Wed, 19 Aug 2026, 14:23 PM Kalitta Motorsports Preview

Courtesy of Rob Goodman, Kalitta Motorsports Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports

Kalitta Motorsports Pre-Race Notes & Quotes NHRA Brainerd Nationals NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Race 13 of 20 Brainerd International Raceway; Brainerd, Minn.; Aug. 21-23, 2026

Partnership Update: SoundGear, the Official Hearing Partner of Kalitta Motorsports, will enjoy enhanced branding at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals. SoundGear will have major associate branding on Doug Kalitta's Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster, Shawn Langdon's Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel Dragster and J.R. Todd's DHL GR Supra Funny Car this weekend.

SoundGear represents the latest advancements in hearing protection and enhancement products. Their technology is ideal for safe listening in loud environments including motorsports, construction and many more. SoundGear products are manufactured by Starkey, global leader in hearing technology and premier provider in hearing health care headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn. For more information, please visit https://soundgear.com/

Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel Dragster

2025 NHRA Brainerd Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 5; defeated Antron Brown, lost to Brittany Force.

Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 381 events, 26 wins, 32 runners-up, 443 round wins, 27 No. 1 qualifiers.

Current Points Position: 1

Pre-Race Notes:
- Shawn Langdon enters the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings; he leads his teammate, Doug Kalitta, by five points with two races remaining in the regular season. Team Kalitta has been one-two in points since the second race of the season.

- Langdon has four wins on the season including three-consecutive wins at Valdosta, Ga., Joliet, Ill., and Budds Creek, Md. With Kalitta's wins in Charlotte, Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle, the Team Kalitta dragsters won seven of the season's 12 races and competed in 45 of the 47 rounds of racing.

- Langdon has four wins, three runners-up and two semifinal showings along with five No. 1 qualifiers this season. In the last three races, he qualified first, second and fourth.

- Langdon owns the two fastest runs in NHRA history. At the Southern Nationals in Georgia in May, he recorded speeds of 345.00 mph and 344.91 mph.

- Langdon is in search of his first win at Brainerd International Raceway; he reached the final round in 2024 for his best showing at Minnesota track.

- Langdon is the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel Champion and has 26 wins in his career.

Pre-Race Quotes:
"Every race from here on out really counts. It's obviously very important to do well this weekend and to do well at Indy to set yourself up for the countdown (Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs). We're kind of full steam ahead with everything at this point. Our plan is to go out there, do the best we can with everything and try to win the regular-season championship. At this point, it's about making sure all of your stuff is right - your parts and pieces, your crew guys. The car's been running well - we've hit a couple bumps here or there, but we've been qualifying well. We just need to continue doing what we're doing; we don't really need to change anything.
"It feels good to be in the points lead. That's our goal; it's where we wanna be, but we obviously want to keep the lead. We need to keep plugging along and hopefully hold onto it through these last two races of the regular season. It's gonna be difficult with the competition in Top Fuel - especially Doug (Teammate Doug Kalitta), but our job is to keep doing what we're doing. Hopefully, we can win one of those to secure it (regular season title) and give us a good start to the playoffs.
"We're still in the batter's box, and we'll keep swinging - we want to hit the ball every time. We're excited to get to Brainerd - looking to go some rounds and get back to the winner's circle."

For Shawn Langdon's 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.

Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster

2025 NHRA Brainerd Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 1; defeated Terry Totten, Bye, Billy Torrence, Clay Millican.

Doug Kalitta Career Stats: 638 events, 62 wins, 70 runners-up, 869 round wins, 69 No. 1 qualifiers.

Current Points Position: 2

Pre-Race Notes:
- Doug Kalitta enters the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings; he trails his teammate, Shawn Langdon, by five points and leads third-place Leah Pruett by 204 points with two races remaining in the regular season. Team Kalitta has been one-two in points since the second race of the season. With wins in the last two races, Kalitta moved from 150 points out of first place to just five markers behind Langdon.

