POMONA, Calif. (April 11, 2026) – – J.R. Todd is the No. 1 qualifier for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, and Doug Kalitta won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals is set for tomorrow; the race broadcast is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. eastern time, Sunday, April 12 on FS1.
Todd and his DHL GR Supra team made the quickest run in both Saturday qualifying sessions, but his final qualifying run late Saturday afternoon, a 3.896-second pass at 335.32 mph, gave the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion his first No. 1 qualifier since 2021.
“That sets us up pretty well for race day,” Todd said. “We don’t know what conditions will be tomorrow, but it could be overcast and cool like it was today. Once this thing got to half track, it planted me back in the seat. When it’s on a run like that, you can feel it. When I saw that 89 (3.896-second elapsed time) come up on the scoreboard, I was pretty pumped. It’s an awesome way to pay back the guys for what they’ve been doing all season long. Hopefully we can turn this into a race win. It’s nice to have one of these – it’s been a long time. Thanks to DHL; I know we have some folks from Revchem here this weekend so thanks to everyone that supports us. Now, we’re ready to do some work.”
Kalitta won the Mission Foods Challenge, a rematch of the semifinals and final from the previous race, five times last season and took the 2025 overall title; today’s win is his second of the season and his seventh in the special Saturday race. The reigning and two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion is perfect in the Mission Foods Challenge this season.
In a rematch of their Phoenix semifinal race, Kalitta defeated Leah Pruett in the first round despite the Mac Tools dragster having issues down track and slowing to a 3.987-second effort at only 234.49 mph. In the final against Maddie Gordon, the Mac Tools Dragster was stout posting a 3.747-second run at 333.65 mph to take the Mission Foods Challenge win.
“It’s Alan Johnson (Crew Chief Alan Johnson, owner of Alan Johnson Performance Engineering) horsepower and all my guys on this Mac Tools car – we’re just hungry to keep it going,” Kalitta said. “We’ve had great luck with the Mission Foods Challenge going back to last year, and we’re just trying to translate it to Sunday. The car got to about half track and really started pulling so I was thinking, ‘Maddie’s gonna have her hands full.’ It just felt like it was gripping and pulling a little bit better; you can definitely kind of tell when it’s hooked up and it’s running. I think it’s cool just to be able to try to outrun the people that beat you at the previous race – we really appreciate Mission Foods and all they do for our sport. Thanks to Mac Tools and Revchem for being here this weekend and all they do for our race team. We’re gonna give it our best tomorrow.”
Todd will start eliminations against Blake Alexander. Kalitta is the No. 4 qualifier and will open the Winternationals against Ron August, Jr. Shawn Langdon is the No. 3 qualifier and will race Tony Schumacher in the opening round.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post J.R. Todd Wins NHRA Winternationals No. 1 Qualifier; Doug Kalitta Continues Mission Foods Challenge Dominance first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
Todd and his DHL GR Supra team made the quickest run in both Saturday qualifying sessions, but his final qualifying run late Saturday afternoon, a 3.896-second pass at 335.32 mph, gave the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion his first No. 1 qualifier since 2021.
“That sets us up pretty well for race day,” Todd said. “We don’t know what conditions will be tomorrow, but it could be overcast and cool like it was today. Once this thing got to half track, it planted me back in the seat. When it’s on a run like that, you can feel it. When I saw that 89 (3.896-second elapsed time) come up on the scoreboard, I was pretty pumped. It’s an awesome way to pay back the guys for what they’ve been doing all season long. Hopefully we can turn this into a race win. It’s nice to have one of these – it’s been a long time. Thanks to DHL; I know we have some folks from Revchem here this weekend so thanks to everyone that supports us. Now, we’re ready to do some work.”
Kalitta won the Mission Foods Challenge, a rematch of the semifinals and final from the previous race, five times last season and took the 2025 overall title; today’s win is his second of the season and his seventh in the special Saturday race. The reigning and two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion is perfect in the Mission Foods Challenge this season.
In a rematch of their Phoenix semifinal race, Kalitta defeated Leah Pruett in the first round despite the Mac Tools dragster having issues down track and slowing to a 3.987-second effort at only 234.49 mph. In the final against Maddie Gordon, the Mac Tools Dragster was stout posting a 3.747-second run at 333.65 mph to take the Mission Foods Challenge win.
“It’s Alan Johnson (Crew Chief Alan Johnson, owner of Alan Johnson Performance Engineering) horsepower and all my guys on this Mac Tools car – we’re just hungry to keep it going,” Kalitta said. “We’ve had great luck with the Mission Foods Challenge going back to last year, and we’re just trying to translate it to Sunday. The car got to about half track and really started pulling so I was thinking, ‘Maddie’s gonna have her hands full.’ It just felt like it was gripping and pulling a little bit better; you can definitely kind of tell when it’s hooked up and it’s running. I think it’s cool just to be able to try to outrun the people that beat you at the previous race – we really appreciate Mission Foods and all they do for our sport. Thanks to Mac Tools and Revchem for being here this weekend and all they do for our race team. We’re gonna give it our best tomorrow.”
Todd will start eliminations against Blake Alexander. Kalitta is the No. 4 qualifier and will open the Winternationals against Ron August, Jr. Shawn Langdon is the No. 3 qualifier and will race Tony Schumacher in the opening round.
Photos Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post J.R. Todd Wins NHRA Winternationals No. 1 Qualifier; Doug Kalitta Continues Mission Foods Challenge Dominance first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
