Major Repairs, A Cool Idea and Bracket Racing Ready Team Kalitta for Las Vegas
TOTAL TEAM EFFORT POSITIONS J.R.TODD, DHL FUNNY CAR TEAM FOR LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
YPSILANTI, Mich. (April 11, 2023) – J.R. Todd, a three-time Funny Car winner in Las Vegas, will look to make it four of a kind later this week in Las Vegas, and he’ll do that in the same new car the DHL Toyota team debuted at the start of the season thanks to some quick work from Team Kalitta. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After two racing incidents at the last race in Pomona, Calif., the DHL team worked quickly to put the team in position compete at the highest level this weekend. On Sunday as teams were racing in the Winternationals in Pomona, the primary chassis that was involved in the Saturday qualifying incident was already on a trailer headed back to Precision Built Race Cars in Indianapolis thanks to two members of the team’s hospitality staff who dropped their normal duties to get the car to Indianapolis for repairs as fast as possible.
Monday morning, rather than servicing the car and making the short hop to Las Vegas as planned, the entire DHL Funny Car team headed back to the Kalitta Motorsports shop in Michigan to prepare a new backup chassis and two Funny Car bodies for competition. Kalitta Motorsports picked up the repaired primary chassis from Precision Thursday evening. The team worked all day Friday and Saturday to prepare the car for competition. Many could be blown away by this fast work, but it was just another day at the office for Team Kalitta.
“This effort could not have been successful without every member of the DHL Funny Car team, our shop employees, our hospitality staff pitching in as well as Precision Built Race Cars,” Team Kalitta general manager Chad Head said. “It took everyone to accomplish this incredible task in time for Las Vegas, and because of this total team effort, the DHL Funny Car team was on the road to Las Vegas Tuesday morning. I am very proud to work with our dedicated people at Kalitta Motorsports – we all have the same goal, and that goal is to win.”
“The DHL team has a pretty amazing work ethic,” Todd said. “This job isn’t a nine-to-five job, and it’s not for someone that’s weak minded, that’s for sure. I feel bad because it was a weekend off for them until all this happened. They busted their (butt) getting everything torn down and loaded up so they could hit the road Monday morning to get back to Michigan to pull a third car out of the corner of the shop and get it ready to go. Then we got the primary car back from Indy so they had a busy week, and I really hope they were able to get at least a little time off to relax and regroup before they had to hit the road to drive back to Vegas.
“I think we have some of the hardest working guys in all of motorsports. They’re awesome – they never complain; they love what they do, and it’s awesome to have guys like that who have your back. I hope I can pay them back really soon with a Wally. That’s about the only way to pay them back for all their hard work to this point.”
With the primary car back in competition, Team Kalitta can focus on returning to the winner’s circle with the car that was showing great promise when the season started, and Las Vegas just might be the perfect place. Todd has three Funny Car wins in Las Vegas including two in four-wide races and both races in 2018 on his way to winning the NHRA Funny Car championship that season.
“We’ve won four-wide races, but really, I just like racing in general whether it’s testing, racing singles, two-wide or four-wide,” Todd said. “I don’t care as long as we’re racing and hopefully turning on some win lights and repeating some of that Las Vegas magic we’ve had in the past.”
After qualifying Friday afternoon, Todd will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Las Vegas Aviators AAA Baseball game at 7 p.m. The Aviators is the AAA team of the Oakland A’s.
“It’s cool to promote our sport outside of drag racing,” Todd added. “Hopefully, I won’t throw it in the dirt, and we can get some baseball fans to come out to The Strip and check out some drag racing. I threw out a first pitch at a Cincinnati Reds game a few years ago, and I got it across the plate so hopefully I can do that again this week.”
FOUR-WIDE RACING: A “COOL IDEA FROM ONE OF THE GREATEST TRACK DEVELOPERS OF ALL TIME”
YPSILANTI, Mich. (April 11, 2023) – Bruton Smith, the late founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc., once had a vision of NHRA racing four-wide, and he followed that vision with action building drag strips in Concord, N.C. and Las Vegas that could accommodate four-wide racing, which returns this weekend. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Mac Tools Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta, the owner and president of Kalitta Charters, knows a thing or two about innovation and what it takes to be successful. It is that understanding and respect of the late SMI founder’s vision that fuels Kalitta’s desire to win a four-wide race.
“I look forward to racing in the four-wide events because it’s a cool idea from one of the greatest track developers of all time, Bruton Smith,” Kalitta said. “I mostly just love supporting one of his visions and one of the coolest innovations in the history of drag racing. It’s the same as far as getting to the finish line first to win the race, but it’s kinda nice on race day when the top-two cars advance to the next round. I think the fans really like these events, too. I’d love to win one of these one day – we raced in the final a couple years ago; maybe this weekend will be our time.”
Kalitta has two Las Vegas wins in seven final-round appearances, and while the Mac Tools team hasn’t won a race yet this season, a feeling of inevitability surrounds this team – a win should be a matter of when, not if.
