Doug Kalitta, Applied Innovation Top Fuel Dragster​


Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 9 p.m.-Midnight, Tuesday, Sept. 22 on FS2

Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Great Lakes Nationals; it was his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 71st of his career. Kalitta was the top qualifier after Friday but made his best qualifying attempt during Saturday’s rain-delayed third qualifying round. The Applied Innovation Top Fuel dragster reached the finish line in 3.660 seconds at 338.86 mph, and Kalitta held on through the final session late Saturday afternoon.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Kyle Satenstein and Billy Torrence to reach a semifinal showdown with his teammate, Shawn Langdon. In the semifinals, Kalitta was off the starting line first, but the Applied Innovation dragster smoked the tires, and Langdon cruised to the win with a 3.663 second run at 346.95 mph, the fastest run in NHRA history.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Michigan in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails Langdon by 11 points and leads third-place Tony Stewart by 68 points.

Kalitta on Michigan: “It was great to see that we had so many people come out today. The Monday Nationals actually had people! The track is incredible here. Really incredible conditions. I don’t know what happened in the third round, but we were definitely gonna give Shawn and his team a run for their money. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be for us in the Applied Innovation car this weekend; we really wanted to get them a win in their hometown. Obviously, always cheering for the Kalitta cars so we’re all real proud of what Shawn and that Kalitta Air team did today. He got a little ahead of us in points coming out of here so we will just have to hunt him down in Rockingham.”

Doug Kalitta Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports

Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action Sept. 25-27, 2026, at the NHRA Nationals at The Rock in Rockingham, N.C. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.

The post Doug Kalitta Reaches NHRA Michigan Semifinals first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.

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