Doug Kalitta Drives Mac Tools to Quarterfinals in New England

Epping, NH – The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster team and driver Doug Kalitta were looking to continue their momentum from a final round appearance two weeks ago in Houston. They raced to the quarterfinals today to continue a consistent streak of winning rounds and putting up solid performance numbers. The team has been working all season to build on strong qualifying efforts and race day results that have led to two runner-up finishes so far this season.

Over two days of qualifying the Mac Tools dragster was one of the most consistent and quick race cars on the property. Kalitta posted top three qualifying runs in two of the three sessions. He was the third quickest Top Fuel driver in the first and third qualifying sessions. The team went into race day as the No. 5 qualifier and a tough first round race with teammate Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster.

In the first round both dragster launched together but it was Kalitta who kept his dragster hooked up for the entire run. Langdon smoked the tires just before half-track and tried to reel in Kalitta but he lost too much momentum. Kalitta advanced to face Mike Salinas in the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals when the tree activated it was Kalitta who took an early lead and was pulling away from Salinas. As both race cars reached half-track Kalitta smoked the tires and that opened the door for Salinas to get in front of him for the win.

“The motor is a little happier so we made some progress with that,” said Kalitta, a 49-time Top Fuel winner. “You can’t run when you are tearing your car up. I am happy about that. We got knocked out in the second round and we were really looking to take home that Wally. I feel good about the direction we are going. We just have to keep our heads down and get after it at the next one.”

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 5 (3.788 sec., 320.51 mph)
Bonus points: +2 (3rd quickest of Q1 and Q3)

Race Details:

First Round
Driver                                    Qual       R/T         ET           MPH
Doug Kalitta                          5              .081        3.842     293.98 (W)
Shawn Langdon                     8              .057        4.080     292.96

Second Round
Driver                                    Qual       R/T         ET           MPH
Doug Kalitta                          5              .071        4.300     197.74
Mike Salinas                           2              .080        3.792     324.36 (W)