NORWALK, Ohio (June 28, 2025) – – Doug Kalitta won his fourth Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge of the season and Team Kalitta’s eighth in 10 races, but this one was different. It was dramatic.
Although Kalitta defeated Justin Ashley in the rematch of last week’s semifinals near Richmond and had lane choice over points leader Tony Stewart in the final round, he entered the Mission Foods Challenge final qualified No. 17 and not in the field for tomorrow’s race.
Prior to the Mission Foods final round, which was also the final round of qualifying, Kalitta’s quickest qualifying attempt was a 3.997-second effort at 270.32. He was No. 16 entering the final qualifying round but had been bumped out of the field.
No problem for the 2023 Top Fuel champion. His Alan Johnson-tuned Applied Innovation dragster made a 3.952-second pass at 294.37 mph. It certainly wasn’t flawless, but in that situation, it was perfect.
“We have Applied Innovation on our car this weekend, it’s our home track, our pits are full with all of our guests so as you can imagine, the timing was good to just get down the track and get into the show,” Kalitta said. “I have such confidence in my group. You have Alan Johnson tuning and making the final adjustments on my car; it’s very reassuring for a guy like me to have somebody like him doing what he does and all my Applied Innovation guys putting that thing together. I was just really hoping to get the win and make it down on the track so that’s where my mindset was.
“We definitely appreciate everything Mission Foods does – the chips are awesome. I think I can speak for everybody else when I say we appreciate what they do for us. To be able to race on Saturday, the whole concept is good, and it’s just real fortunate that we got down the track. It seems a little tricky out there right now; it was just one of those lucky moments in life. We have this one under our belt so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Today’s win was Kalitta’s fourth Mission Foods Challenge win of the season; he also won in Las Vegas, Charlotte and New Hampshire, but it was the eighth for Kalitta Motorsports in the season’s first 10 races. Kalitta’s teammate, Shawn Langdon, won the Challenge at Phoenix, Pomona and Chicago, and J.R. Todd won his lone Mission Foods Challenge at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., earlier this month.
Kalitta qualified No. 15 and will race reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the opening round of eliminations. Langdon qualified No. 5 and will face No. 12 qualifier Doug Foley. In Funny Car, Todd qualified No. 12 and will race No. 5 qualifier Matt Hagan.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post DOUG KALITTA TAKES DRAMATIC FOURTH MISSION FOODS CHALLENGE WIN OF THE SEASON first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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Although Kalitta defeated Justin Ashley in the rematch of last week’s semifinals near Richmond and had lane choice over points leader Tony Stewart in the final round, he entered the Mission Foods Challenge final qualified No. 17 and not in the field for tomorrow’s race.
Prior to the Mission Foods final round, which was also the final round of qualifying, Kalitta’s quickest qualifying attempt was a 3.997-second effort at 270.32. He was No. 16 entering the final qualifying round but had been bumped out of the field.
No problem for the 2023 Top Fuel champion. His Alan Johnson-tuned Applied Innovation dragster made a 3.952-second pass at 294.37 mph. It certainly wasn’t flawless, but in that situation, it was perfect.
“We have Applied Innovation on our car this weekend, it’s our home track, our pits are full with all of our guests so as you can imagine, the timing was good to just get down the track and get into the show,” Kalitta said. “I have such confidence in my group. You have Alan Johnson tuning and making the final adjustments on my car; it’s very reassuring for a guy like me to have somebody like him doing what he does and all my Applied Innovation guys putting that thing together. I was just really hoping to get the win and make it down on the track so that’s where my mindset was.
“We definitely appreciate everything Mission Foods does – the chips are awesome. I think I can speak for everybody else when I say we appreciate what they do for us. To be able to race on Saturday, the whole concept is good, and it’s just real fortunate that we got down the track. It seems a little tricky out there right now; it was just one of those lucky moments in life. We have this one under our belt so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Today’s win was Kalitta’s fourth Mission Foods Challenge win of the season; he also won in Las Vegas, Charlotte and New Hampshire, but it was the eighth for Kalitta Motorsports in the season’s first 10 races. Kalitta’s teammate, Shawn Langdon, won the Challenge at Phoenix, Pomona and Chicago, and J.R. Todd won his lone Mission Foods Challenge at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., earlier this month.
Kalitta qualified No. 15 and will race reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the opening round of eliminations. Langdon qualified No. 5 and will face No. 12 qualifier Doug Foley. In Funny Car, Todd qualified No. 12 and will race No. 5 qualifier Matt Hagan.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post DOUG KALITTA TAKES DRAMATIC FOURTH MISSION FOODS CHALLENGE WIN OF THE SEASON first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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