Commerce, GA – With one final round appearance and a strong showing at the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster are sitting in second place in the Top Fuel standings and focused on getting four win lights at the 40th NHRA Southern Nationals. This season after two events Langdon’s Top Fuel team has performed well in qualifying and even better on race days thanks to the consistent tuning input from NHRA Hall of Fame driver and tuner Connie Kalitta.

“Every time I get in this DHL Kalitta Air race car I have a lot of confidence,” said Langdon, a 15-time Top Fuel winner. “Connie and Kurt Elliott have so much experience I can just get in this DHL dragster and focus on my job as a driver. We had a great race at the Gatornationals to start the season and we made some really good runs at the Four-Wide Nationals.”

Leading up to the Southern Nationals the DHL team took a day to test at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The goal was to get more data and fine tune a combination that will carry Langdon and his DHL team to more round wins. After multiple runs down the track Langdon is even more comfortable and confident headed to Atlanta Dragway.

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Commerce, GA – The DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team will be looking to pick up the last Southern Nationals Funny Car title this weekend at Atlanta Dragway with 10-time Funny Car winner J.R. Todd looking for his first win in the Peach State. The 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion already has one win this season at the historic Gatornationals and for the multi-category national event winner getting a second win of the season in the third race would set them up for a strong championship run.

“The season is a marathon not a sprint but you definitely want to get off to a strong start,” said Todd. “We got to some finals last year but didn’t seal the deal so winning the first race was a great way to start the 2021 season. We are No. 2 in the points right now but we want to stay at the top all season long. This is a tough class and you have to bring your best to the starting line every run.”

In the season opening win Todd’s DHL Toyota Camry was running flawlessly through the first three rounds and in the final Todd had to get the win with his pedaling skills after he surprisingly smoked the tires early in the run. The savvy driver was able to regain control and race to victory over Robert Hight who also had traction issues a second after Todd.

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Commerce, GA – Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster team will be heading to the 40th installment of the NHRA Southern Nationals this weekend with momentum from their most recent runner-up finish in Las Vegas as well as the confidence from a full day of testing earlier in the week. The Mac Tools team, currently No. 4 in the Camping World Drag Racing Series standing, will be hitting Atlanta Dragway looking for their fourth win at the long-standing NHRA facility which will be hosting its final national event this weekend.

“Winning the last Southern Nationals would be something very cool for sure,” said Kalitta, who has wins at the Southern Nationals in 2005, 2006 and 2016. “My Mac Tools dragster has been running really well, so we will be trying to make sure we are the last dragster down the track at the Southern Nationals. My guys are rock solid and super hungry to win like me. It has been fun working with these guys and going rounds at the first two races of the season.”

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LAS VEGAS – J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team entered the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals as the points leader and winner of the previous two Vegas four-wide events in 2018 and 2019. The race was not contested last season due to the pandemic. Todd started the season with a win at the historic Gatornationals and was confident his DHL team led by crew chiefs Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer could grab a third win at the spring event.

During the two days of qualifying Todd got off of a good start with a 3.980 second run on Friday. On Saturday the team worked on a race day tune up with limited success. On both runs his DHL Camry Funny Car hazed the tires at the top end but Todd felt strongly they were getting closer to a manageable tune-up.

He entered race day as the No. 9 qualifier and needing to finish in the top two racing against No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight, No. 8 qualifier Cruz Pedregon and No. 16 qualifier Jonnie Lindberg. The preparation Todd’s team did after the third qualifying session paid off as his DHL Toyota Funny Car roared to the finish line with a winning time of 3.955 seconds outpacing second place finisher Hight’s 3.980 second pass. The round win gave the team a boost heading into the next round.

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LAS VEGAS – The DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster was looking to continue their dominant start to the season on the heels of their runner-up finish at the season opening Gatornationals. The 21st NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals provided the opportunity for Langdon to briefly jump into the points lead after qualifying. Heading into race day the No. 6 qualifier knew he would face some tough competition but the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel world champions also knew he had a race car that could holds its own against any race car on the property.

Langdon was looking for his first Top Fuel four-wide title to add to his 2019 Funny Car four-wide win at the Carolina Nationals. In the opening quad Langdon was racing with teammate Doug Kalitta along with Troy Buff and Rob Passey. Langdon had the confidence he could be one of the first race cars to the finish line. It was a Kalitta Motorsports sweep as Langdon crossed the finish line just behind Kalitta and moved both Top Fuel dragsters to the second quad.

In the second quad Steve Torrence and Leah Pruett joined Langdon and Kalitta. Conditions were changing slightly and Langdon’s team felt they could be a little more aggressive. Unfortunately, the DHL Kalitta Air dragster had a little too much power and when Langdon hit the throttle his 11,000 horsepower land rocket over-powered the track. Langdon saw Kalitta and Torrence pulling away but he feathered the throttle and regained power hoping one of the other two dragster in front of him might run into issues. He ran out of track just over eight seconds after he left the starting line and had to settle for a third place finish in front of Pruett.

