuel champ took the points lead with a final-round run two weeks ago in Reading, Pa., and followed up with a second runner-up finish last weekend in Charlotte. That said, the Top Fuel battle is still up for grabs. Kalitta’s teammate, Shawn Langdon, is 59 points off the pace in third, and Tony Stewart is 68 points behind Kalitta in fourth.

“That’s what makes this fun,” Kalitta said. “This championship battle is the opportunity we all pray for at the beginning of the year – to be in it at the end. Alan and Mac (Crew Chief Alan Johnson and Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) have this Mac Tools group focused on the task at hand – they’re digging hard. It was nice to go some rounds in Charlotte last weekend – we want to keep that going and see what we can do in these last four races.” Continue reading →

Concord, NC – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 8 qualifier at NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the Friday-night session when he reached the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 334.24 mph.

Eliminations: Todd was leading his opening quad when the DHL GR Supra began smoking the tires down the track, and Todd was eliminated in the first round.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Charlotte in ninth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails eighth-place Spencer Hyde by 16 points and leads 10th-place Alexis DeJoria by nine points.

Todd on Charlotte: “The DHL GR Supra team made some good runs in qualifying, but like last week, we weren’t able to take that consistency to race day. It’s disappointing for sure, but the DHL guys are the hardest-working crew in our sport – really appreciate what they do. We just have to stay positive, keep working as hard as we can and focus on performance. Thanks to DHL, SealMaster, Superior, Fifth Third Bank and Revchem. We’ll give it another shot next week in St. Louis.” Continue reading →