Concord, NC – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 4 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals. Langdon made the most of the Friday-night session with a 3.728-second effort at 338 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Tony Schumacher and Doug Foley in the first round followed by Tony Stewart and Brittany Force in the semifinals. In the final, Langdon raced his teammate, Doug Kalitta, Justin Ashley and Clay Millican. Ashley was off the starting line first and won the race by .0256 seconds over Kalitta. Langdon finished third and receives points for a semifinal finish.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Charlotte in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Justin Ashley by 21 and leads fourth-place Tony Stewart by nine points. He trails first place by 59 points with four races remaining in the season. Continue reading →

Concord, NC – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 2 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals. Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt came in the Friday-night session when he made a 3.700-second pass at 332.18 mph. He missed the No. 1 qualifier by two thousandths of a second.

Eliminations: Kalitta missed the race win by .0256 seconds. He defeated Josh Hart in the three-car first-round followed by Antron Brown and Steve Torrence in the semifinals. In the final round, the Mac Tools dragster dropped a cylinder, yet Kalitta and Justin Ashley ran identical 3.784-second elapsed times; Ashley left the starting line before Kalitta and won the race.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta remains first in NHRA Top Fuel point leaving Charlotte. He now leads second-place Ashley by 38 points with four races remaining in the season.

Kalitta on Charlotte: “We got to the final and ended up second so pretty happy with that. Obviously, it would have been nice to have gotten the win. These four wides are kind of a crap shoot, but it was fun. Alan, Mac (Crew Chief Alan Johnson, Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) and all the guys pushed really hard at the ‘House that Bruton Built.’ I’m really proud of my Mac Tools guys – we had a lot of stuff going on in the pits, but they really pulled through and made it happen. Thanks to Mac Tools, SealMaster, Fifth Third Bank and Revchem for helping us do this. We’ll take it on to St. Louis next week and should be in good shape.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Although the first playoff race didn’t go as planned, 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion J.R. Todd remains in the thick of the battle for the 2025 Funny Car crown. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the second of six playoff races Sept. 19-21 at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C.

Todd entered the Countdown as the No. 6 seed; the DHL GR Supra team made four consistent qualifying runs in Pennsylvania last weekend but couldn’t carry that consistency into race day. Todd smoked the tires almost immediately in the first round, and Ron Capps cruised to victory. Todd dropped one spot to seventh in points but trails sixth-place Cruz Pedregon by just 26 points and fifth-place Matt Hagan by 36 points; he is only 91 points out of first place with five races remaining in the season.

“It would have been nice to have made up some ground on those that went out early last weekend, but that’s the way it goes,” Todd said. “We can’t dwell on that, so we put it behind us and just go to Charlotte and try to win the race. From here on out, we need to make our best runs possible and race is hard as we can. All things considered, we’re in pretty good shape, but you still don’t want to put yourself in a little bit of a hole. We need to race as hard as we can, go to the later rounds and probably get a little help along the way.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Like everyone else entering this weekend’s race outside Charlotte, Shawn Langdon wants to win, but the 2013 Top Fuel champion is the only Top Fuel driver that could need a broom on Sunday. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the second of six playoff races Sept. 19-21 at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C.

Langdon won the spring four-wide race at zMAX Dragway; it was the 1,000th Top Fuel race in NHRA history, and should he take the win this weekend and earn his fourth win at the suburban Charlotte track, he would sweep the Charlotte races for the first time in his career.

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Charlotte, dating back to 2012 – that’s where I got my first Top Fuel victory so I always have good memories there,” Langdon said. “I was able to get the win earlier this year for the 1,000th Top Fuel event. It’ll be a little bit unique this year with the Four-Wides in the countdown, but I think it’s good. I think trying something different is good for the sport, not just going status quo every year. I’m very interested and very excited to run that four-wide event for the Countdown.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – For the first time this season, 2023 Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta finds himself atop the point standings. He got there through a wild day of eliminations in Reading, Pa., and looks to maintain that lofty position this weekend. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs continue with the second of six playoff races Sept. 19-21 at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C.

Kalitta didn’t win the first playoff race last weekend, but he came as close as he could have and took the points lead after the first of six Countdown races. He defeated Antron Brown and then points leader Tony Stewart in a wild second round that ended with a crash that took out both race cars. Forced to go to the backup car, made race ready by all three Kalitta Motorsports teams, the Mac Tools Toyota team advanced to the final round with a semifinal win over Steve Torrence. In the final, the Mac Tools car smoked the tires allowing Shawn Reed to cruise to victory, but it was enough to put Kalitta on top of the standings.

“We were able to get going again after that,” Kalitta said. We got the spare car out and made a really good run in the semifinals so really proud of my guys for all their hard work to keep us going on Sunday. It was really cool to get into the final at Maple Grove – we were able to shake that whole thing off, and we’re moving on. Continue reading →

Reading, PA – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 5 qualifier at NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish. All four of Todd’s qualifying attempts were within .07 seconds, but he made a 3.911-second run at 334.24 mph to claim the No. 5 qualifying position.