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LAS VEGAS – Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster raced to the final round of the 21st NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals grabbing a runner-up finish and jumping up to fourth place in the Camping World Top Fuel point standings. Throughout the weekend Kalitta and the Mac Tools team were at the top of their game. During qualifying they posted some of the quickest times grabbing three qualifying bonus points for running the third quickest run of the second session and the second quickest run during the final qualifying session.

As the No. 3 qualifier Kalitta squared off with teammate Shawn Langdon, Troy Buff and Rob Passey in the first round.  The round win was never in jeopardy as he was first off the starting line and first to the finish line with a 3.751 second run.

The next quad featured Kalitta facing Steve Torrence and Leah Pruett along with Langdon. At the finish line it was Kalitta crossing beside Torrence to advance to the final quad. The Mac Tools team kept it consistent and quick with a 3.768 second run.

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LAS VEGAS – Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster team will roll into The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend looking for one more round win as they tackle four-wide racing for the first time in 2021. It has been over a year since any NHRA teams have made runs in the unique four-wide format and for Kalitta who raced to a quarterfinal finish at the season opening Gatornationals the Vegas race will be a welcome challenge. The veteran driver has raced to the final quad on three occasions including the 2014 Vegas Nationals but he has never been first to the stripe. In all three races Kalitta grabbed runner-up honors.

“I have come close a couple times in the four-wide races but you never know what can happen when you get four race cars on the track at the same time,” said Kalitta, who has one win at The Strip. “There is a lot going on for sure. I just try and do my regular routine. Not much changes other than you have a couple more race cars out there. I know my crew chief Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching have a good Las Vegas tune-up so we will see what happens.”

In 2019 Kalitta was runner-up at the last Four-Wide National event contested in Charlotte. The pandemic cancelled both four-wide races in 2020. His previous successes in the unique format include the runner-up finish in Las Vegas in 2014 and another runner-up in Charlotte in 2010. The four-wide race gives drivers and teams the benefit advancing to the next round if they are either first or second to the finish line in each of the first two rounds or quads. The final quad sets up the winner, runner-up and semifinalists.

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LAS VEGAS – The last time Shawn Langdon wheeled a Top Fuel dragster to the starting line  was three years ago but the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion isn’t worried about getting back into the four-wide groove. Last year four-wide racing was a casualty of the pandemic and the previous two seasons Langdon was battling it out in the Funny Car category. This weekend at the NHRA Vegas Four-Wide Nationals Langdon and his DHL/Kalitta Air Top Fuel team will be looking to add a Top Fuel four-wide win to his resume.

“I am glad to be getting back to racing,” said Langdon. “This was a long lay-off but I am looking forward to getting back to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Four-Wide Nationals. I like four-wide racing because it is different. There are some guys that I think it bothers but I am fine with it. I don’t change anything when I am inside the race car.”

Langdon picked up his first career Funny Car win at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals in 2019 and followed that up with another Funny Car win later that season in St. Louis. There isn’t much the reigning U.S. Nationals champion hasn’t done behind the wheel of a race car. He hasn’t picked up a four-wide Top Fuel victory and that is definitely on his mind heading into race weekend considering he had a strong car at the season opening Gatornationals.

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LAS VEGAS – Funny Car point leader J.R. Todd is looking forward to getting back to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a variety of reasons. The Gatornationals winner has a great history of success at the NHRA Vegas Four-Wide Nationals. The race was skipped last season due to the pandemic but Todd had won the previous two four-wide races and will be looking for his third win in the desert this weekend at the unique event. No one has raced four-wide in over a year but Todd feels the playing field will be relatively level once race cars like his DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car hit the track.

“Everyone is in the same boat really,” said Todd. “I try and do the same thing and not worry about the fact there are a couple more race cars on the track. You want to get off the line quick and keep it straight. The Four-Wide Nationals does offer a different variable which is cool. You have to pay more attention and really listen to your crew chief or crew guys when they are telling you who is in the other lanes. I know it will be interesting for sure. We will have a lot of Funny Cars and it has been a while since we raced.”

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Gainesville, FL – Today’s win marked J.R. Todd’s first-ever Gatornationals victory and gave him a sweep of the NHRA “Grand Slam” of the

four biggest races in the sport – the Winternationals, the Gatornationals, the U.S. Nationals and the NHRA Finals. He also won the 2018 Funny Car world championship. This was his 19th career NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series victory and his 10th in a Funny Car since moving to the series in 2017. He becomes just the 18th driver in history to win 10 Nitro Funny Car events.

“It was nice to put our DHL Toyota Camry in the winner’s circle,” said Todd. “Our goal every week is to show up and win. 2021 is a new year and it’s a good way to start off the season with a win here at one of the biggest races of the year. Now we need to ride that momentum as long as we can. This is one you want to check off the list when you see the schedule whether it’s the first race or the third race. It’s the first time this has ever been the first race of the season and I guess we’re the points leader until we get out west.”

Getting the Gatornationals win secured his place in history as a “Grand Slam” NHRA event winner.

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