Mac Tools Dragster and Doug Kalitta Looking to Get Job Done at DeWalt Carolina Nationals

Charlotte, NC – The last time Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel team hit the track at zMax Dragway they were battling for the 2019 Top Fuel championship and raced to the final round. Once again Kalitta and his familiar red and white 11,000 horsepower land rocket are in the Countdown chasing their first championship and this weekend at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Kalitta will be looking to keep his streak of successful races alive in Charlotte.

“We have had good luck in Charlotte over the years,” said Kalitta. “We had a good run the last time we were there, and we won that race a couple years before that. It is a great facility and I feel good about our chances this weekend.”

Since 2010 Kalitta has raced to the final round at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals four times and collected a No. 1 qualifier in 2017. The success at the track for the perennial championship contending team is not surprising. Throughout his 20-year career as the driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster Kalitta’s name has constantly been in the championship conversation. In 2019 when he raced to the final round in Charlotte he narrowly missed the championship and came back even stronger last season.

“Our goal every year is to win that Camping World Top Fuel world championship,” said Kalitta. “You have to make the Countdown to have a chance at the championship and we have done that again this season. We would have liked to have been a little higher in the points but a couple wins can get us right at the top. This is a team that is capable to ripping of two or three wins in a row.”

This season Kalitta has raced to two runner-up finishes and started from the top half of the field seven times. His performances in Las Vegas and Houston have shown the capabilities of the Mac Tools Top Fuel team. Most recently the team started the U.S. Nationals as the No. 3 qualifier and then raced to the quarterfinals.

“We finished the regular season with some good runs in Indianapolis at the U.S. Nationals,” said Kalitta. “We didn’t have the kind of race we wanted in Reading to start the Countdown, but we have six more races. This weekend will be critical for us and we are going to give it everything we have.”

2019 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Highlights (event not contested in 2020): RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 10; Beat Antron Brown, Leah Pruett, Brittany Force; Lost to Steve Torrence

Last Event Recap (2021 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 9; Lost to Justin Ashley

Career Stats: 538 events, 531 starts, 722 round wins, 49 wins, 107 finals, 50 No. 1 qualifiers
2021 Season:
Gatornationals: Qual. No. 4; Beat Arthur Allen; Lost to Justin Ashley
Las Vegas1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 3; Beat Troy Buff and Rob Passey, Beat Shawn Langdon and Leah Pruett; Lost to Steve Torrence
Atlanta: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Antron Brown
Charlotte1: Qual. No. 12; Beat Josh Hart, Billy Torrence, Kyle Wurtzel; Lost to Brittany Force, Josh Hart
Houston: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 9; Beat Brittany Force, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon; Lost to Steve Torrence
Epping: Qual. No. 5; Beat Shawn Langdon, Lost to Mike Salinas
Norwalk: Qual. No. 11; Lost to Antron Brown
Denver: Qual. No. 4; Lost to Leah Pruett
Sonoma: Qual. No. 8; Beat Mike Salinas; Lost to Steve Torrence
Pomona1: Qual. No. 6; Lost to Clay Millican
Topeka: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Clay Millican
Brainerd: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Clay Millican
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 3; Beat Krista Baldwin; Lost to Billy Torrence
Reading: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Justin Ashley