BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 12, 2026) – – Doug Kalitta won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals – it was his second-straight win in the special Saturday event and his fourth of the season. The NHRA Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals is set for tomorrow; the race broadcast is scheduled for 3 p.m. eastern time on FS1.
Kalitta raced his teammate, Shawn Langdon, in the first round in the rematch of their semifinal race one week ago in Epping, N.H. This time, Kalitta captured the all-Team Kalitta race with a 3.872-second pass at 313.29 mph. In the final round, Kalitta raced Leah Pruett for the title. Kalitta left the starting line first and won the race on a hole shot when Pruett made a quicker run, but Kalitta reached the finish line first due to his starting line advantage. Kalitta’s 3.922-second pass at 314.90 mph defeated Pruett’s 3.918 at 325.45 mph. The margin of victory was 18 thousandths of a second.
“These things are really important to us,” Kalitta said. “Mission Foods does a great job with the series, and racing on Saturday. The fans love it. The drivers all love it, too, I’m pretty sure, especially me, because we’ve been fortunate enough to win these things. Alan, Mac (Crew Chiefs Alan Johnson and Mac Savage) and this whole Mac Tools, SealMaster, Gerbert car are trying to make it happen; it’s tough, but we’re definitely hoping we can translate it to a Sunday win.”
“It’s good to win another challenge, but it would be better to get one on Sunday,” Crew Chief Alan Johnson said. “We’ve done really well, in this event, but Sundays, we’ve tripped up a few times so hopefully we’ll have it together tomorrow. The track surface is great; it’s smooth – it’s a beautiful track, but it’s new, it’s green, and it’s super-hot here so it’s hard for everybody to get a handle on it. These two cars obviously did pretty good job in the final. I think we dropped a cylinder down there so that slowed us down a little bit, but we’ll fix that and be good for tomorrow.”
Kalitta is the No. 11 qualifier and will face No. 6 qualifier Josh Hart in the first round. Langdon qualified ninth and will race No. 8 qualifier Jasmine Salinas. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd is the No. 9 qualifier and will race No. 6 qualifier Daniel Wilkerson.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
The post Doug Kalitta Wins Second-Straight Mission Foods Challenge, Fourth of Season first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
Kalitta raced his teammate, Shawn Langdon, in the first round in the rematch of their semifinal race one week ago in Epping, N.H. This time, Kalitta captured the all-Team Kalitta race with a 3.872-second pass at 313.29 mph. In the final round, Kalitta raced Leah Pruett for the title. Kalitta left the starting line first and won the race on a hole shot when Pruett made a quicker run, but Kalitta reached the finish line first due to his starting line advantage. Kalitta’s 3.922-second pass at 314.90 mph defeated Pruett’s 3.918 at 325.45 mph. The margin of victory was 18 thousandths of a second.
“These things are really important to us,” Kalitta said. “Mission Foods does a great job with the series, and racing on Saturday. The fans love it. The drivers all love it, too, I’m pretty sure, especially me, because we’ve been fortunate enough to win these things. Alan, Mac (Crew Chiefs Alan Johnson and Mac Savage) and this whole Mac Tools, SealMaster, Gerbert car are trying to make it happen; it’s tough, but we’re definitely hoping we can translate it to a Sunday win.”
“It’s good to win another challenge, but it would be better to get one on Sunday,” Crew Chief Alan Johnson said. “We’ve done really well, in this event, but Sundays, we’ve tripped up a few times so hopefully we’ll have it together tomorrow. The track surface is great; it’s smooth – it’s a beautiful track, but it’s new, it’s green, and it’s super-hot here so it’s hard for everybody to get a handle on it. These two cars obviously did pretty good job in the final. I think we dropped a cylinder down there so that slowed us down a little bit, but we’ll fix that and be good for tomorrow.”
Kalitta is the No. 11 qualifier and will face No. 6 qualifier Josh Hart in the first round. Langdon qualified ninth and will race No. 8 qualifier Jasmine Salinas. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd is the No. 9 qualifier and will race No. 6 qualifier Daniel Wilkerson.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, June 12 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 2-3 p.m. Sunday, June 14 on FS1
- Finals: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, June 14 on FS1
The post Doug Kalitta Wins Second-Straight Mission Foods Challenge, Fourth of Season first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
