DOUG KALITTA FALLS IN HEARTBREAKING ALL-KALITTA FINAL AT NHRA POTOMAC NATIONALS

BUDDS CREEK, MD — Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster team came agonizingly close to victory at the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals at Maryland International Raceway Sunday, falling to teammate Shawn Langdon by just two ten-thousandths of a second — roughly one inch — in the final round.

Kalitta qualified second with a best of 3.771 seconds at 333.00 mph in the final session Saturday. In eliminations, he defeated Lex Joon, Clay Millican, and Leah Pruett to reach the final round for the second all-Kalitta Motorsports final in the last three events.

The final was as close as drag racing gets. Kalitta’s 3.766-second run at 334.24 mph was bested only by Langdon’s 3.762 at 334.90 mph in a photo-finish loss. It was Kalitta’s third runner-up finish of the season.

“A second definitely sucks, but overall, it was a really close race,” said Kalitta. “I have to hand it to Alan, Mac, all my guys and the guys on Shawn’s team. They had two very close-running cars. It was a good day for the dragsters, for Kalitta Motorsports, and all the people that make it possible at Mac Tools, Revchem and SealMaster. We just have to lick our wounds and be ready next weekend in New Hampshire.”

Kalitta leaves Maryland second in the Top Fuel points standings, trailing Langdon by 76 points and holding a 140-point advantage over third-place Leah Pruett. The team returns to action June 5-7 at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.