“We’re just three races into the season, and I feel really good about what we can accomplish in 2023,” the 49-time race winner added. “One thing I know for sure is that this Mac Tools team is an awesome group of guys with a great work ethic. All the work my guys did over the winter, in testing and through the first three races is going to pay off, and we all know it. Most teams had a little down time since we raced, and I think everyone will be ready to go when we get to Las Vegas this week.
“I like racing in Las Vegas and have had some success there. They usually get great crowds, and it seems like the fans are all having a really good time. There’s so much to do there so I think the fans take pretty good advantage of that – they come to the races during the day and get to enjoy all the fun things you can do in Las Vegas at night so it’s a really fun weekend for the fans.”
SHAWN LANGDON HOPING MORE LAPS LEAD TO MORE WIN LIGHTS, LAS VEGAS WINNER'S CIRCLE
YPSILANTI, Mich. (April 11, 2023) –
DHL Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon has a lot of strengths – sitting still isn’t one of them. While most teams and drivers enjoyed a holiday off weekend between Pomona and Las Vegas, Langdon was hard at it honing his skills running bracket races in Las Vegas. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes April 14-16, 2023 at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Langdon raced in the “Spring Fling” on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. He reached the final 18 in the million-dollar race and the fifth round of nearly 700 entries in a race to win $100,000. He was a win light or two away from a six-figure weekend.
“I just enjoy racing – it’s nice to bracket race because it lets me do laps,” Langdon said. “I made close to 30 laps in just over two days of racing. That’s the part of racing I enjoy most – making laps down the track. It definitely helps me drive better and makes me more in-tune with the car. At the national events, we’re busy with all of the obligations that come with driving in a major Motorsports series. I make as many laps as I can during the off weekends to stay as competitive as possible in the DHL Top Fuel car.”
Langdon is the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, a two-time NHRA Super Comp national champion and the 1997 NHRA Junior Dragster National Champion – he’s the first Junior Dragster champ to win a championship in NHRA’s premier series. Through all those laps made, Langdon has won plenty in Las Vegas except for one elusive class.
“I think I’ve won in just about everything at Las Vegas except for Top Fuel,” the four-time NHRA national champion added. “I won in Junior Dragster back in the day and the bracket races. I think the DHL team is definitely in a good position to win in Top Fuel this year. The car ran well at the last race, and it’s run well all year. Going to the four wides, you don’t have to finish first until the final because top two advance - I like our chances.”
Whether watching in person at Las Vegas Motor Speedway or on the FOX broadcast, the four-wide races in both Las Vegas and Charlotte look incredibly different, and the day’s pace is quicker because four cars race at once, but inside the race car? It’s pretty much the same.
“Generally, it’s not a big deal,” Langdon said. “If you’re running against competitors that typically race each week, for the most part, everybody knows what they’re doing and what lane they’re in. You’re looking at four pre-stage bulbs instead of two and then four stage bulbs instead of two. It’s the same process – you absolutely do the same thing except you look for four bulbs instead of two.”
Langdon raced in the “Spring Fling” on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. He reached the final 18 in the million-dollar race and the fifth round of nearly 700 entries in a race to win $100,000. He was a win light or two away from a six-figure weekend.
“I just enjoy racing – it’s nice to bracket race because it lets me do laps,” Langdon said. “I made close to 30 laps in just over two days of racing. That’s the part of racing I enjoy most – making laps down the track. It definitely helps me drive better and makes me more in-tune with the car. At the national events, we’re busy with all of the obligations that come with driving in a major Motorsports series. I make as many laps as I can during the off weekends to stay as competitive as possible in the DHL Top Fuel car.”
Langdon is the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, a two-time NHRA Super Comp national champion and the 1997 NHRA Junior Dragster National Champion – he’s the first Junior Dragster champ to win a championship in NHRA’s premier series. Through all those laps made, Langdon has won plenty in Las Vegas except for one elusive class.
“I think I’ve won in just about everything at Las Vegas except for Top Fuel,” the four-time NHRA national champion added. “I won in Junior Dragster back in the day and the bracket races. I think the DHL team is definitely in a good position to win in Top Fuel this year. The car ran well at the last race, and it’s run well all year. Going to the four wides, you don’t have to finish first until the final because top two advance - I like our chances.”
Whether watching in person at Las Vegas Motor Speedway or on the FOX broadcast, the four-wide races in both Las Vegas and Charlotte look incredibly different, and the day’s pace is quicker because four cars race at once, but inside the race car? It’s pretty much the same.
“Generally, it’s not a big deal,” Langdon said. “If you’re running against competitors that typically race each week, for the most part, everybody knows what they’re doing and what lane they’re in. You’re looking at four pre-stage bulbs instead of two and then four stage bulbs instead of two. It’s the same process – you absolutely do the same thing except you look for four bulbs instead of two.”
Photos Courtesy: Gary Nastase/Kalitta Motorsports
