Post-Race Report
Event 2: NHRA Arizona Nnationals
Race 2 of 22 national events
Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
Phoenix, AZ
February 27, 2022
Shawn Langdon and DHL Top Fuel Blast to Quarterfinals in Phoenix
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (3.696 sec., 328.54 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 7 .045 3.699 330.47 (W)
Antron Brown 10 .079 3.742 321.42
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 7 .066 3.726 328.54
Mike Salinas 2 .065 3.692 330.55 (W)
Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Toyota Top Fuel dragster raced to the quarterfinals today at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. The 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion stepped up every round of qualifying and moved into race day as the No. 7 qualifier. His best time of the weekend going into eliminations was a solid 3.696 second pass.Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (3.696 sec., 328.54 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 7 .045 3.699 330.47 (W)
Antron Brown 10 .079 3.742 321.42
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 7 .066 3.726 328.54
Mike Salinas 2 .065 3.692 330.55 (W)
In the first round Langdon was able to secure lane choice over his opponent. When the Christmas Tree fired Langdon got the jump off the line against Antron Brown and he never trailed in the race. His .045 reaction time put the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster out in front and a flawless pass at 3.699 seconds and 330.47 mph handed him the win light.
“That was a great win for the DHL Kaitta Air Toyota team,” said Langdon. “We have been making lots of changes and improvements. These guys are really doing a great job and you saw the results of their hard work with our qualifying runs and that win in the first round.”
Facing another tough opponent in the quarterfinals Langdon was giving up lane choice but he knew he had a race car that was very competitive. Off the starting line Langdon was right beside his opponent and both cars were rapidly accelerating down the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park track. As the finish line closed in on Langdon his dragster dropped a cylinder and he lost just enough power to drop him back in his lane.
While he didn’t get four win lights Langdon will leave Arizona with a victory of sorts as he moved his DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster into the final spot in the Pep Boys Allstar Callout specialty race in two weeks at the NHRA Gatornationals. He will have a chance to race for $130,000 and the honor of being the first Pep Boys Callout champion.
Doug Kalitta Takes No. 1 Qualifier and Turns Focus to Gatornationals
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 1 (3.657 sec., 330.39 mph)
Bonus points: +4 (Quickest of Q1 and 3rd quickest of Q2)
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Doug Kalitta 1 .111 5.606 182.01
Rob Passey 16 .059 4.318 263.62 (W)
Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel dragster made big strides through two days of qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. On Friday night in the opening session of qualifying Kalitta and his Mac Tools team set the tone for the weekend running to the provisional No. 1 spot with a career best pass of 3.657 second at 330.39 mph. For the veteran Top Fuel driver, it was the 51st No. 1 qualifier of his illustrious career. He earned three valuable qualifying bonus points and more importantly it put pressure on the rest of the class to step up to the Mac Tools’ level of performance.Statistics:
Qualified: No. 1 (3.657 sec., 330.39 mph)
Bonus points: +4 (Quickest of Q1 and 3rd quickest of Q2)
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Doug Kalitta 1 .111 5.606 182.01
Rob Passey 16 .059 4.318 263.62 (W)
On Saturday Kalitta continued to impress with the third quickest pass of the second qualifying session. He added an additional qualifying bonus point and set his Mac Tools dragster up for a successful race day. By holding onto the No. 1 qualifier Kalitta drew a first round pairing with Rob Passey.
Kalitta has enjoyed years of success at the Arizona Nationals including posting the fourth most round wins at this event in Top Fuel. This is the fifth time Kalitta has qualified No. 1 at this event. His career best elapsed time this weekend eclipsed his previous career best which ironically was from this event in 2020.
Passey also posted his career best elapsed time and speed coming into the first round. Kalitta with the starting line advantage but is up smoke right at the hit. He pedals it a few times trying to get it to hook up, but he is unsuccessful as Passey was on a smooth run to grab his first career round win.
“Everyone out here is a tough customer,” said Kalitta. “We are going to put this race behind us and focus on the positives. We made it into the Pep Boys race and got the No. 1 qualifier. We want a lot more and we will keep working towards that goal.”
Kalitta and the Mac Tools team will leave Arizona and turn their focus to the NHRA Gatornationals and both the national event and the Pep Boys Allstar Callout specialty race. Kalitta’s No. 1 qualifying effort catapulted him into the event as the No. 7 qualifier and chance to win the $80,000 first prize check.
J.R. Todd and DHL Toyota Supra Funny Car Make Positive Strides in Phoenix
Photos are courtesy of Auto Imagery
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 8 (3.908 sec., 325.69 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 8 .062 4.303 285.41
Alexis DeJoria 9 .104 3.944 324.59 (W)
The DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car and driver J.R. Todd were looking to continue the development of the brand-new Toyota Funny Car at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. They tested in the off-season and made multiple passes here at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park two weeks ago in preparation for the first two NHRA national events. At the opening race of the season Todd raced to the quarterfinals and his DHL team was looking for more this weekend.Photos are courtesy of Auto Imagery
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 8 (3.908 sec., 325.69 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 8 .062 4.303 285.41
Alexis DeJoria 9 .104 3.944 324.59 (W)
In qualifying Todd’s best time of 3.908 seconds was quick enough to put him in the top half of the field and into a tough Toyota versus Toyota race against Alexis DeJoria. Right off the line Todd grabbed an advantage with a better reaction time of .062 and as he was pulling away from DeJoria his Goodyear slicks broke loose form the racing surface for less than a second. Todd was expertly able to lift off the throttle and then re-engage his 11,000-horsepower race car to keep moving down track. The miniscule loss of power was enough to slow him down and cost him the win.
“We have been making improvements with this Supra Funny Car every run this year,” said Todd, a ten-time Funny Car national event winner. “I felt good going into that round and we were on a good run. I caught it quickly, but it wasn’t enough. We will be ready in Gainesville for sure.”
The 2018 Funny Car champion will head to the NHRA Gatornationals in two weeks as the defending event champion. Last year he took the win in dramatic fashion and will be looking to duplicate that effort in two weeks with the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to Gainesville Raceway.
Unofficial NHRA Camping World Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
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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.
