Kalitta Motorsports Photo
POMONA, Calif. — Twenty-five years after he made his first NHRA start
in 1998, Doug Kalitta won his first NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2023.
Just two years later, the nephew of team owner Connie Kalitta has a pair
of them.
Kalitta clinched the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship when the field for
tomorrow’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona
Dragstrip was set. All four rounds of qualifying were canceled due to
rain, and the field was set on point standings entering the season’s
final race.
Kalitta reached the final round of the first four playoff races, winning
in St. Louis and Dallas to take control of the chase for the
championship. That led to the Saturday clinch allowing Kalitta to
celebrate with his team before eliminations even started.
“I’ve never had a relaxing Pomona at the end of the year,” Kalitta said.
“It’s always seemed to come down to the last race, the last day, but we
had a nice string of runs throughout the countdown and even at Sonoma
and Brainerd before the Countdown. Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) and my
whole team have had my car going down the track. I have to admit, going
A to B a lot of times has been nice – just not doing something stupid on
the track and getting a good solid run. Alan is always throwing down and
always has something up his sleeve. I’m just real proud of him and my
whole team. It’s a huge relief to be able to win the championship before
the last round at the last race so we’re all just super happy.”
The two-time Top Fuel champion entered the Countdown to the Championship
NHRA Playoffs as the No. 4 seed but quickly took charge advancing to the
final round at the first four of six Playoff races. The first Countdown
race in Reading, Pa., was eerily similar to the 2023 event. He was the
No. 3 qualifier and was running well on race day. In the second round,
immediately after Kalitta crossed the finish line at 335 mph and
defeated Tony Stewart, an apparent front-tire issue propelled the Mac
Tools dragster into the left lane where Kalitta made significant contact
with Stewart. Both drivers walked away from the incident.
Like 2023 when the Mac Tools dragster cut a tire on debris during the
final round of qualifying, Team Kalitta went to a backup car. Kalitta
defeated Steve Torrence in the semifinals before losing to Shawn Reed in
the finals. Kalitta left Pennsylvania with a slim points lead – one he
would not relinquish.
“We were just talking earlier, and Alan said, ‘well, if we have to wreck
a car in Reading every year, I guess that’s what we have to do to win
the championship'” Kalitta said. “I think it’s hard to pinpoint exactly
what the secret sauce is with what we’ve done. Alan has spent hours
building these parts and helping a lot of different teams. He’s just got
it figured out with the technology of all these pieces on this car.”
From there, it was onto Charlotte where Kalitta again advanced to the
final round, but in St. Louis and Dallas, it was all Doug Kalitta. The
Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer was the No. 1 qualifier in St. Louis;
he went on to win the race and extend his points lead to 86 markers. He
qualified fifth in Dallas, won the race and took a nearly insurmountable
141-point lead to the season’s final two races.
“The championship run is about two parts of the season,” Johnson said.
“You have the regular season and then the Countdown to the Championship.
In the regular season, we tried to prepare ourselves to be at our best
when the Countdown started. We were pretty much on a roll, and we ended
up having that incident in Reading (Maple Grove Raceway) that set us
back a little bit. We came back and got those two wins (St. Louis and
Dallas) that set us up for this. Everything we worked on throughout the
year played out how we envisioned it, and we got the job done!”
The Mac Tools Toyota teal advanced to the semifinals two weeks ago on
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and entered the In-N-Out Burger
NHRA Finals with a 144-point lead needing only to qualify for the race
to clinch the team’s second title in three years. Kalitta’s four wins in
seven final-round appearances and now nine No. 1 qualifiers pushed him
it an overwhelming points lead and today, a second NHRA Top Fuel title.
“My cousin (Scott Kalitta) did it back-to-back 1994, ’95, so I managed
to tie him,” the two-time Top Fuel champion said. “We didn’t do it did
it in style like he did going back-to-back – that’s a tough act to
follow, but we managed to tie his accomplishment. It’s just a dream come
true. Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) is out here with us, and we’ll
be celebrating for sure. Trust me, Connie’s just as happy as I am.
“It’s a hell of an opportunity to drive for Connie and then having Alan
and my guys and (General Manager) Chad Head, they’re really focused.
It’s so competitive out here; we’re all friends, but we all want to beat
everyone else – we hope we can win every round. I’m just very, very
appreciative of the opportunity.”
“I’m very proud to work for Connie Kalitta and Kalitta Motorsports,”
Head said. “Doing this with Mac Tools, two out of the last three years,
is just really exciting. Having Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development)
giving us all of the technology and all the support really means a lot
to this organization. Hopefully, Kallita Motorsports can continue to win
championships in this sport for a long time.”
Kalitta’s 2025 title is the sixth NHRA Championship for Team Kalitta and
14th for Crew Chief Alan Johnson with seven different drivers.