Kalitta Motorsports drivers J.R. Todd and Doug Kalitta almost pulled off another double-up with at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina.
J.R. Todd was the No. 12 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. His quickest qualifying attempt came in Saturday’s first session when he reached the finish line in 3.932 seconds at 296.50 mph.
Todd and the DHL Toyota team defeated Ron Capps and Buddy Hull before defeating Alexis Dejoria and Cruz Pedregon in the semifinals. In the final, Todd defeated John Force but lost to race winner Matt Hagan and runner-up Dan Wilkerson.
Todd reached at least the semifinals at each of the season’s first five races.
When Todd advanced to the four-wide final round, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Chicago in three weeks. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the four-wide final round in Charlotte will re-run the semifinals and finals in the two-wide format earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
Todd leaves Charlotte in second place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails points leader Austin Prock by 19 points and leads third-place Matt Hagan by 15 points.
“We made a good rebound from qualifying. It’s always good to get to the later rounds, the final round in a Four-Wide Nationals,” said Todd. “We dropped a cylinder really early in the run, which stinks. I think we had a good shot at winning that thing for SealMaster, Safety-Kleen and Revchem if it ran on all eight. That shows that we’re making good strides with this DHL GR Supra – just need to keep picking at it. We didn’t have lane choice all day, and I don’t think it’s a big factor in regards to Four-Wides. I don’t think qualifying is a big factor when it comes to Four-Wides, either. That’s not the reason we put a hole out. We’ve been battling, dropping cylinders all weekend. Now, we have a couple weeks off so we’ll go back home and give the guys some rest, regroup and get ready for Chicago.”
Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. It was his second-consecutive No. 1 qualifier, his second of the season and the 55th of his career. During the second round of qualifying on Friday, Kalitta posted a 3.691-second effort at 337.92 mph. It was Kalitta’s career-best speed.
Kalitta defeated Shawn Reed and Cody Krohn in the first round before beating Billy Torrence and Jasmine Salinas in the semifinals despite not having any lane choice. In the final, again without lane choice, Kalitta ran a 3.725-second pass, but it wasn’t enough. He defeated Antron Brown, but Justin Ashley won the race; Clay Millican finished second.
When Kalitta advanced to the four-wide final round, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Chicago in three weeks. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the four-wide final round in Charlotte will re-run the semifinals and finals in the two-wide format earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
Kalitta leaves Charlotte in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails points leader Justin Ashley by 96 points and leads his teammate, Shawn Langdon, by 10 points.
“Making it to the final and putting the Mac Tools team in a position to win is what it’s all about out here,” said Kalitta. “It was really close racing out there, and we ended up third. It’s always good running the four-wide, but we’ll drag it to Chicago after this and get back to the normal two-wide racing for Revchem, SealMaster, Safety-Kleen and Toyota. I don’t think not having lane choice was a factor, but it’s hard to tell. The lanes seemed pretty even to me so we didn’t have any issues there.”
Shawn Langdon was the No. 7 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the opening round Friday afternoon when he needed just 3.719 seconds to reach the finish line at 334.32 mph. Langdon raced in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals “marquee matchup” facing Antron Brown, Steve Torrence and Brittany Force. Unfortunately for the 2013 Top Fuel champion, he failed to advance when the Autodesk dragster smoked the tires near half-track allowing Force and Brown to advance. Langdon was eliminated in the first round at both of the season’s four-wide races.
Langdon leaves Charlotte in third place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails his teammate, second-place Doug Kalitta, by 10 points and leads fourth-place Steve Torrence by 33 points.
“We made a couple good qualifying runs, qualified in the top half of the field and tried to make a good run in the first round, but we didn’t make the run we were expecting,” said Landgon. “We were trying to get the round win for Autodesk, Revchem, Safety-Kleen and everyone else that supports us, but we didn’t get it done. It happens; it’s another learning experience for Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) and the rest of this Toyota team. We have a little time now to regroup as a team, and we look forward to going to Chicago in two weeks to see what we can do on Route 66.”
This story was originally published on April 29, 2024. 
