Doug Kalitta Bows Out in Round one in Bristol

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.

Kalitta on Bristol: “It was one of those deals; that right lane’s been tough, but even in qualifying and the Mission Foods Challenge, our Aflac Toyota team ended up in that right lane pretty much through qualifying. We just never got a good, solid run in, unfortunately. We were second pair out today; it was a struggle, and unfortunately, we smoked the tires. I kind of pedaled the thing and got close, but we were a few car lengths behind. It’s unfortunate with all the guys from Aflac, Alpine Benefits group and Mac Tools here this weekend; we really wanted to get them a win. All my guys worked their tails off this week like they always do; they make it hard to have a bad day out here.”

Kalitta Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports