Press Release | KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
Doug Kalitta won the weather-delayed Right Trailers All-Star Callout with a thrilling final-round race against Brittany Force during qualifying for Sunday’s Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif.
Kalitta was the second seed in the special event originally scheduled for the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla., but delayed due to rain. To qualify for the Callout, drivers accrue qualifying points all season, and the top-eight drivers start the following season with this special event in which the top seed “calls out” or picks his or her opponent, followed by the second seed and third seed. The driver with the quickest winning elapsed time in the first round calls out the opponent for the semifinals.
Kalitta called out Clay Millican at the Gatornationals earlier this month, and Kalitta won with a 3.684-second pass at 333.16 mph and advanced to the semifinals where he faced reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown. Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster dropped a cylinder almost immediately, but Kalitta was still able to post a 3.736-second effort to move into the final against Force, who made runs of 3.646 and 3.641 seconds in the first two rounds.
Kalitta and Force left the starting line together, but Kalitta quickly pulled ahead and never looked back taking the title with a 3.657-second pass at 335.15 mph to Force’s 3.764-second effort at 293.70 mph. Kalitta’s margin of victory was .1072 seconds.
“The guys gave me a great car - to be able to run that 65 after watching Brittany run the 64 a couple times was big,” Kalitta said. “I knew we had that run in us, and I'm glad we were able to do it. I’m pretty fortunate for sure to have Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson), Mac Tools, Future Energy Solutions, SealMaster, Toyota and all the guys that help us with what we’re doing.
“We certainly appreciate everything Right Trailers is doing for NHRA - we tried to run this event in Gainesville, but there’s no better place to bring it to than here (Pomona). I love running this place, and we’re just glad to get by Brittney, Antron and Clay - it was a fun day for sure. It’s been a while since we’ve raced on a Friday, so that was pretty cool with all the guys that were in it. We’re super excited that Right Trailers did what they did for us, and I hope it works out for them for many years for sure.”
At the middle point of qualifying, Kalitta is second, and Shawn Langdon is currently 13th. In Funny Car, J.R. Todd is currently eighth with two qualifying rounds remaining. Both Kalitta and Langdon will compete in Saturday’s Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in a rematch of last week’s Phoenix semifinals and finals.
(Photo Courtesy Kalitta Motorsports)
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