Doug Kalitta Set to Start 600th Career Race
When he’s strapped into the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster this weekend, Doug Kalitta will become the first Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to compete in 600 races. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes Aug. 16-18, 2024, at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
Kalitta joins Funny Car drivers John Force (681), Cruz Pedregon (678) and Ron Capps (641) as the only four drivers in NHRA history to reach the 600-race plateau.
“I have to admit, I don’t really watch a lot of the statistics stuff,” Kalitta said. “So that kind of was a reminder, obviously, that I’ve been at this for quite a while and it’s a very cool milestone for me. It’s been, obviously, an interesting ride, and I didn’t realize nobody else (in Top Fuel) had made it to 600, but it’s been a cool ride. It’s been a great opportunity for me out there running with the NHRA and competing for as long as I have, and I certainly still enjoy driving the cars and surrounding myself with great people and great teams. We’re hoping to have a great event up there at Brainerd this weekend. It’s always a great place to go – I look forward to it every year. Hopefully, it’ll be a great weekend for us.”
If first 12 races of the season are any indication, it will be. Kalitta has three wins in six final rounds and leads the point standings by 125 points over his teammate, Shawn Langdon. In the 18 races since he won his 50th race at Reading, Pa., last September, Kalitta has six wins in nine final-round appearances. He enters this weekend’s race with 55 race wins including two wins in four Brainerd final-round appearances.
“When you catch a wave like this, you hope that you can stay on it as long as you can,” Kalitta added. “It’s fun to watch what Alan, (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) just with his knowledge of these cars and all the different variables that go into getting that thing to the starting line, does with this Mac Tools car. I’ve been able to put up the big numbers. I haven’t really spent a lot of time tuning the car or doing any of that, but watching what he’s doing and the changes he makes is pretty cool. He’s one of the best crew chiefs out there, in my opinion, and I’m glad he’s on my car, that’s for sure. That Mac Tools car is only as good as the guys putting it together and the consistency of all the parts. It’ s definitely a team effort. As intense as the competition is, and as intense as driving one of these cars is, my guys are rowing pretty good right now.”
Since his first start at the 1998 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., through the day he clinched his first NHRA Top Fuel Championship at In ‘n Out Burger Raceway in Pomona on Nov. 12, 2023 to the time he’s strapped into the Mac Tools car this weekend, the competitive fire inside Doug Kalitta burns as brightly now as it did all those years ago when he fought the butterflies when he made that first run more than 26 years ago.
“It’s just the challenge, really, and everybody doing their part,” Kalitta said. “It’s just the competition, really, that drives me; it’s just kind of in your blood once you get going. But the speed of that thing and just the raw horsepower that car produces – it’s quite a ride. It’s definitely something to look forward to each and every time we go out there. We’re always trying to beat one another with better runs or reaction times – it’s just the whole process. It’s just fun.”
This story was originally published on August 13, 2024.
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