North Dinwiddie, VA – Doug Kalitta was the No. 7 qualifier at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals. Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt came during the last of three qualifying rounds Saturday afternoon when Kalitta reached the finish line in 3.905 seconds at 327.43 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown and Clay Millican before losing to Justin Ashley when the Mac Tools dragster smoked the tires in the semifinals.

When Kalitta advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge next week in Norwalk, Ohio. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Richmond will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Richmond in fourth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place Justin Ashley by 22 points and leads fifth-place Antron Brown by 17 points. Continue reading →

North Dinwiddie, VA – J.R. Todd was the No. 3 qualifier at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team made three strong qualifying passes all within five hundredths of a second. His best qualifying attempt came in the first of three Saturday sessions when he made a 4.018-second pass at 320.05 mph. It was Todd’s best qualifying result of the season.

Eliminations: Todd defeated Buddy Hull and Hunter Green before losing to Austin Prock when the DHL GR Supra smoked the tires early in the run.

When Todd advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge next week in Norwalk, Ohio. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Richmond will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Richmond in sixth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails fifth-place Matt Hagan by 23 points and leads seventh-place Daniel Wilkerson by 24 points. Continue reading →

North Dinwiddie, VA – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals. Langdon’s best qualifying attempt was a 3.891-second effort at 322.96 mph during the second of three qualifying rounds on Saturday.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Cameron Ferre, Dan Mercier, points leader Tony Stewart and Justin Ashley on the way to his third win of the season, more than any other Top Fuel driver. It was the 22nd win of his career.

When Langdon advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge next week in Norwalk, Ohio. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Richmond will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Richmond in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails points leader Tony Stewart by 31 points. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team need their mojo back, and maybe, just maybe, returning to the site of a great win one year ago will get it back. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues June 21-22 at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond, Va.

Battling extremely hot conditions, Kalitta was the No. 2 qualifier at Richmond last summer. He stormed to the final round for an all-Team Kalitta showdown with Shawn Langdon. Kalitta would get the win and celebrate after one of the hottest races in recent memory, and this weekend’s forecast once again includes some serious heat. Kalitta won the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout and three Mission Foods Challenges along with five No. 1 qualifiers in the season’s first eight races, but he still lacks a race win.

“It’s just a hell of a team effort,” Kalitta said. “We’re all trying to do our thing, and I have such great confidence in this Mac Tools Toyota team. We’re all working together, trying to make it happen. Everybody’s trying really hard, and we know we have the car to win. We just have to find a Sunday to get it done. It’s getting to the hot part of the year. We’re just have to realize it’s going to be hot and we’re going to have to deal with it, so we’ll shake it up and be ready this weekend at Richmond.” Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Less than a week after winning the New England NHRA Nationals, J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team enjoyed another positive race weekend in the Tennessee mountains. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues June 21-22 at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond, Va.

The DHL team added four-time NHRA Funny Car championship Crew Chief Dickie Venables in the off season and began remaking the team with wholesale changes. The team struggled at times but remained positive understanding the process would take time. Everyone, including the driver, had to be patient. Two weeks ago in Bristol, Tenn., the DHL team won its first Mission Foods Challenge of the season celebrating its second win in six days. Todd would qualify sixth for the Thunder Valley Nationals but lose to Ron Capps in the second round, but the team added its most-recent blocks in the rebuilding process.

“With completely changing what we had on the DHL car in the past, we knew it was going to take some time,” Todd said. “But you also don’t want to dig yourself a big hole where you’re battling just to make the top 10 in the Countdown (NHRA Playoffs). Realistically, you need to start the Countdown in the top five to have a shot at the championship. We’re building some good momentum and racking up some qualifying points where we can. It’s nice that NHRA is doing the regular season championship bonus; I’m not saying we’re out of that, but that’s really not our focus. We just want to go out there and win races and kind of let the points fall where they may. Then once Indy comes and then the countdown, that’s when you got to get serious and turn it up. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – The first eight races of the season were good to Shawn Langdon and his Kalitta Air Careers team, but with the summer months upon us, hot race tracks have arrived. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues June 21-22 at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond, Va.

