Todd and DHL Camry Race To Runner-Up at NGK NTK Four-Wide Nationals
The dominance of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car once again made its presence known today at the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals racing to a runner-up finish. J.R. Todd took advantage of two days of qualifying to power his Funny Car into the race as the No. 4 qualifier after posting the quickest run of the final qualifying session. The 2018 Funny Car champion was looking to pick up his first four-wide win on the east coast after collecting two four-wide wins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2017 and 2018.
Today in the opening session Todd squared off against veterans Tim Wilkerson, Terry Haddock and Jim Campbell. The DHL Toyota Camry never trailed in the race as Todd was first off of the line and his Funny Car hit the finish line stripe 3.952 seconds later. The run was almost a carbon copy of his best qualifying effort and showed the consistency of the DHL team.
In the second quad Todd and the DHL Funny car team had their hands full racing against John Force, Mike McIntire and Terry Haddock. Once again Todd grabbed a starting line advantage and the Gatornationals winner advanced to the final quad along with Force who was the event’s No. 1 qualifier. It took the quickest run of the event to get around Todd for the round win.
“I am happy with the way the season is starting,” said Todd. “We have a really good hot rod right now. We just need to maintain that momentum going into Houston. That would be another big one for us to win since we will have Mobil1 executives there. We are definitely in the hunt. I don’t think I have had a start to the season like this with a win, a runner-up and a semifinal in the first four races. It gives you confidence as a driver. (Crew chief) Todd (Smith), John O. (Oberhofer) and all the DHL crew guys are excited and we just need to keep it going.”
In the final quad of the event Todd and Force squared off against Toyota teammate Alexis DeJoria and former world champion Cruz Pedregon. Todd, Force and DeJoria left the starting line together and as Todd crossed half-track it was obvious this would be a race between Todd and the 16-time champion. At the finish line Todd came up just 13 feet short at over 327 mph to Force.
“It was a good weekend all in all,” said Todd. “We gained points on the point leader. We had a ton of sponsors here. I don’t think I’ve been to a race when we have had this many big sponsors and people at the track. It would have been really cool to win in front of all of them especially NGK at the NGK NTK Four-Wide Nationals. It was a good weekend for the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. We ran consistently down the track and we qualified well. We had three good runs today and we just came up a little short in the final against the greatest of all time (John Force).”
The DHL Toyota Camry team will head to Houston No. 2 in the Funny Car standings less than a round behind the point leader.
Quotable:
J.R. Todd on closing the point gap: “It is early in the season but you want to be at the top of the points or within striking distance. This DHL Funny Car team has been awesome to start the season and we need to keep the pressure on the rest of the teams.”
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH J.R. Todd 4 .063 3.952 325.53 (W)
Terry Haddock 13 .133 4.095 305.63 (W)
Tim Wilkerson 5 .123 4.397 220.37
Jim Campbell 12 .089 4.194 303.16
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH J.R. Todd 4 .081 3.977 321.73 (W)
John Force 1 .103 3.897 330.31 (W)
Mike McIntire 8 .088 4.027 316.52
Terry Haddock 13 Broke
Final Quad
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
John Force 1 .065 3.916 328.78 (W) J.R. Todd 4 .063 3.944 327.82 (R/U)
Cruz Pedregon 6 .121 3.934 326.87
Alexis DeJoria 2 .064 4.057 309.49
Mac Tools and Doug Kalitta Race to Quarterfinals in Charlotte
The Mac Tools Top Fuel team rolled into Sunday’s race day looking to go rounds and step up their on their qualifying effort. Doug Kalitta was looking for his first four-wide win at the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The perennial championship contender won at zMAX Dragway’s fall race in 2017 and he was looking to capture his 50th career Top Fuel victory.
The first quad of racing for Kalitta included the Mac Tools dragster, along with rookie Josh Hart, veteran Billy Torrence and Kyle Wurtzel. It was an impressive first round victory for the Mac Tools dragster as it got to the finish line first with a strong 3.726 second run at 326.08 mph.
