PHOENIX NO. 1 QUALIFIER, #2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE WIN MAKE DOUG KALITTA, MAC TOOLS TEAM EVEN HUNGRIER

YPSILANTI, MI – It had been a while since Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools team turned on a win light, and after winning the inaugural Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Kalitta and his Mac Tools team are even hungrier to return Kalitta Motorsports to the winner’s circle. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes March 31-April 2, 2023 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

In addition to winning the new NHRA special event, Kalitta earned his 52nd No. 1 qualifier in Phoenix. Despite suffering a quarterfinal loss to his teammate, Shawn Langdon, the weekend provided more evidence of a Team Kalitta comeback.

“It was awesome – we were happy to turn on the win light so hats off to Alan (crew chief Alan Johnson) and all my guys,” Kalitta said. “We took a lot of positives out of Phoenix with the No. 1 qualifier and our win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty challenge. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s going on. It was nice to be back in the winner’s circle, and that only makes our Mac Tools Toyota team even hungrier to win again- were working on it. We just have to be patient apparently because we’ve been trying for a long time now, but we’re sneaking up on it for sure. This week would be a perfect time to do that.”

Kalitta enjoys prolific Pomona stats. He has six wins in 13 final-round appearances along with six No. 1 qualifiers. In addition, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip is also considered crew chief Alan Johnson’s home track, and the legendary tuner has won countless races and clinched multiple championships with race wins at the historic track.

“Pomona has been a really good track for us over the years, and we’d like to make more memories there this weekend,” Kalitta said. “We’ve done well there, but so has Alan so that’s a lot of track knowledge that will be an added bonus for our Mac Tools Toyota team. Hopefully things will line up well for us, and we can have a shot at a win this weekend.

“The Winternationals is a race with so much incredible history. It’s one of the NHRA’s most historic tracks, and you could call it the birthplace of the NHRA so it’s always fun to race there. Southern California race fans are passionate, and they know their drag racing. We always have great crowds there, and that only adds to the excitement of racing at Pomona.”

Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Pomona, Calif.
TV Schedule:
Qualifying 1: 7-8:30:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1 on FS1
Qualifying 2: 12:30-2 p.m. Sunday, April 2 on FS1
Finals: 7-10 p.m. Sunday, April 2 on FS1
2022 Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Recap: Qualified No. 5 and lost to Tony Schumacher in the first round.

Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 568 events, 741 round wins, 49 wins, 107 final rounds, 52 No. 1 qualifiers

2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Results To Date:
Gatornationals: Qualified third; defeated Spencer Massey, Antron Brown; lost to Steve Torrence
Phoenix: Qualified No. 1; defeated Rob Passey, lost to Shawn Langdon

Current Point Standings: Kalitta enters Pomona in fifth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails fourth-place Justin Ashley by five points and leads sixth-place Langdon by 12 points.