Thu, 20 Nov 2025, 18:17 PM Doug Kalitta Claims Second NHRA Top Fuel Championship in Three Years

Courtesy of Rob Goodman, Kalitta Motorsports

Doug Kalitta and crew celebrate Championship.

POMONA, Calif. --- Twenty-five years after he made his first NHRA start in 1998, Doug Kalitta won his first NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2023. Just two years later, the nephew of team owner Connie Kalitta has a pair of them.

Kalitta clinched the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship when the field for tomorrow's In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip was set. All four rounds of qualifying were canceled due to rain, and the field was set on point standings entering the season's final race.

Kalitta reached the final round of the first four playoff races, winning in St. Louis and Dallas to take control of the chase for the championship. That led to the Saturday clinch allowing Kalitta to celebrate with his team before eliminations even started.

Connie and doug celebrate the Championship.

"I've never had a relaxing Pomona at the end of the year," Kalitta said. "It's always seemed to come down to the last race, the last day, but we had a nice string of runs throughout the countdown and even at Sonoma and Brainerd before the Countdown. Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) and my whole team have had my car going down the track. I have to admit, going A to B a lot of times has been nice - just not doing something stupid on the track and getting a good solid run. Alan is always throwing down and always has something up his sleeve. I'm just real proud of him and my whole team. It's a huge relief to be able to win the championship before the last round at the last race so we're all just super happy."

The two-time Top Fuel champion entered the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs as the No. 4 seed but quickly took charge advancing to the final round at the first four of six Playoff races. The first Countdown race in Reading, Pa., was eerily similar to the 2023 event. He was the No. 3 qualifier and was running well on race day. In the second round, immediately after Kalitta crossed the finish line at 335 mph and defeated Tony Stewart, an apparent front-tire issue propelled the Mac Tools dragster into the left lane where Kalitta made significant contact with Stewart. Both drivers walked away from the incident.

Like 2023 when the Mac Tools dragster cut a tire on debris during the final round of qualifying, Team Kalitta went to a backup car. Kalitta defeated Steve Torrence in the semifinals before losing to Shawn Reed in the finals. Kalitta left Pennsylvania with a slim points lead - one he would not relinquish.

"We were just talking earlier, and Alan said, 'well, if we have to wreck a car in Reading every year, I guess that's what we have to do to win the championship'" Kalitta said. "I think it's hard to pinpoint exactly what the secret sauce is with what we've done. Alan has spent hours building these parts and helping a lot of different teams. He's just got it figured out with the technology of all these pieces on this car."

From there, it was onto Charlotte where Kalitta again advanced to the final round, but in St. Louis and Dallas, it was all Doug Kalitta. The Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer was the No. 1 qualifier in St. Louis; he went on to win the race and extend his points lead to 86 markers. He qualified fifth in Dallas, won the race and took a nearly insurmountable 141-point lead to the season's final two races.

"The championship run is about two parts of the season," Johnson said. "You have the regular season and then the Countdown to the Championship. In the regular season, we tried to prepare ourselves to be at our best when the Countdown started. We were pretty much on a roll, and we ended up having that incident in Reading (Maple Grove Raceway) that set us back a little bit. We came back and got those two wins (St. Louis and Dallas) that set us up for this. Everything we worked on throughout the year played out how we envisioned it, and we got the job done!"

The Mac Tools Toyota teal advanced to the semifinals two weeks ago on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and entered the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals with a 144-point lead needing only to qualify for the race to clinch the team's second title in three years. Kalitta's four wins in seven final-round appearances and now nine No. 1 qualifiers pushed him it an overwhelming points lead and today, a second NHRA Top Fuel title.

"My cousin (Scott Kalitta) did it back-to-back 1994, '95, so I managed to tie him," the two-time Top Fuel champion said. "We didn't do it did it in style like he did going back-to-back - that's a tough act to follow, but we managed to tie his accomplishment. It's just a dream come true. Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) is out here with us, and we'll be celebrating for sure. Trust me, Connie's just as happy as I am.

"It's a hell of an opportunity to drive for Connie and then having Alan and my guys and (General Manager) Chad Head, they're really focused. It's so competitive out here; we're all friends, but we all want to beat everyone else - we hope we can win every round. I'm just very, very appreciative of the opportunity."

"I'm very proud to work for Connie Kalitta and Kalitta Motorsports," Head said. "Doing this with Mac Tools, two out of the last three years, is just really exciting. Having Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) giving us all of the technology and all the support really means a lot to this organization. Hopefully, Kallita Motorsports can continue to win championships in this sport for a long time."

Kalitta's 2025 title is the sixth NHRA Championship for Team Kalitta and 14th for Crew Chief Alan Johnson with seven different drivers.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Feb 10- Wally Parks 75th Anniversary Appreciation Fund Part of $27 Million Overall Purse
Feb 08- NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League Releases 2026 Schedule
Feb 07- Huge List of Legends Set to Appear at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals
Feb 05- NHRA and Legends Global Extend Merchandise Partnership Ahead of 75th Anniversary Season
Feb 04- Doug Foley Announces Addition of Ron Douglas as Consultant to Foley Lewis Racing Top Fuel Team
Feb 04- Tickets Now on Sale for NHRA's Debut at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park and Rockingham Dragway
Feb 04- Reed, Zetterström to Share Driving Duties of Reed Trucking & Excavating Top Fuel Dragster
Jan 29- NHRA to Honor Iconic John Force in 2027 with "50 Years Of Force"
Jan 28- Top Fuel All-Star Callout Returns to Open NHRA's 75th Anniversary Season at Gatornationals
Jan 28- John Force Racing Announces Crew Chiefs for NHRA's 75th Anniversary Season