Doug Kalitta Chasing Record-Setting Sixth Sonoma Nationals Win

Sonoma, CA – As the winningest driver in the history of Top Fuel at Sonoma Raceway Doug Kalitta would like to add another title to his record-setting career this weekend at the Sonoma Nationals.  The five-time Top Fuel winner last stood in the winner’s circle at the track located in northern California’s wine country in 2005 and the career 49-time Top Fuel winner is focused on a return to victory. This season Kalitta has kept the Mac Tools Toyota dragster in the top ten with strong qualifying efforts and flashes of dominance on race day.

“We have a great team over here on this Mac Tools Toyota dragster,” said Kalitta, who has five quarterfinal finishes this season. “(Crew chiefs) Alan Johnson and Brian Husen have been a great addition and we just need some things to go our way on race day. I am ready for that next win and I would love to get another one at the Sonoma Nationals. It is an amazing facility and we have had a lot of success there.”

Kalitta collected the first Top Fuel win of his career in Sonoma in 1998 and the perennial championship contender went on an immediate winning streak. He won the two more races in a row collecting titles in 1999 and 2000. He then went back-to-back in 2004 and 2005 with a runner-up finish mixed in during the 2002 national event.

“We got really hot when I started racing with wins at Sonoma,” said Kalitta. “I don’t know what it was about the place, but we really had a good run. I know we can capture some of that success this weekend.”

In addition to the five wins Kalitta and his Mac Tools team also started from the No. 1 spot in 1998, 2004 and most recently in 2012. This season Kalitta’s qualifying performances have also been strong. He ran to his career 51st No. 1 qualifier at the Arizona Nationals early this year and he has only started from the bottom half of the field one time this season.

“We have had a strong race car in qualifying, but we just haven’t gotten any breaks on race day,” said Kalitta. “It seems like you need one thing to go your way if you want to get that win. We are going to make our own luck and give it our best this weekend. We’ll have a lot of support from our sponsors like Mac Tools and Revchem Composites. I know the fans will be behind us here.”

The second race of the Western Swing is an opportunity for Kalitta to start building momentum as the regular season draws to a close. There are five more regular season races before the six-race Countdown starts. The Mac Tools team is not counting points, but they know every spot they move up in the top ten brings them closer to a championship when the points reset.

“We definitely feel like we can move up in the points over these last few regular season races. We are going to tracks where I have a lot of confidence,” added Kalitta. “I am going to do my job behind the wheel of the Mac Tools dragster and I know the Mac Tools team will do theirs. That combination when we are at the top of our game is tough to beat.”

2021 NHRA Sonoma Nationals Highlights: Qual. No. 8, Beat Mike Salinas; Lost to Steve Torrence

Last Event Recap 2022 Mile-High Nationals:  Qual. No. 8, Lost to Josh Hart

Career Stats: 555 events, 548 starts, 729 round wins, 49 wins, 107 finals, 51 No. 1 qualifiers

2022 Results
Winternationals: Qual. 5; Lost to Tony Schumacher
Arizona Nationals: Qual. 1; Lost to Rob Passey
Gatornationals: Qual 5; Beat Alex Laughlin; Lost to Mike Salinas
Las Vegas1: Qual 6; Lost to Leah Pruett and Shawn Langdon
Houston: Qual 3; Lost to Billy Torrence
Charlotte1: Qual 4; Beat Alex Laughlin, Doug Foley; Lost to Mike Salinas, Cameron Ferre
Richmond: Qual 6; Beat Leah Pruett; Lost to Austin Prock
Epping: Qual 4; Beat Cameron Ferre; Lost to Shawn Langdon
Bristol: Qual 12; Lost to Brittany Force
Norwalk: Qual. No. 6, Beat Antron Brown; Lost to Mike Salinas
Denver: Qual. No. 8, Lost to Josh Hart