Baytown, TX – Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel team will be looking for their first win in the Lone Star State when the Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park get underway this weekend. The Gatornationals runner-up and reigning U.S. Nationals champion will be looking to go one more round than his previous best finish in Houston, a runner-up in 2013. That was the season Langdon dominated the tour on the way to his Top Fuel world championship.

“We got off to a strong start this year at the Gatornationals and have really been right in the mix of things,” said Langdon. “We are fourth in the points right now and getting a win in Houston would help our cause for sure.”

Prior to last weekend’s Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster raced to the semifinals at the Southern Nationals. While the performance numbers were not dominant the team did what it needed to do to pick up two important round wins and almost grabbed third in a close semifinal loss to points leader Steve Torrence.

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Baytown, TX – Doug Kalitta will be campaigning a special Mobil 1 TRD Top Fuel dragster this weekend at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. The technical alliance partners will raise their profile with Kalitta Motorsports, the multi-time world championship drag racing team, as they continue to work together to develop next-generation Mobil 1 synthetic lubricants to improve engine and gearbox performance. Kalitta’s crew will also sport Mobil 1 TRD uniform shirts and he will be in a special Mobil 1 TRD firesuit for the race.

“Mobil 1 and TRD are a major part of our success on and off the track,” said Kalitta. “The dragster looks amazing and we are looking forward to showing it off at the Spring Nationals in a couple days. We are going to have a lot of Mobil 1 guests at the race so it will be a busy and exciting weekend.”

Kalitta’s performance this season has been steady with a runner-up finish at the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals as the highlight of the first four races. At the season opening Gatornationals the perennial championship contender qualified No. 4 and raced to the quarterfinals in the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster. The 49-time Top Fuel winner is celebrating 20 seasons with Mac Tools and throughout the season the team will be highlighting some of his significant moments.

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YPSILANTI, MI – Technical alliance partners Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and the Mobil 1 brand will raise their profile with multi-time world championship drag racing team Kalitta Motorsports during the NHRA SpringNationals, May 21-23 with primary sponsorship on Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster. Since 2019 when the relationship was announced ExxonMobil, TRD and Kalitta Motorsports have worked together to develop next-generation Mobil 1 synthetic lubricants to improve engine and gearbox performance.

“Our relationship with Mobil 1 and TRD has been incredibly beneficial on and off the track,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “The engineering support has been instrumental in improved performance for our three race cars and we have been able to give Mobil 1 feedback on their oil under the most stressful environment possible. We put a tremendous amount of stress on our motors and there is no way we could be as successful as we have been without the support and input from Mobil 1 and TRD.”

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Charlotte, NC – The DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster and driver Shawn Langdon will leave zMAX Dragway right in the middle of the Top Fuel championship hunt. The Gatornationals finalist and Southern Nationals semifinalist maintained his position as the No. 4 driver in Top Fuel at the conclusion of the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

The team battled through three rounds of qualifying entering the race as the No. 11 dragster and starting the day in a quad that included Antron Brown, Leah Pruett and rookie Krista Baldwin. Langdon was first off the line and was beginning to pull away when his dragster overpowered the track. The loss of traction opened the door for Brown and Baldwin to advance to the second quad.

“We felt good going into the first round,” said Langdon. “We got off the line first and it was on a good run. At the top end it just lost traction a little and that was enough for a couple dragsters to get around us. This DHL Kalitta Air dragster has a lot of power and we are going to take a look at it and be ready for Houston. We had a busy weekend in Charlotte and we will be back at it in a couple days.”

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Charlotte, NC – The Mac Tools Top Fuel team rolled into Sunday’s race day looking to go rounds and step up their on their qualifying effort. Doug Kalitta was looking for his first four-wide win at the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The perennial championship contender won at zMAX Dragway’s fall race in 2017 and he was looking to capture his 50th career Top Fuel victory.

The first quad of racing for Kalitta included the Mac Tools dragster, along with rookie Josh Hart, veteran Billy Torrence and Kyle Wurtzel. It was an impressive first round victory for the Mac Tools dragster as it got to the finish line first with a strong 3.726 second run at 326.08 mph.

“That first round win was a great run for this Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster,” said Kalitta. “(Crew chief) Rob (Flynn) and the guys really stepped it up to get that win. I felt good going into the second round and we just overpowered the track I think. We are going to run the car tomorrow and get a little better handle on it. We will be at it in Houston next weekend and I am ready to get after it.”

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Charlotte, NC – The dominance of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car once again made its presence known today at the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals racing to a runner-up finish. J.R. Todd took advantage of two days of qualifying to power his Funny Car into the race as the No. 4 qualifier after posting the quickest run of the final qualifying session. The 2018 Funny Car champion was looking to pick up his first four-wide win on the east coast after collecting two four-wide wins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2017 and 2018.

Today in the opening session Todd squared off against veterans Tim Wilkerson, Terry Haddock and Jim Campbell. The DHL Toyota Camry never trailed in the race as Todd was first off of the line and his Funny Car hit the finish line stripe 3.952 seconds later. The run was almost a carbon copy of his best qualifying effort and showed the consistency of the DHL team.

In the second quad Todd and the DHL Funny car team had their hands full racing against John Force, Mike McIntire and Terry Haddock. Once again Todd grabbed a starting line advantage and the Gatornationals winner advanced to the final quad along with Force who was the event’s No. 1 qualifier. It took the quickest run of the event to get around Todd for the round win.

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CHARLOTTE, NC – On Saturday of the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Kalitta Motorsports drivers Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon and J.R. Todd spent some time throughout the final day of qualifying with 12-year-old Camden Nobles and his family. Camden was the team’s special guest thanks to Kalitta Motorsports’ relationship with A Kid Again, a national nonprofit organization fostering hope, happiness and healing for children facing life-threatening conditions and their families.

“It was really cool to sit in the race cars and talk about how fast they go,” said an excited Camden. “This was a lot of fun for my family. I got a lot of autographs and had a lot of fun.”

Before the first qualifying session Camden along with his sister Bliss were treated to a tour of the entire Kalitta Motorsports pit area including all three race cars, technical and support trailers and hospitality area. The tour was initially led by Doug Kalitta who showed off his Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster as well as teammate J.R. Todd’s DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. Kalitta walked Camden and Bliss through the warm-up procedure as well as how the brakes and steering worked on each vehicle. The two youngsters took turns sitting in the respective cockpits while their parents and A Kid Again representatives looked on.

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Charlotte, NC – As the fourth race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series gets underway at zMAX Dragway Shawn Langdon and his DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel team are building momentum. Two weeks ago Langdon raced to a semifinal finish at the Southern Nationals on a race day that did not see stellar performance numbers. The team did pick up two critical round wins and held onto the No. 3 spot in the Top Fuel point standings. The NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide National is the event where Langdon scored his first career Funny Car win and this weekend he will be looking to become just the second driver to collect a Funny Car and Top Fuel four-wide title at zMAX Dragway. He would join former crew chief Del Worsham with the distinction if the DHL Kalitta Top Fuel dragster can light three win lights on Sunday.

“It would be awesome to join Del on that list,” said Langdon. “Del has been around the sport for a long time and he is one of the most accomplished racers. He is one of the best talents behind the wheel. I was fortunate enough to work with him when I was driving Funny Car when he was the crew chief with Nicky Boninfante. Just to be able to pick his brain and have him on my side was a huge added bonus for me when I was making that transition. He was great to talk about runs after the fact since I understood what I was saying from the driver’s perspective. He got it. We were a pretty good combination.”

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Charlotte, NC – The Mac Tools Top Fuel team and championship contender Doug Kalitta will be heading to the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte looking to add another zMAX Dragway title to their record book. In 2017 Kalitta grabbed four win lights on the way to victory at the annual fall event at the “Bellagio of Drag Strips” nestled beside Charlotte Motor Speedway. This weekend at the 11th NGK NTK Four-Wide Nationals, Kalitta will be looking for three win lights thanks to the unique quad format for four-wide racing. Hosting national events in Charlotte has opened the sport to thousands of new fans over the years and the race attracts NASCAR fans and drivers who are looking for an exciting alternative.

“The Charlotte facility is one of the nicest tracks we race at all season,” said Kalitta. “The fans are great and I think we have introduced drag racing to a lot of NASCAR fans over the years. We will have Kyle Busch here on Friday from Rowdy Energy drink one of our sponsors so that will be neat.”

Two weeks ago in Atlanta, a race that featured only one day of qualifying, Kalitta and the Mac Tools team had to battle a tough track with limited runs. They made the show but going into the first round they knew they needed to step up on the performance side. The team did just that in the first round posting the second quickest run of the event at the time but it wasn’t enough to get the win light in a race that was decided by about six feet at the finish line.

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Charlotte, NC – The NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals will be a chance for J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team to do something no other Funny Car team has done in the modern era. A win on Sunday would make them the only Funny Car team with wins at the only two tracks hosting the unique four-wide races. Todd has collected two four-wide wins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2018 and 2019 but a win at zMAX Dragway has eluded the 2018 Funny Car world champion.

“We have run really well at the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and I am hoping to get a streak started this weekend in Charlotte,” said Todd. “We raced to the semifinals in Atlanta but we are still fine tuning this DHL Camry Funny Car. I know the Yella Fellas will get us on the right track. We have a lot going on this weekend with our sponsors NGK Spark Plugs, Toyota and DHL so it will be a busy race but that is what I like. I just have to stay focused and do my job.”

At the season opening Gatornationals Todd raced to his first win of the season defeating Robert Hight in a pedalfest that had the fans in the packed grandstands on the edge of their seats. Todd has followed that up with a No. 1 qualifier performance at the Southern Nationals and a semifinal finish. Heading into the fourth race of the season Todd is excited about where his team is headed.

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