YPSILANTI, Mich. (Aug. 12, 2025) – After becoming the most prolific Top Fuel winner in Sonoma Raceway history two weeks ago, Doug Kalitta is now laser-focused on capitalizing on his mid-summer win with a late-season charge. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues Aug. 15-17 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
Kalitta’s Sonoma win was his first of the season, his sixth at Sonoma Raceway, more than any other Top Fuel driver, and the 56th of his storied career. With Shawn Langdon’s win a week earlier in Seattle, Kalitta’s Sonoma win clinched a Team Kalitta Top Fuel western swing sweep, and now, with just two races remaining in the regular season, winning is paramount in the ultra-competitive Top Fuel class.
“That was good,” the 2023 Top Fuel champion said. “Sonoma has been a really good track for me over the years so it was definitely nice to go out there, have a good-running car and be able to come out of there with a win. We’d been winning these Mission Foods races on Saturday so we’d won four of those plus the Right Trailers All-Star Callout at the beginning of the year so I knew it was just a matter of time.
“We’re all hungry right now; it’s obviously getting to the time of the season where it’s a ‘lead, follow or get out of the way’ kind of moment, and there’s some big money up for the regular-season championship. I think we may be a little far back for that, but it’s drag racing so who knows?”
With just two more chances to make up ground on points leader Langdon, if Kalitta is to have a shot at the regular-season title and its new $150,000 bonus, he needs more wins. He trails Langdon by 121 points so time is precious. Even though the last regular-season race, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, offers “points and a half,” Kalitta needs another win this weekend in Brainerd where he has two wins in four final rounds.
“Brainerd’s always been good track for us over the years,” Kalitta said. “Actually, Connie’s the guy that’s run the best at Brainerd out of all of us; that was one of the tracks where he seemed to do pretty well so that’s one of the cool things I always remember about that place. It should be good. The Mac Tools guys had a couple weeks off so I know they’re raring to go. We’re all looking forward to getting there, getting this thing in the show and seeing what we can do. The car’s running great, and it’s definitely a lot of fun right now. Definitely looking forward to getting back at it for sure.”
And should Kalitta win this weekend’s race, it would be the 100th Top Fuel win in Kalitta Motorsports history, and it would be an important milestone he’d definitely like to accomplish.
“Yeah, that’s good stuff; it would be good whether we win it or Shawn gets it, but definitely would love to put my name on that one. It’s great that Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) will have 100 Top Fuel wins – that’s actually pretty cool. There’s a lot of history there, and if I’m the one that gets that 100th Top Fuel win, it’ll be one of the biggest wins in my career for sure.”
Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 4; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Shawn Langdon.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 6189 events, 56 wins, 65 runner-up, 819 round wins, 64 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
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Kalitta’s Sonoma win was his first of the season, his sixth at Sonoma Raceway, more than any other Top Fuel driver, and the 56th of his storied career. With Shawn Langdon’s win a week earlier in Seattle, Kalitta’s Sonoma win clinched a Team Kalitta Top Fuel western swing sweep, and now, with just two races remaining in the regular season, winning is paramount in the ultra-competitive Top Fuel class.
“That was good,” the 2023 Top Fuel champion said. “Sonoma has been a really good track for me over the years so it was definitely nice to go out there, have a good-running car and be able to come out of there with a win. We’d been winning these Mission Foods races on Saturday so we’d won four of those plus the Right Trailers All-Star Callout at the beginning of the year so I knew it was just a matter of time.
“We’re all hungry right now; it’s obviously getting to the time of the season where it’s a ‘lead, follow or get out of the way’ kind of moment, and there’s some big money up for the regular-season championship. I think we may be a little far back for that, but it’s drag racing so who knows?”
With just two more chances to make up ground on points leader Langdon, if Kalitta is to have a shot at the regular-season title and its new $150,000 bonus, he needs more wins. He trails Langdon by 121 points so time is precious. Even though the last regular-season race, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, offers “points and a half,” Kalitta needs another win this weekend in Brainerd where he has two wins in four final rounds.
“Brainerd’s always been good track for us over the years,” Kalitta said. “Actually, Connie’s the guy that’s run the best at Brainerd out of all of us; that was one of the tracks where he seemed to do pretty well so that’s one of the cool things I always remember about that place. It should be good. The Mac Tools guys had a couple weeks off so I know they’re raring to go. We’re all looking forward to getting there, getting this thing in the show and seeing what we can do. The car’s running great, and it’s definitely a lot of fun right now. Definitely looking forward to getting back at it for sure.”
And should Kalitta win this weekend’s race, it would be the 100th Top Fuel win in Kalitta Motorsports history, and it would be an important milestone he’d definitely like to accomplish.
“Yeah, that’s good stuff; it would be good whether we win it or Shawn gets it, but definitely would love to put my name on that one. It’s great that Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) will have 100 Top Fuel wins – that’s actually pretty cool. There’s a lot of history there, and if I’m the one that gets that 100th Top Fuel win, it’ll be one of the biggest wins in my career for sure.”
Race Information:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 10-11:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 on FS1
- Finals: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17 on FOX
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 4; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Shawn Langdon.
Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 6189 events, 56 wins, 65 runner-up, 819 round wins, 64 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.
The post HOT OFF SONOMA WIN, DOUG KALITTA NEEDS LATE-SEASON CHARGE first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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