YPSILANTI, Mich. (Aug. 26, 2025) – The goal for any athlete on any team in any sport is to be performing at its highest level when the season-ending playoffs approach, and that is exactly where Doug Kalitta finds himself. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series completes its regular season Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
The 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion and his Mac Tools team are in great form entering the final regular-season race. Back-to-back wins are great at any time, but when they happen with the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs on the horizon, they’re phenomenal.
Kalitta enters this week’s U.S. Nationals in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings just six points behind second place Tony Stewart and 51 points behind his teammate, points leader Shawn Langdon. Kalitta has been a prolific qualifier this season recording seven No. 1 qualifiers and qualifying in the top-four positions 10 times in the 13 races to date. Entering the biggest race of the year in top form with the sport’s first $150,000 regular-season championship within reach makes the weekend even bigger than the season’s biggest race.
“It’s exciting to have a shot at the regular season championship,” Kalitta said. “We just have to keep our heads down and keep digging. With points and a half, we’re within two rounds of Shawn and Tony. I’m just glad we’re making a hard charge at this point in the season. Our goal is obviously to get the prize at the end of the season, but the regular-season prize would be a really cool accomplishment for sure. These last couple of races have been fun; the car’s been going down the track and running well so we’re totally geeked about going to Indy and seeing what we have for sure.”
“All the guys are doing a wonderful job, and they’re not making any mistakes,” Crew Chief Alan Johnson said. “Going into Indy and the Countdown is the time of the year to get hot. Hats off to everybody at the Kalitta camp; they do a great job, and they’re really organized. Hopefully, we can keep this roll going for another seven races.”
“It’s special; the race just before the countdown and obviously with hype over the years when Connie was trying to win the U.S. Nationals, there’s a lot of fun history there with our family. At the end of the day, though, we just have to qualify well and be ready for Monday.
“Getting hot late in the season is definitely the name of the game, and we’re getting close to the Countdown so we’ve definitely got a great shot at it,” Kalitta added. “I need to get a little bit better on the tree- whatever it takes to be more consistent. I’ll continue to work on that because the guys have my car really running well so we’re pretty fortunate. Our Mac Tools car has been a pleasure to drive. (Crew Chief) Alan Johnson, (Assistant Crew Chief) Mac Savage) and all my guys really have that thing dialed in, but it’s a matter of putting it together exactly the same every time. We’ve gone through that with our crew guys so everybody’s gelling right now which is really good.”
Kalitta Motorsports, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and eight additional partners, including Applied Innovation this weekend, are partnering in the Race to End Hunger benefitting Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Every Team Kalitta race-day win light in the next six races will generate 40,000 meals in the fight against food insecurity. Winning rounds on race day will also put Kalitta in the running to win his second U.S. Nationals where he has one weapon nobody else can claim.
“I’m pretty fortunate because Alan Johnson is on our team, and he’s a master,” Kalitta said. “I’ve raced against him my whole life. It’s amazing to drive a car he’s tuning, and he really has my car running right now. It’s fun; it’s what we do – these last two wins definitely give us some momentum going into Indy so we’re looking forward to that.”
Race Information: Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; Indianapolis
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Did not qualify.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 620 events, 57 wins, 65 runner-up, 823 round wins, 65 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
Kalitta Image Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post BACK-TO-BACK WINS HAVE DOUG KALITTA ‘TOTALLY GEEKED” FOR U.S. NATIONALS first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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The 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion and his Mac Tools team are in great form entering the final regular-season race. Back-to-back wins are great at any time, but when they happen with the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs on the horizon, they’re phenomenal.
Kalitta enters this week’s U.S. Nationals in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings just six points behind second place Tony Stewart and 51 points behind his teammate, points leader Shawn Langdon. Kalitta has been a prolific qualifier this season recording seven No. 1 qualifiers and qualifying in the top-four positions 10 times in the 13 races to date. Entering the biggest race of the year in top form with the sport’s first $150,000 regular-season championship within reach makes the weekend even bigger than the season’s biggest race.
