Team Kalitta DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Pre-Race Report (1 Viewer)

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Pre-Race Team Kalitta Notes​

Event 15: 2021 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals
Countdown Race 2 of 7
zMax Dragway
Charlotte, NC
September 17-19, 2021​

Team Kalitta enters the Countdown with all three teams racing for world championships. Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon will be racing to add more Carolina Nationals titles to their records. J.R. Todd, No. 4 driver in the Funny Car point standings, will looking to continue his momentum in the Countdown.

J.R. Todd and DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car Ready for More Countdown Success

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After the first race of the 2021 NHRA Countdown J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team are right in the middle of the championship battle. A semifinal finish at the NHRA Reading Nationals has Todd sitting two rounds out of first place and the 2018 Funny Car champion is in a great position to keep the pressure on the rest of the class. Last weekend the DHL Toyota Funny Car picked up two critical round wins from the No. 7 qualified position defeating Countdown contenders Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon before bowing out to eventual race winner Tommy Johnson, Jr., in the semifinals.
“We had decent weekend in Reading, but we would have liked to have gotten a win at the first Countdown race,” said Todd. “We made a good run in the final qualifying session and that set us up for race day. We are working on making solid runs right off the trailer and then building on that over the weekend. (Crew chiefs) Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer are giving me a good race car and we just need to keep working together for those race and round wins.”
During his championship season Todd was the runner-up at the Carolina Nationals and that was the continuation of momentum that began at the U.S. Nationals. This season Todd has been building confidence since back-to-back runner up finishes at the Winternationals and Topeka Nationals as well as strong races in Brainerd and Indianapolis leading up to the start of the Countdown. With seven races in the Countdown Todd knows it is a marathon not a sprint for the title.
“I don’t think having an extra Countdown race is going to be that big of a deal,” said Todd, after his Reading finish. “You really need to get to at least the semifinals and win some of those Countdown races to have a chance for the championship whether there are six or seven races. We got off to a good start but now we need to keep up this pace. These Yella Fellas have been doing a great job all season and we have six more races to get the job done.”
In addition to the two recent runner-up finishes this summer Todd has also collected a win at the historic Gatornationals to start the season as well as a runner-up finish at the four-wide nationals at zMax Dragway earlier this season. The Charlotte track is one of the favorites for many of the teams on the Camping World Drag Racing Series and Todd enjoys his time racing in the heart of NASCAR country.
“When we were here in the spring we had some of the Toyota NASCAR guys come out to the track and we also had Kyle Busch with Rowdy Energy drink, one of our sponsors, warm up my race car which was cool,” said Todd. “It is cool to show off what we do out here at over 300 mph to those guys. We all kind of keep up with each other throughout the season.”

2019 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Highlights (event not contested in 2020): Qual. No. 12; Lost to John Force
Last Event Recap (2021 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 7; Beat Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.
Career Stats: 249 events, 241 starts, 274 round wins, 19 wins, 39 finals, 14 No. 1 qualifiers; in Funny Car: 97 events, 97 starts, 10 wins, 19 finals, 126 round wins, 5 No. 1 qualifiers

2021 Season:
Gatornationals: WINNER; Qual. No. 6; Beat Blake Alexander, Tim Wilkerson, Cruz Pedregon and Robert Hight
Las Vegas1: Qual. No. 9; Beat Cruz Pedregon and Jonnie Lindberg; Lost to Ron Capps and Bob Tasca III
Atlanta: Qual. No. 1; Beat Alexis DeJoria, bye; Lost to John Force
Charlotte1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No.4; Beat Terry Haddock, Jim Campbell, Tim Wilkerson; Beat Mike McIntire, Terry Haddock; Lost to John Force, Beat Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria
Houston: Qual. No. 8; Beat John Force; Lost to Bob Tasca III
Epping: Qual. No. 9; Beat Cruz Pedregon, Lost to John Force
Norwalk: Qual. No. 9; Beat Mike McIntire, Lost to Ron Capps
Denver: Qual. No. 7; Lost to Bob Tasca III
Sonoma: Qual. No. 12; Beat John Force; Lost to Robert Hight
Pomona1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 7; Beat Jeff Diehl, Robert Hight, Jim Campbell; Lost to Ron Capps
Topeka: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 1; Beat Bye, Ron Capps, Blake Alexander; Lost to John Force
Brainerd: Qual. No. 11; Beat Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson; Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 5; Beat Jim Campbell; Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Reading: Qual. No. 7; Beat Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.

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Langdon and Autodesk Top Fuel Focusing on Carolina Nationals Title

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Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel team will have a new look for the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals, but they will bring the same level of competitiveness to the second Countdown race. This weekend Langdon’s 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster will be representing Autodesk, a long-time collaborator on Kalitta Motorsports fabrication, during the race. The team will be looking to move up in the points at a track Langdon has one Top Fuel win as well as a Funny Car win to his credit.
“I feel really comfortable racing in Charlotte,” said Langdon. “We have won here in Top Fuel and Funny Car. We ran the Bounty Hunter tribute car at Indy and in Reading and I am looking forward to racing this Autodesk race car this weekend. They support us on the fabrication side and we wouldn’t be able to win races without their support.”
In 2012 Langdon took the Top Fuel title from the No. 1 qualifier position. Two years ago Langdon was racing a Toyota Camry and won his first Funny Car title during the spring four-wide national event.
So far this season Langdon has a runner-up finish at the season opening Gatornationals and three additional semifinal finishes. The Autodesk team has opened race day from the top half of the field nine times in the first fourteen races. This weekend they will be looking to maximize the three qualifying sessions to begin race day in the best possible position.
“We just need to get a good run Friday night and that will set us up for two more good runs on Saturday,” said Langdon. “When we get three really good shots at the track, we have a lot of information for race day.”

