Doug Kalitta Claims No. 1 Qualifying Spot Before Teammate Ends His Day in Round Two

JOLIET, IL — Doug Kalitta put together one of the strongest qualifying performances of the 2026 season at Route 66 Raceway, posting a 3.720-second run at 338.17 mph in Friday’s second session to claim the top spot in Top Fuel at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK. It was the 68th No. 1 qualifier of Kalitta’s career, his second of the season, and his second consecutive at Route 66 Raceway.

Elimination day told a different story. With only 15 Top Fuel entries in the field, Kalitta received a first-round bye and advanced directly to the second round — where he found himself lined up against teammate Shawn Langdon. Kalitta left the starting line first and held the early lead, but his Mac Tools dragster lost traction mid-track. Kalitta pedaled and gathered it up, but Langdon had too much ground to make up and won the round by .6056 seconds.

Points Standing

Kalitta leaves Chicago in second place in the Top Fuel standings, trailing teammate and points leader Langdon by 54 points. He holds an 111-point cushion over third-place Leah Pruett.

Kalitta on Chicago

“We qualified first — that was a good start for us. We made a good run in the first round, but in the second round, for whatever reason, the thing just went out there and smoked ’em. We got it gathered up and trucking down through there, but Shawn was too far ahead so I just got out of it. We’re all hungry, and obviously that wasn’t what we were hoping for today, but overall, I’m real proud of the effort from my guys — it was just one of those deals.”

Up Next: Team Kalitta returns to action May 29–31, 2026 at the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals in Mechanicsville, Md. For more information visit www.nhra.com or www.teamkalitta.com.

Finals Broadcast Replay: Wednesday, May 20, 6–9 p.m. ET on FS2

Photo courtesy: NHRA