Kalitta Motorsports News

Post-Race Report Event 24: Auto Club Finals Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Pomona, Calif. November 11-13

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Doug Kalitta
14
Nov

Doug Kalitta

Kalitta scores first Auto Club Finals win

Race Recap: Kalitta came into the final race of the season looking to move the Mac Tools Toyota team back into the top two in the standings.

Although he had a rough Friday qualifying session, Kalitta was very strong on Saturday. After recording a solid pass in the first session to clinch a spot in the show, Kalitta, Jim Oberhofer and the Mac Tools team were focused on moving up in the order. They did just that by running a 3.709 second pass moving up to the second spot, and helping Team Kalitta sweep the top two spots in the field for the first time since 2014.

His first opponent on Sunday was Shawn Reed. The Mac Tools team were ready. Kalitta was solid on the tree, and the Mac Tools dragster was solid downtrack with a 3.755 second pass. The winning ways continued in the second round with Kalitta leaving on Schumacher and leading all the way to the stripe. That round win, Kalitta’s 587th, was enough to move Kalitta to the top ten all-time in NHRA history and clinch a top two spot in the standings for the Mac Tools team.

Kalitta moved to the semi-finals. The second pair of the semis, Kalitta watched his teammate, J.R. Todd, earn a finals berth and the Mac Tools driver was focused to follow suit. The Mac Tools driver beat Shawn Langdon off of the line and led wire-to-wire earning Team Kalitta their second all-Kalitta Top Fuel final of the season.

In the final, the Mac Tools driver left first on the starting line and got his fourth win of the season and first Auto Club Finals trophy defeating his teammate on a holeshot. It was his fourth win of the season; the most he has earned since 2006. He also earned his top points placement since the 2006 season.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 2 (3.709 sec., 327.90 mph)

  • E1: Kalitta defeated Reed – 3.755 sec., 326.40 mph to 4.774 sec., 157.04 mph
  • E2: Kalitta defeated Schumacher – 3.742 sec., 328.86 mph to 3.778 sec., 324.90 mph
  • E3: Kalitta defeated Langdon – 3.734 sec., 326.95 mph to 3.747 sec., 325.53 mph
  • Final: Kalitta defeated Todd – 3.745 sec., 326.63 mph to 3.704 sec., 327.90 mph

Quotable: “I am so proud to drive this Mac Tools dragster. I have a heck of a group, Jim O, Troy, this entire team is awesome. The guys worked so hard, and to close the season with a win is great. This is a trophy I have been chasing for a long time, and I am so glad to earn it. I am a winner till the Winternationals and I am so excited to close the season on a high note.”

Final Point Standings: Second

 JR Todd

Todd advances to career-best sixth final of the season

Race Recap: Focused on ending a career-best season strong, Todd was very excited to get to one of his favorite tracks: Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Todd and the SealMaster team were stout throughout qualifying. Connie Kalitta and Rob Flynn tuned the SealMaster ride to the second-best pass of the first session, but really laid down a jaw dropping pass in the heat of Saturday afternoon. Todd drove the SealMaster ride from start-to-finish in an incredible 3.680 seconds. That reset Todd’s career-best and also gave him the Auto Club Raceway track record. It is tied for the fifth-best run in NHRA history. Todd would hold on and record his first no.1 qualifer of the season, first at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and ninth of his career. With Doug Kalitta qualifying second, Team Kalitta swept the first two spots in qualifying for the first time in over two years.

Todd and the SealMaster team got the 16th seeded Troy Buff in the first round. Buff hit the tree early giving the round win to Todd who recorded a solid 3.811 seecond pass. Fellow Toyota driver Richie Crampton was next, and Todd moved to his fourth semi-final or better in the last five events with a nice 3.762 second run.

But Todd was not down there. Taking on the new champion Antron Brown in the semi-finals for the third consecutive race, the SealMaster team laid down low elapsed time of the round with an incredible 3.708 second pass to earn lane choice over his teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the final. It was Todd’s second straight final, sixth of the season and 19th of his career.

However, a second win of the season was not in the cards as Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster was able to get off of the line first and take that to the finish line for the win. Even in the loss, it was an outstanding season for Todd who reached new career-highs in round wins and finals.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 1 (3.680 sec., 327.82 mph) **CAREER-BEST and TRACK RECORD ET**

  • E1: Todd defeated Buff – 3.811 sec., 308.43 mph to foul
  • E2: Todd defeated Crampton – 3.762 sec., 316.90 mph to foul
  • E3: Todd defeated Brown – 3.708 sec., 329.26 mph to 3.765 sec., 324.44 mph
  • Final: Todd defeated by Kalitta – 3.704 sec., 327.90 mph to 3.745 sec., 326.63 mph

Quotable: “I believe we definitely had the car to beat all weekend, we just screwed up in the final on the starting line and let one get away. It was a mistake (in lane choice due to the sun), but we can’t make any excuses, you’ve got go up there and be a pro and hit the gas on time. All in all, a good weekend for Kalitta Motorsports having both Toyota dragsters in the final and that got us both in the top five in points. We just wanted to come out of here with a trophy. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for next year. The performance of the car over the last three races has really come around. It’s a shame we didn’t start off the Countdown the way we finished. I think we’ve definitely got a championship caliber team here and hopefully we’ll go out and win a handful of races before the Countdown next year and set ourselves up in a better position. We’ve been to a lot of semis and a quite a few final rounds. I don’t think our overall point position reflects the kind of season we had. We stumbled at the beginning of the Countdown and Antron got rolling like he did, it just makes it harder on the rest of us. You’ve got to stop him early. The way we finished the year, I like the direction we’re going for 2017.”

