It’s playoff time in drag racing – Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team find themselves right where they want to be: in the thick of the battle for the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs resumes Sept. 27-29, 2024 at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill., the third of six playoff races.
The top of the standings is tight in Top Fuel, and the reigning champ is right there. Kalitta is locked in a tight battle with points leader Antron Brown, second-place Justin Ashley and his teammate, third-place Shawn Langdon, just five points ahead of him. The top-four positions are separated by just 67 points, and second through fourth are separated by 14 points.
“That’s what makes this fun,” Kalitta said. “This championship battle is the opportunity we all pray for at the beginning of the year – to be in it at the end. We’re in the hunt and all my guys are hungry to win. Alan and Mac (Crew Chief Alan Johnson and Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) have this Mac Tools Toyota group focused on the task at hand – they’re digging hard. It was nice to go some rounds in Charlotte last weekend – we want to keep that going and see what we can do in these last four races.”
World Wide Technology Raceway has been good to Kalitta over the years. He has four wins in six final rounds at the suburban St. Louis race track, and notching win No. 5 this weekend would be perfect timing for a playoff push.
“I’m looking forward to St. Louis,” Kalitta said. “We’ve had some luck there, and I know everybody will be hungry; we’ll have to work our tails off there. My guys are up to the challenge, and I’m real proud of the job they’re doing. We all know what these Countdown races mean, and we’re working hard. We’re trying to make it happen, and there’s plenty of rounds to go so we’re in a good spot.”
This story was originally published on September 25, 2024. 