2019 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Highlights (event not contested in 2020): In Funny Car; Qual. No. 10; Lost to Tim Wilkerson
Last Event Recap (2021 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 11; Beat Mike Salinas; Lost to Billy Torrence
Career Stats: 281 events, 278 starts, 310 round wins, 17 wins, 35 finals, 19 No. 1 qualifiers; in Top Fuel: 233 events, 230 starts, 15 wins, 32 finals, 271 round wins, 19 No. 1 qualifiers

2021 Season:
Gatornationals: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 6; Beat Doug Foley, Leah Pruett, Antron Brown; Lost to Josh Hart
Las Vegas1: Qual. No. 6; Beat Troy Buff and Rob Passey; Lost to Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrence
Atlanta: Qual. No. 11; Beat Leah Pruett, Mike Salinas; Lost to Steve Torrence
Charlotte1: Qual. No. 11; Lost to Antron Brown and Krista Baldwin
Houston: Qual. No. 7; Beat Josh Hart, Justin Ashley; Lost to Doug Kalitta
Epping: Qual. No. 8; Lost to Doug Kalitta
Norwalk: Qual. No. 16; Lost to Steve Torrence
Denver: Qual. No. 8; Lost to Clay Millican
Sonoma: Qual. No. 9; Beat Clay Millican; Lost to Antron Brown
Pomona1: Qual. No. 5; Beat Jim Maroney; Lost to Antron Brown
Topeka: Qual. No. 7; Beat Antron Brown, Billy Torrence; Lost to Clay Millican
Brainerd: Qual. No. 7; Lost to Antron Brown
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 16; Lost to Brittany Force
Reading: Qual. No. 11; Beat Mike Salinas; Lost to Billy Torrence

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Mac Tools Dragster and Doug Kalitta Looking to Get Job Done at DeWalt Carolina Nationals

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The last time Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools Top Fuel team hit the track at zMax Dragway they were battling for the 2019 Top Fuel championship and raced to the final round. Once again Kalitta and his familiar red and white 11,000 horsepower land rocket are in the Countdown chasing their first championship and this weekend at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Kalitta will be looking to keep his streak of successful races alive in Charlotte.
“We have had good luck in Charlotte over the years,” said Kalitta. “We had a good run the last time we were there, and we won that race a couple years before that. It is a great facility and I feel good about our chances this weekend.”
Since 2010 Kalitta has raced to the final round at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals four times and collected a No. 1 qualifier in 2017. The success at the track for the perennial championship contending team is not surprising. Throughout his 20-year career as the driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster Kalitta’s name has constantly been in the championship conversation. In 2019 when he raced to the final round in Charlotte he narrowly missed the championship and came back even stronger last season.
“Our goal every year is to win that Camping World Top Fuel world championship,” said Kalitta. “You have to make the Countdown to have a chance at the championship and we have done that again this season. We would have liked to have been a little higher in the points but a couple wins can get us right at the top. This is a team that is capable to ripping of two or three wins in a row.”
This season Kalitta has raced to two runner-up finishes and started from the top half of the field seven times. His performances in Las Vegas and Houston have shown the capabilities of the Mac Tools Top Fuel team. Most recently the team started the U.S. Nationals as the No. 3 qualifier and then raced to the quarterfinals.
“We finished the regular season with some good runs in Indianapolis at the U.S. Nationals,” said Kalitta. “We didn’t have the kind of race we wanted in Reading to start the Countdown, but we have six more races. This weekend will be critical for us and we are going to give it everything we have.”

2019 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Highlights (event not contested in 2020): RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 10; Beat Antron Brown, Leah Pruett, Brittany Force; Lost to Steve Torrence
Last Event Recap (2021 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 9; Lost to Justin Ashley
Career Stats: 538 events, 531 starts, 722 round wins, 49 wins, 107 finals, 50 No. 1 qualifiers

2021 Season:
Gatornationals: Qual. No. 4; Beat Arthur Allen; Lost to Justin Ashley
Las Vegas1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 3; Beat Troy Buff and Rob Passey, Beat Shawn Langdon and Leah Pruett; Lost to Steve Torrence
Atlanta: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Antron Brown
Charlotte1: Qual. No. 12; Beat Josh Hart, Billy Torrence, Kyle Wurtzel; Lost to Brittany Force, Josh Hart
Houston: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 9; Beat Brittany Force, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon; Lost to Steve Torrence
Epping: Qual. No. 5; Beat Shawn Langdon, Lost to Mike Salinas
Norwalk: Qual. No. 11; Lost to Antron Brown
Denver: Qual. No. 4; Lost to Leah Pruett
Sonoma: Qual. No. 8; Beat Mike Salinas; Lost to Steve Torrence
Pomona1: Qual. No. 6; Lost to Clay Millican
Topeka: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Clay Millican
Brainerd: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Clay Millican
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 3; Beat Krista Baldwin; Lost to Billy Torrence
Reading: Qual. No. 9; Lost to Justin Ashley

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. For more than 60 years, 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. Kalitta Motorsports fields three full-time entries in the NHRA Camping World nitro classes. Connie Kalitta’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster while 2013 NHRA Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon drives the DHL/Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. In Funny Car, 2018 NHRA Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd is the driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. Connie Kalitta serves as head tuner for all Kalitta Motorsports entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer on the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, Kurt Elliott on the DHL Top Fuel dragster and Rob Flynn with Ronnie Thompson lead the efforts on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster.