Doug Kalitta Wins New England Nationals

TOP FUEL RACE WINNER: Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster

Finals Broadcast Replay: 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Wednesday, June 12, 2024 on FS2

Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA New England Nationals. It was his third No. 1 qualifier of the season, his third in the last four races and the 56^th of his career. He was quickest in the first session Friday afternoon with a 3.751-second effort at 331.61 mph, but he was even quicker in the Friday night session with a 3.700-second pass at 332.84 mph.

Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Scott Farley and Tony Stewart before racing his teammate, Shawn Langdon, in the semifinals. Kalitta beat Langdon by two thousandths of a second to advance to the final round against Tony Schumacher. It was their 95^th head-to-head matchup and their 19^th in a Top Fuel final. The final round was all Kalitta as the reigning Top Fuel champion won his 54^th-career race with a 3.802-second run at 332.92 mph. Kalitta is now tied with Steve Torrence for fourth most Top Fuel wins all time.

With his first New England Dragway win, Kalitta now has at least one victory at every race track the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series visits. It was Kalitta’s second win of the season, and the fifth win Kalitta Motorsports win in the first seven races of the season. (Shawn Langdon has two wins; J.R. Todd has one.)

When Kalitta advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge next week in Bristol, Tenn. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions in Bristol, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Epping will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Epping in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails his teammate, second-place Shawn Langdon, by 14 points and leads fourth-place Steve Torrence by 73 points.

Kalitta on Epping: “It’s a dream come true with Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson), Mac (Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) and this whole team that got behind me. We’ve been digging hard; the car’s so good, I just really want to make sure I’m not the weak link. I probably relied on those guys a little more than I’d like to today, but we got it done for Mac Tools, Revchem, SealMaster and Toyota. We finally got the win at Epping. We had a nice tribute to my cousin, Scott (Eddie’s Lobsterfest), last night so that was a cool experience with Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta). We’re just really happy to get this win, and this will be a special trophy knowing we finally won a race on the Eddie’s Lobsterfest weekend with Joe (Poulin) and all his guys here with us. It’s definitely a special day.”

Doug Kalitta Image Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports