YPSILANTI, Mich. (Sept. 9, 2025) – Two years ago, Doug Kalitta entered the NHRA Playoffs as the No. 6 seed, but he began a magical run in Pennsylvania that carried him to the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel Championship. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin Sept. 12-14 at the NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish in Mohnton, Pa.
Daylight was fading in the final round of qualifying late Saturday afternoon. Near the end of Kalitta’s final qualifying attempt, the Mac Tools dragster punctured a rear tire. Kalitta masterfully steered the dragster to a safe stop, but the Mac Tools car was damaged. A backup car was required for race day. Kalitta went on to win that race in Pennsylvania as well as the next one in Charlotte, and he was on his way to the first Top Fuel championship of his storied career with that backup car playing a starring role in the season’s final six races.
“Starting out at Maple Grove, having won the first couple of races in the past, that’s definitely the ideal situation,” Kalitta said. “It’s mainly just going rounds, hoping to get to the final and hoping to get a crack at getting the win. Trying to get as many wins as you can early and obviously hoping to be there at the end is definitely the preferred way to go about it, but if you happen to go out early one race, you have to keep your composure and just keep battling. Staying out front would definitely be the ideal situation, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s a matter of staying in the hunt.”
And that is something Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team have done quite well recently. Kalitta has two wins in three final rounds including wins in two of the last three races. He enters the Countdown as the No. 3 seed, but with the addition of his 23 points earned through five wins in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge over the season, he starts the playoffs trailing his teammate, Shawn Langdon, by 15 points and is just 31 points out of first place.
“My guys, here of late, have put together some pretty good runs; the Mac Tools car’s pretty consistent going down the track, and for my guys and me, we’ll just focus on just trying to do just that. We need to make sure everybody’s doing their jobs. Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) commented on that recently; all the guys are doing a great job putting this thing together and keeping it consistent.
“We all have our jobs including the guy tuning the thing and making the final adjustments on it. It’ll definitely be critical through the whole phase of what we’re doing. I’m quite confident that we’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and try not to overthink the process. We’ve gotten here doing what we’ve been doing so I think that would be my mentality with what we’re starting this week – just kind of let it all play itself out and see what happens.”
Race Information:
NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish Maple Grove Raceway; Mohnton, Pa.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
2024 NHRA Reading Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 3; lost to Dan Mercier.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 621 events, 57 wins, 65 runner-up, 824 round wins, 65 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
The post DOUG KALITTA “QUITE CONFIDENT” ENTERING NHRA PLAYOFFS first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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Daylight was fading in the final round of qualifying late Saturday afternoon. Near the end of Kalitta’s final qualifying attempt, the Mac Tools dragster punctured a rear tire. Kalitta masterfully steered the dragster to a safe stop, but the Mac Tools car was damaged. A backup car was required for race day. Kalitta went on to win that race in Pennsylvania as well as the next one in Charlotte, and he was on his way to the first Top Fuel championship of his storied career with that backup car playing a starring role in the season’s final six races.
“Starting out at Maple Grove, having won the first couple of races in the past, that’s definitely the ideal situation,” Kalitta said. “It’s mainly just going rounds, hoping to get to the final and hoping to get a crack at getting the win. Trying to get as many wins as you can early and obviously hoping to be there at the end is definitely the preferred way to go about it, but if you happen to go out early one race, you have to keep your composure and just keep battling. Staying out front would definitely be the ideal situation, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s a matter of staying in the hunt.”
And that is something Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team have done quite well recently. Kalitta has two wins in three final rounds including wins in two of the last three races. He enters the Countdown as the No. 3 seed, but with the addition of his 23 points earned through five wins in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge over the season, he starts the playoffs trailing his teammate, Shawn Langdon, by 15 points and is just 31 points out of first place.
“My guys, here of late, have put together some pretty good runs; the Mac Tools car’s pretty consistent going down the track, and for my guys and me, we’ll just focus on just trying to do just that. We need to make sure everybody’s doing their jobs. Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) commented on that recently; all the guys are doing a great job putting this thing together and keeping it consistent.
“We all have our jobs including the guy tuning the thing and making the final adjustments on it. It’ll definitely be critical through the whole phase of what we’re doing. I’m quite confident that we’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and try not to overthink the process. We’ve gotten here doing what we’ve been doing so I think that would be my mentality with what we’re starting this week – just kind of let it all play itself out and see what happens.”
Race Information:
NHRA Reading Nationals Presented by Nitro Fish Maple Grove Raceway; Mohnton, Pa.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show: Noon-2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14 on FS1
- Finals: 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept.14 on FS1
2024 NHRA Reading Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 3; lost to Dan Mercier.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 621 events, 57 wins, 65 runner-up, 824 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.
- Indianapolis: Qualified No. 4; Defeated Tony Schumacher, lost to Justin Ashley.
The post DOUG KALITTA “QUITE CONFIDENT” ENTERING NHRA PLAYOFFS first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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