"That first round win was a great run for this Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster,” said Kalitta. “(Crew chief) Rob (Flynn) and the guys really stepped it up to get that win. I felt good going into the second round and we just overpowered the track I think. We are going to run the car tomorrow and get a little better handle on it. We will be at it in Houston next weekend and I am ready to get after it."
The second round quad saw Kalitta joined by Brittany Force, Hart and veteran Clay Millican. Prior to the run Millican bowed out of the quad due to a starting line issue and a trio of dragsters rolled to the starting line. When the tree fired Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster leapt off the line and was welded beside Hart’s race car. As the pair approached half-track Kalitta’s dragster fell back and slowed to 4.468 seconds. The quarterfinal finished capped his day at the race track.
The Mac Tools team will stay and test on Monday before heading to Houston Raceway Park. Kalitta remains solidly in the NHRA Top Fuel top ten in seventh place.
Quotable:
Doug Kalitta on spending time Saturday with Camden Nobles from A Kid Again: “Camden is a great kid and I am glad we were able to show his family a good time on Saturday. He is going through a tough time and everyone at Kalitta Motorsports was glad to give him a day of memories from the race.”
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH Doug Kalitta 12 .068 3.726 326.08 (W)
Josh Hart 4 .058 3.744 327.66 (W)
Billy Torrence 5 .079 3.751 328.62
Kyle Wurtzel 13 .076 3.898 312.06
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH Doug Kalitta 12 .069 4.468 179.83
Josh Hart 4 .021 3.810 308.99 (W)
Brittany Force 1 .102 3.736 328.38 (W)
Clay Millican 9 Broke - No Time
DHL Dragster and Shawn Langdon Exit Early at NGK NTK Four-Wide Nationals
The DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster and driver Shawn Langdon will leave zMAX Dragway right in the middle of the Top Fuel championship hunt. The Gatornationals finalist and Southern Nationals semifinalist maintained his position as the No. 4 driver in Top Fuel at the conclusion of the 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
The team battled through three rounds of qualifying entering the race as the No. 11 dragster and starting the day in a quad that included Antron Brown, Leah Pruett and rookie Krista Baldwin. Langdon was first off the line and was beginning to pull away when his dragster overpowered the track. The loss of traction opened the door for Brown and Baldwin to advance to the second quad.
"We felt good going into the first round,” said Langdon. “We got off the line first and it was on a good run. At the top end it just lost traction a little and that was enough for a couple dragsters to get around us. This DHL Kalitta Air dragster has a lot of power and we are going to take a look at it and be ready for Houston. We had a busy weekend in Charlotte and we will be back at it in a couple days."
Last weekend Langdon and his DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster raced to the semifinals at the final Southern Nationals. In five days the team will be back on track at Houston Raceway Park.
Quotable:
Langdon on racing at zMAX Dragway: “It was great to see so many people in the grandstands. The crowds seemed to get bigger every day. The weather was awesome and Bruton and Marcus Smith have an amazing facility.”
Unofficial NHRA Camping World Championship Standings: Top Fuel
1
Steve Torrence
408
2
Antron Brown
332
3
Brittany Force
274
4
Shawn Langdon
248
5
Josh Hart
245
6
Billy Torrence
215
7
Doug Kalitta
197
8
Justin Ashley
194
9
Leah Pruett
176
10
Clay Millican
164
Funny Car
1
Bob Tasca III
360
2
J.R. Todd
343
3
John Force
329
4
Matt Hagan
259
5
Ron Capps
235
6
Alexis DeJoria
228
7
Tim Wilkerson
218
8
Cruz Pedregon
216
9
Robert Hight
215
10
Blake Alexander
150
About Kalitta Motorsports:
Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Camping World Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. Celebrating over 60 years of Kalitta Motorsports, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with seven world championships and over 100 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.
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