Eliminations: Todd raced Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations. Unfortunately, the DHL GR Supra smoked the tires almost immediately, and Todd was eliminated.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd dropped one spot and leaves Reading in seventh place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails sixth-place Cruz Pedregon by 26 points and leads eighth-place Spencer Hyde by two points.

Todd on Reading: “That’s definitely not how we wanted to start the Countdown especially after four consistent runs in qualifying. Going out first round is something you can’t afford to do in the Countdown, but if you’re going to, the first race is the time to do it. The good news is we don’t have to wait long for a chance to redeem ourselves; we’ll head down to Charlotte and see what we can do at the four-wides next weekend.”

Reading, PA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier at the NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish. Langdon made his best qualifying attempt in the Friday-night session when he posted a 3.762-second effort at 333.49 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Doug Foley before losing to Shawn Reed in the second round. Langdon was off the starting line first and was leading the race when the Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary dragster smoked the tires giving the round win to Reed.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon dropped one spot and leaves Reading in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Tony Stewart by 15 points and leads fourth-place Justin Ashley by 17 points.

Langdon on Reading: “I felt like we had a good shot to win today, but we just smoked the tires in the second round. It’s disappointing, but we’ll head to Charlotte next weekend and try to win there. Thanks to Kalitta Air, SealMaster, Dayco and Revchem – we appreciate what they do for Team Kalitta.” Continue reading →

Reading, PA – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 3 qualifier at the NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish. Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt came during the opening qualifying session Friday afternoon when he reached the finish line in 3.756 seconds at 335.40 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the first round and advanced to a second-round matchup with incoming points leader Tony Stewart. Both drivers walked away from a significant racing incident that happened during the round. Immediately after Kalitta crossed the finish line at 335 mph, an apparent front-tire issue propelled the Mac Tools dragster into the left lane where Kalitta made significant contact with Stewart. Kalitta’s car bounced off Stewart’s car and spun then shredding the left-rear tire before coming to a stop in the middle of the racetrack. Stewart’s car flipped on its side before going back onto its wheels where it slid against the wall until it came to a stop.

Team Kalitta pulled the Mac Tools backup car out of the trailer before racing Steve Torrence in the semifinals. A combination of the Mac Tools team, Kalitta Air team and DHL team worked together to get the backup car ready for competition, and they did a masterful job. Kalitta made a 3.812-second run at 335.23 mph to advance to the final round where he met Shawn Reed. Kalitta was off the starting line first and was leading the race early when the Mac Tools dragster smoked the tires giving the win to Reed. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – J.R. Todd and Crew Chief Dickie Venables know how to win championships, and they enter the first race of the 2025 NHRA Playoffs with a capable car. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin Sept. 12-14 at the NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish in Mohnton, Pa.

Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion, and Venables, in his first season at Team Kalitta, is a four-time Funny Car championship crew chief. Todd won in Epping, N.H., in June and nearly earned another win last month in Brainerd, Minn. He won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA challenge twice, including the final special event of the season two weeks ago at the U.S. Nationals, and after a season of trials and tribulations involved with transforming the DHL GR Supra into a championship contender, this team is poised to make some noise in the Countdown.

“I feel like we have a car that’s capable going out there and making good runs when we need to,” Todd said. “The runs we’ve made are encouraging going into the countdown, and now it’s time to go unload. We’re still growing as a race team, but the car is responding to the changes Dickie is making. I don’t want to say that we’re ‘there’ yet, but we’re definitely not way behind these guys like we were a handful of races ago.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Two years ago, Doug Kalitta entered the NHRA Playoffs as the No. 6 seed, but he began a magical run in Pennsylvania that carried him to the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel Championship. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin Sept. 12-14 at the NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish in Mohnton, Pa.

Daylight was fading in the final round of qualifying late Saturday afternoon. Near the end of Kalitta’s final qualifying attempt, the Mac Tools dragster punctured a rear tire. Kalitta masterfully steered the dragster to a safe stop, but the Mac Tools car was damaged. A backup car was required for race day. Kalitta went on to win that race in Pennsylvania as well as the next one in Charlotte, and he was on his way to the first Top Fuel championship of his storied career with that backup car playing a starring role in the season’s final six races.

“Starting out at Maple Grove, having won the first couple of races in the past, that’s definitely the ideal situation,” Kalitta said. “It’s mainly just going rounds, hoping to get to the final and hoping to get a crack at getting the win. Trying to get as many wins as you can early and obviously hoping to be there at the end is definitely the preferred way to go about it, but if you happen to go out early one race, you have to keep your composure and just keep battling. Staying out front would definitely be the ideal situation, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s a matter of staying in the hunt.” Continue reading →