Doug Kalitta Looking to Take Osborn To Indy Win
Indianapolis – The Mac Tools team keeps rolling and racing to final rounds with Doug Kalitta holding onto a strong Mello Yello points lead in 
Top Fuel. Last weekend Kalitta qualified No. 2 and raced to his third consecutive final round of the 2020 NHRA season, fourth final in a row going back to last year’s Auto Club finals and seventh final in the last ten races. The consistency and dominance of the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster has Kalitta excited to get back to the track this weekend for the NHRA SummerNationals in Indianapolis.
“These Mac Tools guys have been busting their tails,” said Kalitta. “Rob (Flynn) and Troy (Fasching) gave me a great car in qualifying and we got three more round wins on Sunday. I think we are in a great spot and I just want to keep racing.”
This weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis Kalitta will be sporting a new look, the blue and white of new Kalitta Motorsports sponsor Osborn. The race car was unveiled on Tuesday and was put through the paces last Friday during the NHRA pre-race test session. The brand new look will give Kalitta even more motivation to excel on track this weekend.
“We are excited to show off this Osborn Top Fuel dragster,” said Kalitta. “We have been working on this program from a while and the car looks great. I think we are running it a couple of times but this weekend is the big debut. We also have new partner Mobil 1 up front on this race car and we can’t thank those guys enough for their help as well.”
Last weekend Kalitta hit a significant career milestone when he picked up his 700th round win in Top Fuel. He is only the second Top Fuel driver to every reach this milestone and to achieve it at the historic track in Indianapolis was especially important.
“There is so much history at Indy,” said Kalitta. “You look at the U.S. Nationals and all the big names that have won here. I was lucky to add my name to that list last year and then to get the 700th round win here is really cool. I am looking to get a lot more round wins and I have a lot of people to thank for their support but most of all I have to thank Connie (Kalitta) for giving me this opportunity.”
In addition to Osborn coming onboard at the end of last year Kalitta Motorsports has been reaping the benefits of new sponsors Mobil 1 and NGK Spark Plugs. Both of those performance relationships have contributed to the overall success of all three Kalitta race cars but none more than the Top Fuel dragster Kalitta has been wheeling since February.
“We have been having a great season and I think so much of our success has been because of sponsors like Toyota with TRD, Mobil 1 and NGK Spark Plugs. These companies all give us great products and also support and research away from the track. There are a lot of things we learn on the track that goes back to them for use on the consumer side and we get the benefit of a lot of motorsports expertise from them that we use on the NHRA side. It is a real win-win for everyone,” added Kalitta.
Last Event Recap (2020 NHRA Indy1 Nationals): Qual. No. 2; RUNNER-UP; Beat Lex Joon, Leah Pruett and Antron Brown; Lost to Billy Torrence
Quotable: Doug Kalitta on getting season re-started: “The first race in Indy was a good one for the Mac Tools Toyota team. We kept our momentum from the first two races and I don’t think we missed a beat. I am glad we will be getting right back at it.”
Career Stats: 516 events, 509 starts, 700 round wins, 48 wins, 104 finals, 50 No. 1 qualifiers
2020 Season:
Winternationals: Qual. No. 5; WINNER; Beat Brandon Welch, Justin Ashley, Brittany Force and Austin Prock
Arizona Nationals: Qual. No. 8; RUNNER-UP; Beat Shawn Reed, Brittany Force and Antron Brown; Lost to Steve Torrence
Indy1 NHRA Nationals: Qual. No. 2; RUNNER-UP; Beat Lex Joon, Leah Pruett and Antron Brown; Lost to Billy Torrence