“It’s exciting to have a shot at the regular season championship,” Kalitta said. “We just have to keep our heads down and keep digging. With points and a half, we’re within two rounds of Shawn and Tony. I’m just glad we’re making a hard charge at this point in the season. Our goal is obviously to get the prize at the end of the season, but the regular-season prize would be a really cool accomplishment for sure. These last couple of races have been fun; the car’s been going down the track and running well so we’re totally geeked about going to Indy and seeing what we have for sure.”
“All the guys are doing a wonderful job, and they’re not making any mistakes,” Crew Chief Alan Johnson said. “Going into Indy and the Countdown is the time of the year to get hot. Hats off to everybody at the Kalitta camp; they do a great job, and they’re really organized. Hopefully, we can keep this roll going for another seven races.”
“It’s special; the race just before the countdown and obviously with hype over the years when Connie was trying to win the U.S. Nationals, there’s a lot of fun history there with our family. At the end of the day, though, we just have to qualify well and be ready for Monday.
“Getting hot late in the season is definitely the name of the game, and we’re getting close to the Countdown so we’ve definitely got a great shot at it,” Kalitta added. “I need to get a little bit better on the tree- whatever it takes to be more consistent. I’ll continue to work on that because the guys have my car really running well so we’re pretty fortunate. Our Mac Tools car has been a pleasure to drive. (Crew Chief) Alan Johnson, (Assistant Crew Chief) Mac Savage) and all my guys really have that thing dialed in, but it’s a matter of putting it together exactly the same every time. We’ve gone through that with our crew guys so everybody’s gelling right now which is really good.”
Kalitta Motorsports, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and eight additional partners, including Applied Innovation this weekend, are partnering in the Race to End Hunger benefitting Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Every Team Kalitta race-day win light in the next six races will generate 40,000 meals in the fight against food insecurity. Winning rounds on race day will also put Kalitta in the running to win his second U.S. Nationals where he has one weapon nobody else can claim.
“I’m pretty fortunate because Alan Johnson is on our team, and he’s a master,” Kalitta said. “I’ve raced against him my whole life. It’s amazing to drive a car he’s tuning, and he really has my car running right now. It’s fun; it’s what we do – these last two wins definitely give us some momentum going into Indy so we’re looking forward to that.”
Race Information: Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; Indianapolis
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 9:30-11:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Play NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout: 5-6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Finals Round 1: Noon-2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 on FS1
- Finals: 2-5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 on FOX
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Did not qualify.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 620 events, 57 wins, 65 runner-up, 823 round wins, 65 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
- Gainesville: Qualified No. 4; defeated Ida Zetterstrom; lost to Steve Torence.
- Phoenix: Qualified No. 1; defeated Travis Shumake, Bye and Jasmine Salinas; lost to Shawn Langdon.
- Pomona: Qualified No. 2: defeated Scott Palmer before losing to Tony Stewart.
- Las Vegas: Qualified No. 1: defeated Clay Millican, Bye, lost to Tony Stewart and Justin Ashley.
- Charlotte: Qualified No. 1; Lost to Tony Stewart, Clay Millican and Lex Joon.
- Chicago: Qualified No. 1; defeated Lex Joon and Josh Hart, lost to Justin Ashley.
- Epping: Qualified No. 1; defeated Bye and Ida Zetterstrom; lost to Brittany Force.
- Bristol: Qualified No. 9; lost to Josh Hart.
- Richmond: Qualified No. 7; defeated Antron Brown and Clay Millican; lost to Justin Ashley
- Norwalk: Qualified No. 15; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Clay Millican.
- Seattle: Qualified No. 1; defeated Bye and Justin Ashley; lost to Brittany Force.
- Sonoma: Qualified No. 2; defeated Ron August, Jr., Josh Hart, Bye and Antron Brown.
- Brainerd: Qualified No. 1; defeated Terry Totten, Bye, Billy Torrence and Clay Millican.
Kalitta Image Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post BACK-TO-BACK WINS HAVE DOUG KALITTA ‘TOTALLY GEEKED” FOR U.S. NATIONALS first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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