Kalitta and Mac Tools Leaving DeWalt Nationals Focused on Success in St. Louis

Charlotte, NC – Two races into the NHRA Countdown have Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel team battling to find race day consistency. They will be heading to St. Louis for the Midwest Nationals next weekend looking to move up in the point standings. Kalitta sits No 10 but with the reset point standings dramatic jumps up the standings are possible at every race. Heading into eliminations at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals today as the No. 12 qualifier Kalitta was facing the point leader Steve Torrence. For the past several years it has been Kalitta and Torrence battling for the Top Fuel world championship.

Warmer temperatures today changed the conditions for the teams tuning these 11,000 horsepower racecars. Crew chief Rob Flynn knew he would need to find a balance between an aggressive tune up that was also conservative enough to hold traction as Kalitta accelerated down track. As soon as the race began Kalitta grabbed a starting line advantage with a quicker reaction time, .054 to .066, and both cars immediately launched down their respective lanes. As the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster began to close in on the finish line it began to mix up cylinders and slow. Just before the stripe Kalitta’s motor let go and Torrence took the first round win.

As the racecars crossed the finish line Kalitta’s scoreboard lit up 3.817 seconds at 288.83 mph which was his quickest elapsed time to the race but one of his slower speeds reflecting the damage that was suffered at the end of the run. With every run Kalitta’s team improved throughout the weekend but it was not enough to advance to the quarterfinals. The two-time national event runner-up finisher this season will be turning his focus to the next race.

“We are just going to keep working hard,” said Kalitta, from the top end, “We have a lot of support from Mac Tools and Toyota. This whole team has really pulled together. We just need to get by first round which has been a little bit of a problem lately. We are going to keep digging. These Mac Tools guys have a great attitude and are working hard every race. We are three teams at Kalitta Motorsports that all work together.”

Kalitta will head to the Midwest Nationals in the top ten with five races remaining in the NHRA Countdown.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 12 (3.869 sec, 305.84 mph)
Bonus points: 0

Race Details:

First Round
Driver                                  Qual       R/T         ET           MPH
Doug Kalitta                      12           .054       3.817     288.83
Steve Torrence                 5             .066       3.725     325.45 (W)