Point Standings: Fourth

Del Worsham

Tough end to another outstanding season for Worsham

Race Recap: Last season’s Auto Club Finals victor, Worsham was looking to end the season strong once again. The DHL Toyota team struggled throughout qualifying on Friday, but were able to lay a clean 3.912 second pass in the early session on Saturday to lock themselves in the top half of the field. When the dust was settled, Worsham was ranked eighth, and earned a first round draw of fellow Countdown driver Tim Wilkerson.

The last nitro pair to see the track, Worsham and Wilkerson left together, but Worsham experienced tire smoke eventually and Wilkerson ran the low elapsed time of round one to move on.

Overall, it was another successful season for Worsham. He recorded 36 round wins which ranks among Worsham’s top three most successful Funny Car seasons. He earned his first win in Brainerd and had four additional final round appearances.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 8 (3.912 sec., 327.35 mph)

  • E1: Worsham defeated by Wilkerson – 6.290 sec., 108.28 mph to 3.922 sec., 325.77 mph

Quotable: “Not the way we wanted to end the season with this DHL Toyota Camry. Great effort by all of my guys; I have a great group. We will work hard this off-season and come out swinging in 2017.”

Final Point Standings: Seventh

PR Contact:

(Doug Kalitta, Del Worsham, J.R. Todd)
Cody Poor
cody@kalittaracing.com
 Jeff Arend

Arend solid in fill-in duty

Race Recap: Due to injuries suffered at the Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas, DeJoria sat out the Auto Club Finals. Team Patrón still competed with former Team Kalitta driver Jeff Arend chosen to fill the seat.

Arend recorded his first three second pass and qualified a solid tenth. First up was former champion Matt Hagan. Hagan encountered tire smoke and the Patrón Camry was stout with a clean 3.971 second pass. In the second round, Arend ran another solid 3.979, but it was not enough against Courtney Force.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 10 (3.930 sec., 317.19 mph)

  • E1: Arend defeated Hagan – 3.971 sec., 314.97 mph to 6.367 sec., 118.41 mph
  • E2: Arend defeated by C. Force – 3.979 sec., 323.97 mph to 3.922 sec., 319.75 mph

    For further requests for Jeff Arend or Alexis DeJoria, please contact:

Allison McCormick
allison@alexisdejoria.com

Paul Lee

Lee ends season with consistency

Race Recap: Lee returned to the McLeod Racing Toyota for Team Kalitta after an awesome debut in Las Vegas. However, Lee, crew chief Todd Smith and the McLeod Racing team was not about to be outdone. The team scored four straight three-second passes in qualifying to solidly qualify 11th in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history. In his first round matchup with Robert Hight, Lee was prepared, recording the top reaction time of the round, but encountered tire smoke down track giving the round win to Hight.

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 11 (3.935 sec., 305.36 mph)

E1: Lee defeated by Hight – 4.460 sec., 195.28 mph to 3.929 sec., 326.40 mph

For further requests for Paul Lee, please contact:

Krista Baldwin
Krista.Baldwin@McLeodRacing.com

All Photos courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography.

Mello Yello Championship Points:

Top Fuel (Unofficial)

1. Antron Brown (2663)
2. Doug Kalitta (2533)
3. Steve Torrence (2482)
4. J.R. Todd (2455)
5. Shawn Langdon (2443)
6. Brittany Force (2399)
7. Leah Pritchett (2389)
8. Tony Schumacher (2387)
9. Richie Crampton (2279)
10. Clay Millican (2264)

Funny Car (Unofficial)

1. Ron Capps (2606)
2. Tommy Johnson Jr. (2554)
3. Matt Hagan (2494)
4. John Force (2486)
5. Jack Beckman (2477)
6. Courtney Force (2414)
7. Del Worsham (2406)
8. Robert Hight (2368)
9. Tim Wilkerson (2314)
10. Alexis DeJoria (2184)

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) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 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 six world championships and over 100 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Team Kalitta is the home of the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car World Champion, Del Worsham. He drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. J.R. Todd drives the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster. Team Kalitta also manages the McLeod Racing Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by Paul Lee. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, Tommy DeLago and Glen Huszar on the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car, Todd Smith on the McLeod Racing Toyota Camry Funny Car, Rob Flynn on the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster and Jim Oberhofer on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include ARP, AutoDesk CAM, Champion, Cogistics, Darton Sleeves, DHL, Justice Brothers, Kalitta Air, Mac Tools, Optima Batteries, Phoenix Fuel Converter, Racing Electronics, Red Line Oil, SealMaster, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Companies, Tequila Patrón, TMS Titanium, Toyota and Ziebart.