The all-important “hot track tune-up” is the key to summer success in drag racing. Two races remain until the mid-point of the season, but only five races remain until the end of the regular season. One year ago, Langdon went into Richmond enjoying a season similar to what he’s experienced this year. He was the No. 1 qualifier and advanced to the final round where lost the all-Team Kalitta final round to his teammate, Doug Kalitta. It was one of several final-round losses on which the Kalitta Air Careers team hopes to flip the script this year.

“We got off to a good start this year, just like last year,” Langdon said. “It was last year around this time we hit the skids so we’re hoping history doesn’t repeat itself. I have a good team, and Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) is very smart. The things he goes through, the things he addresses and the things we talk about cover everything. That’s why he’s had the success he’s had as a crew chief. What happened last year is in the back of your mind, but it’s not something that alters your course. I just believe in this team so much, and we have a great race car so I feel like we have a good shot.” Continue reading →

Bristol, TN – Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 9 qualifier at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt happened Friday afternoon in the opening round of qualifying when Kalitta made a 3.900-second pass at 289.01 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta raced Josh Hart in the first round of eliminations. Unfortunately, the Aflac Top Fuel dragster smoked the tires at the same point as most Top Fuel cars running in the right lane, and Kalitta was eliminated.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Bristol in fifth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails fourth-place Justin Ashley by five points and leads sixth-place Brittany Force by 43 points.

Continue reading →

Bristol, TN – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 6 qualifier at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the first qualifying session Saturday afternoon, which was also the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Todd’s 3987-second pass at 327.03 mph made him the No. 6 qualifier and put him in the Mission Foods Challenge final round where he defeated Jack Beckman to win his first Mission Foods Challenge of the season.

Eliminations: Todd defeated Spencer Hyde in the first round. The pair before Todd and Ron Capps’ second round matchup had problems leading to a delay of more than 30 minutes. When the track was clear, Capps got the win 4.111 to Todd’s losing 4.324-second effort. It was an extremely close race until Todd’s DHL GR Supra began spinning the tires when approaching the finish line.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Bristol in sixth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails fifth-place Matt Hagan by 66 points and leads seventh-place Dan Wilkerson by 27 points. Continue reading →

Bristol, TN – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. His best qualifying effort came in the opening round Friday afternoon when the Kalitta Air Careers dragster reached the finish line in 3.800 seconds at 328.54 mph.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Cody Krohn and Josh Hart before facing Justin Ashley in the semifinals. Lane choice was pivotal at Thunder Valley today, and Langdon did not have it in the semifinals. Ashley took advantage of the better lane and ended Langdon’s day after the Kalitta Air Careers dragster smoked the tires early in the run.

When Langdon advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge later this month at Virginia Motorsports Park. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals at Thunder Valley will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points. Continue reading →

YPSILANTI, MI – Despite a less-than-spectacular showing at New England Dragway last weekend, Shawn Langdon is second in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings and eager to get back on track this weekend. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues June 6-8 at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers team enters the season’s eighth race with wins in Phoenix and Charlotte as well as three wins in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge having won the Saturday event in Phoenix, Pomona, Calif., and Chicago. He was the No. 6 qualifier last weekend but lost to Dan Mercier in the first round when the Kalitta Air Careers car smoked the tires almost immediately after the run began. Still, Langdon and team will roll into Thunder Valley knowing they have one of the top teams in the class capable of clicking off round wins and race wins.

“It’s a good feeling,” Langdon said. “A couple of years ago, we struggled. So to come back, with (Team Owner) Connie Kalitta leading the way and giving us all the resources, (General Manager) Chad Head doing a lot of homework and putting a great team together, feels really good. We really feel like, from top to bottom, we have one of the best teams out there. We feel very competitive at every track we go to, and that’s obviously a great feeling to have as a driver. You couldn’t ask for anything more – to be a part of a great team with a great race car. Continue reading →