Tue, 11 Nov 2025, 22:02 PM Doug Kalitta on Verge of Second Top Fuel Title

Courtesy of Rob Goodman, Kalitta Motorsports

Doug Kalitta

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Doug Kalitta is almost there. When the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion makes a qualifying attempt this weekend, he will become a two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs concludes Nov. 14-16 at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

Kalitta's second championship won't be "official" until the end of qualifying on Saturday, but once he makes that first attempt, the title will be his. His 2023 championship went down to a winner-take-all final round against Leah Pruett at the season's final race. Last year, he entered the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in fourth place in points and emerged with his seventh runner-up finish in the final season standings. This weekend will be just a touch less dramatic.

"It's hard to believe that we managed to not drag it into the last round of the last race," the presumptive 2025 Top Fuel champ said. "It feels really good; I'm definitely proud of my guys for making it all happen for sure. We just have to qualify this weekend so we can definitely manage that. It's a huge relief. It means a lot to Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta), me and everybody at Kalitta Motorsports, and we're very grateful.

"It's gratifying - I always hoped I'd be able to tie my cousin (Scott Kalitta) with the number of championships he has, and there's plenty of people who have won this twice. To be one of the guys that's won it twice with Alan (Johnson) as the crew chief is really special for sure - that's pretty cool."

With the championship mostly decided, the race in Top Fuel is for second place, and Kalitta's teammate, Shawn Langdon, enters this weekend's race in second place with a 19-point lead over third-place Justin Ashley and a 48-point margin over Brittany Force. When Langdon's crew chief, Brian Husen, left Kalitta's team as the assistant crew chief and moved over to the Kalitta Air team prior to the 2024 season, the Team Kalitta goal became the Kalitta dragsters finishing one-two in points. That goal is in reach this season, but Kalitta wants to make this weekend's race his fifth win of the season and his eighth win at Pomona. Should he capture the 60th annual In-N-Out Burger Finals, it would be his 60th-career win.

"That would be the icing on the cake for sure," Kalitta said. "Shawn's car is plenty capable of outrunning those guys, and he's obviously trying to secure second. We're hopeful he can pull it off, but we want to win this race, too; he'll hopefully have to go through us to get the win, and I love running at Pomona. I've had great success there, and the pressure will be off. The only other thing to do is go out there and win this thing."

Race Information:
In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals
In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip; Pomona, Calif.

TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 6:30-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 11-12:30 Sunday, Nov. 16 on FS1
- Finals: 5-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16 on FS1

2024 In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals Recap: Qualified No. 3; beat Ida Zetterstrom, Jasmine Salinas and Tony Stewart; lost to Antron Brown

Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 626 events, 59 wins, 67 runners-up, 839 round wins, 66 No. 1 qualifiers.

2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
Gainesville: Qualified No. 4; defeated Ida Zetterstrom; lost to Steve Torence. 
Phoenix: Qualified No. 1; defeated Travis Shumake, Bye and Jasmine Salinas; lost to Shawn Langdon.
Pomona: Qualified No. 2: defeated Scott Palmer before losing to Tony Stewart. 
Las Vegas: Qualified No. 1: defeated Clay Millican, Bye, lost to Tony Stewart and Justin Ashley.
Charlotte: Qualified No. 1; Lost to Tony Stewart, Clay Millican and Lex Joon.
Chicago: Qualified No. 1; defeated Lex Joon and Josh Hart, lost to Justin Ashley. 
Epping: Qualified No. 1; defeated Bye and Ida Zetterstrom; lost to Brittany Force.  
Bristol: Qualified No. 9; lost to Josh Hart. 
Richmond: Qualified No. 7; defeated Antron Brown and Clay Millican; lost to Justin Ashley 
Norwalk: Qualified No. 15; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Clay Millican. 
Seattle: Qualified No. 1; defeated Bye and Justin Ashley; lost to Brittany Force.
Sonoma: Qualified No. 2; defeated Ron August, Jr., Josh Hart, Bye and Antron Brown. 
Brainerd: Qualified No. 1; defeated Terry Totten, Bye, Billy Torrence and Clay Millican. 
Indianapolis: Qualified No. 4; Defeated Tony Schumacher, lost to Justin Ashley. 
Reading: Qualified No. 3; defeated Antron Brown, Tony Stewart and Steve Torrence; lost to Shawn Reed.
Charlotte: Qualified No. 2; defeated Josh Hart & Bye, Antron Brown & Steve Torrence; lost to Justin
Ashley.
St. Louis: Qualified No. 1; defeated Will Smith, Steve Torrence, Justin Ashley and Ida Zetterstrom. 
Dallas: Qualified No. 5; defeated Jasmine Salinas, Ida Zetterstrom, Shawn Langdon and Steve Torrence.

Las Vegas: Qualified No. 2: defeated Rob Passey, Bye, lost to Shawn Langdon. 

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