KENT, Wash. (July 26, 2026) — For just the second time in its history, Kalitta Motorsports scored a rare double victory when both Funny Car driver J.R. Todd and Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta won the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.
The only other double win happened in March 2024, at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., when Todd joined Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon in the winner’s circle. That double win came in the team’s 18th attempt some 13 years after the first try. The second double win came in the team’s 23rd attempt just two years and four months since the first.
Todd won his first race of the year. He was the No. 1 qualifier and marched through the eliminations ladder in the DHL GR Supra clearly driving the best car on the property. He defeated Jeff Arend, Jordan Vandergriff, Matt Hagan and Austin Prock on the way to the 23rd win of his career. It was Todd’s second career Seattle win and his first since 2015.
“Awesome job. Dickie, Todd, Chris (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith, Car Chief Chris Forton), Yellow Fellas, Chad (General Manager Chad Head), everybody that supports us – DHL, Dayco, Mobil1, SealMaster – this has been a long time coming. I think we turned the corner with this GR Supra, and it’s time to make some hay on these front runners. I’ve been wanting one of these (Diamond NHRA 75th Anniversary trophy) all year long. This is great!
“We had a lot of issues back in the pit area that didn’t really show on the racetrack, and I have to give props to my guys for digging deep. A clutch controller is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, piece on the car, and we went through three of them this weekend. That’s something you do not want to ever change, and to do that and run the way we did is a testament to Dickie, Todd, Chris and the Yellow Fellas. They’re awesome, and I’m glad to finally get one of these diamond wallys to pay them back for all their hard work.
“Dickie and Todd did a really good job of racing smart today, not throwing down every run, just racing the conditions on the track. I thought for sure we were in trouble there in the semis. I missed the Tree, which you can’t do against Matt Hagan because they’ll make you pay for it, and then I hit the gas and the thing is just out of control, but the win light came on. In the final, I saw Austin out front, and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I thought that I was late and then the win light is on our side. It’s crazy, but I’m just so happy for my guys because they’ve been working their butts off.
“It’s definitely a big weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks there earlier in the year. Then we struggled the summer with some clutch disc issues. Now, I think that we’re getting back to where we need to be.”
Todd moved up two spots to third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He now trails points leader Ron Capps by 42 points, second-place Jack Beckman by five points and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 12 points with two races remaining in the regular season.
Kalitta won his second-straight race and his third of the season in the Mac Tools dragster and swept the two-race western swing. He qualified No. 3 and defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas, Antron Brown and Leah Pruett on the way to the 62nd win of his career. It was his second-career win in Seattle and his first there since 2014. With the win, he tied Larry Dixon for third place on the all-time Top Fuel wins list and 11th all-time in overall Mission Foods Drag Racing Series wins.
“Hats off to J.R.; getting this double, I’m just so happy for Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta),” Kalitta said. “He’s given us everything we need, and obviously all the crew chiefs, everybody’s pulling together trying to help one another, and today’s a good result of that. I’m just real proud of our whole effort and can’t thank Mac Tools, Revchem, Gerber, Mobil1 and SealMaster – everybody that supports Kalitta Motorsports – we couldn’t do it without them. Winning two in a row is a dream come true, but to be able to double up with J.R., it doesn’t get any better than that for Team Kalitta. Never give up on your dreams – I’m living proof.
“Alan and Mac (Crew Chiefs Alan Johnson and Mac Savage) and everybody that works on my car really have it dialed in. I feel very fortunate Alan is working on my car. It took us a little bit to get it going this season. We obviously made a lot of changes and it’s coming together; when you get down towards the end of the year, Alan’s got a lot of championships. This is really the time of the year he really focuses on, and he always seems to be able to pull it off, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Kalitta remains second in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings, but he now trails his teammate, points leader Shawn Langdon, by just five points and leads third-place Leah Pruett by 204 points with two races remaining in the regular season. With wins in the last two races, Kalitta cut Langdon’s points lead from 150 to just five.
As good as the day was for Todd and Kalitta, it did not go well for their teammate, Langdon. The Top Fuel points leader and four-time winner this season was the No. 4 qualifier but lost to Justin Ashley in the first round. It was a close race when Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers car smoked the tires; Langdon pedaled, but the blower belt broke allowing Ashley to cruise to the win light.
“We weren’t able to get the win against Justin in the first round today,” Langdon said. “It was really just one of those weekends for the Kalitta Air Careers team. We have some time off to regroup and be ready to go when we get to Brainerd.”
