Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools Toyota team need their mojo back, and maybe, just maybe, returning to the site of a great win one year ago will get it back. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues June 21-22 at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond, Va.
Battling extremely hot conditions, Kalitta was the No. 2 qualifier at Richmond last summer. He stormed to the final round for an all-Team Kalitta showdown with Shawn Langdon. Kalitta would get the win and celebrate after one of the hottest races in recent memory, and this weekend’s forecast once again includes some serious heat. Kalitta won the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout and three Mission Foods Challenges along with five No. 1 qualifiers in the season’s first eight races, but he still lacks a race win.
“It’s just a hell of a team effort,” Kalitta said. “We’re all trying to do our thing, and I have such great confidence in this Mac Tools Toyota team. We’re all working together, trying to make it happen. Everybody’s trying really hard, and we know we have the car to win. We just have to find a Sunday to get it done. It’s getting to the hot part of the year. We just have to realize it’s going to be hot and we’re going to have to deal with it, so we’ll shake it up and be ready this weekend at Richmond.”
Perhaps history does, indeed, repeat itself. The hot summer weather is returning to central Virginia this weekend, and the Mac Tools team needs only check its notes from 2024 to put itself in position to perform at a very high level.
“Any time you get a win at any of these places, it makes it special, and we’re definitely motivated to try to do it again,” Kalitta added. “We shook off Bristol, put it in the rear-view mirror and we’re looking forward to this weekend.
“Everyone on this Mac Tools team is certainly trying their best to do what we need to do so with any luck, we can get the job done this weekend,” Kalitta added. “It’s kind of exciting to have this different format with the two-day deal – really looking forward to getting back out there after winning last year. It’ll be hot like last year, but I look forward to it. It should be fun. We like a two-day show when we can get out of there with a win like we did last year, but as long as we run well, that’s all that matters.”
This story was originally published on June 18, 2025. 