Team Kalitta will be back in action Aug. 21-23, 2026, at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
The post Doug Kalitta, J.R. Todd Score Kalitta Motorsports Double Victory at NHRA Seattle; Points Leader Shawn Langdon Suffers Early Exit first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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The only other double win happened in March 2024, at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., when Todd joined Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon in the winner’s circle. That double win came in the team’s 18th attempt some 13 years after the first try. The second double win came in the team’s 23rd attempt just two years and four months since the first.
Todd won his first race of the year. He was the No. 1 qualifier and marched through the eliminations ladder in the DHL GR Supra clearly driving the best car on the property. He defeated Jeff Arend, Jordan Vandergriff, Matt Hagan and Austin Prock on the way to the 23rd win of his career. It was Todd’s second career Seattle win and his first since 2015.
“Awesome job. Dickie, Todd, Chris (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith, Car Chief Chris Forton), Yellow Fellas, Chad (General Manager Chad Head), everybody that supports us – DHL, Dayco, Mobil1, SealMaster – this has been a long time coming. I think we turned the corner with this GR Supra, and it’s time to make some hay on these front runners. I’ve been wanting one of these (Diamond NHRA 75th Anniversary trophy) all year long. This is great!
“We had a lot of issues back in the pit area that didn’t really show on the racetrack, and I have to give props to my guys for digging deep. A clutch controller is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, piece on the car, and we went through three of them this weekend. That’s something you do not want to ever change, and to do that and run the way we did is a testament to Dickie, Todd, Chris and the Yellow Fellas. They’re awesome, and I’m glad to finally get one of these diamond wallys to pay them back for all their hard work.
“Dickie and Todd did a really good job of racing smart today, not throwing down every run, just racing the conditions on the track. I thought for sure we were in trouble there in the semis. I missed the Tree, which you can’t do against Matt Hagan because they’ll make you pay for it, and then I hit the gas and the thing is just out of control, but the win light came on. In the final, I saw Austin out front, and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I thought that I was late and then the win light is on our side. It’s crazy, but I’m just so happy for my guys because they’ve been working their butts off.
“It’s definitely a big weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks there earlier in the year. Then we struggled the summer with some clutch disc issues. Now, I think that we’re getting back to where we need to be.”
Todd moved up two spots to third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He now trails points leader Ron Capps by 42 points, second-place Jack Beckman by five points and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 12 points with two races remaining in the regular season.
Kalitta won his second-straight race and his third of the season in the Mac Tools dragster and swept the two-race western swing. He qualified No. 3 and defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas, Antron Brown and Leah Pruett on the way to the 62nd win of his career. It was his second-career win in Seattle and his first there since 2014. With the win, he tied Larry Dixon for third place on the all-time Top Fuel wins list and 11th all-time in overall Mission Foods Drag Racing Series wins.
“Hats off to J.R.; getting this double, I’m just so happy for Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta),” Kalitta said. “He’s given us everything we need, and obviously all the crew chiefs, everybody’s pulling together trying to help one another, and today’s a good result of that. I’m just real proud of our whole effort and can’t thank Mac Tools, Revchem, Gerber, Mobil1 and SealMaster – everybody that supports Kalitta Motorsports – we couldn’t do it without them. Winning two in a row is a dream come true, but to be able to double up with J.R., it doesn’t get any better than that for Team Kalitta. Never give up on your dreams – I’m living proof.
“Alan and Mac (Crew Chiefs Alan Johnson and Mac Savage) and everybody that works on my car really have it dialed in. I feel very fortunate Alan is working on my car. It took us a little bit to get it going this season. We obviously made a lot of changes and it’s coming together; when you get down towards the end of the year, Alan’s got a lot of championships. This is really the time of the year he really focuses on, and he always seems to be able to pull it off, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Kalitta remains second in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings, but he now trails his teammate, points leader Shawn Langdon, by just five points and leads third-place Leah Pruett by 204 points with two races remaining in the regular season. With wins in the last two races, Kalitta cut Langdon’s points lead from 150 to just five.
As good as the day was for Todd and Kalitta, it did not go well for their teammate, Langdon. The Top Fuel points leader and four-time winner this season was the No. 4 qualifier but lost to Justin Ashley in the first round. It was a close race when Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers car smoked the tires; Langdon pedaled, but the blower belt broke allowing Ashley to cruise to the win light.
“We weren’t able to get the win against Justin in the first round today,” Langdon said. “It was really just one of those weekends for the Kalitta Air Careers team. We have some time off to regroup and be ready to go when we get to Brainerd.”
Team Kalitta will be back in action Aug. 21-23, 2026, at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
The post Doug Kalitta, J.R. Todd Score Kalitta Motorsports Double Victory at NHRA Seattle; Points Leader Shawn Langdon Suffers Early Exit first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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