- Kalitta joined his teammate, J.R. Todd, in the winner's circle in Seattle on July 26. It was the second double win in Kalitta Motorsports history and the first since March 2024 at Gainesville, Fla. The win was Kalitta's third of the season and his second straight; he swept the two-race western swing.

- Kalitta is the defending champion of NHRA Brainerd Nationals. He has three wins in five-career Brainerd final rounds along with four No. 1 qualifiers at the Minnesota track.

- Kalitta's Seattle win was the 62nd of his career; he is now tied with Larry Dixon for third place on NHRA's all-time Top Fuel wins list and 11th place in overall Mission Foods Drag Racing Series wins.

- The two-time and defending NHRA Top Fuel champion has three wins (Charlotte, Sonoma, Seattle), four runners-up, three semifinals and three No. 1 qualifiers this season. With Kalitta's wins and Langdon's four wins, the Team Kalitta dragsters won seven of the season's first 12 races and competed in 45 of the 47 rounds of racing.

- Kalitta is a two-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion (2023, '25) and a member of the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Pre-Race Quotes:
"It was cool to double up with JR (Team Kalitta Funny Car driver J.R. Todd) in Seattle. I was proud of our whole effort. It's an incredible team effort with all three of our cars. We're trying to help one another; we just want to keep collecting these points and try to get to the end.
"When you have Alan (Crew Chief Alan Johnson) up there doing his thing, you know your car has a really good opportunity - particularly when we get to the final round. Alan's usually dialed in pretty good when it gets to the end of the day, and he really had it dialed in for the western swing; I'm very fortunate. Alan is really all about getting down towards the end of the year. He has a lot of championships (14 Top Fuel titles), and this is the time of the year he really focuses on making it happen more than any other time. He always seems to pull it off. It's gonna be exciting. "Our Mac Tools team is on a pretty good run - we just need to keep doing what we're doing as a team. All my guys are doing an incredible job. It really takes everybody putting that thing together exactly the same for the consistency. If you don't have that, you aren't gonna get it done so hats off to all my guys. They're clicking; I just try to keep feeding them water or whatever I can do to help.
"Brainerd's always been good track for us over the years. The Mac Tools guys had a few weeks off, so I know they're raring to go. We're all looking forward to getting there, getting this thing in the show and seeing what we can do. The car's running great, and it's a lot of fun right now; we're hoping to have a great event up there at Brainerd this weekend. It's always a great place to go - I look forward to it every year. Hopefully, it'll be a great weekend for us; we're looking forward to getting back at it for sure."

For Doug Kalitta's 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.

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J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car

2025 NHRA Brainerd Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 5; defeated Paul Lee, Ron Capps and Jack Beckman; lost to Austin Prock.

J.R. Todd Career Stats: 349 events, 23 wins, 28 runners-up, 383 round wins, 17 No. 1 qualifiers.

Current Points Position: 3

Pre-Race Notes:
- J.R. Todd enters the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails points leader Ron Capps by 42 points, second-place Jack Beckman by five points and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 12 points. The top-five drivers are separated by just 64 points with two races remaining in the regular season.

- Todd joined his teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the winners' circle July 26 in Seattle. It was the second double win in Kalitta Motorsports history and the first since March 2024 at Gainesville, Fla. The win was Todd's first of the season and the 23rd of his career

- Todd was the runner-up at last year's NHRA Brainerd Nationals, but the DHL driver enters this weekend's race in search of his first Brainerd win.

- Todd advanced to at least the semifinals six times this season. He has one win, one runner-up finish and four semifinal showings in addition to three No. 1 qualifiers this season.

- Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and has 23 race wins in his career.

Pre-Race Quotes:
"Winning in Seattle was definitely a weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks earlier in the season. We had some clutch disc issues that I think we've sorted out. I was so happy for my guys because they'd been busting their butts all season. To be able to double up with Dougy (Top Fuel Teammate Doug Kalitta) was huge - we'd been trying to do that for so long, and it was awesome. It's great that we got to make Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) proud - I wish he'd been there because it's so hard to win these things, and then to double up. We'd only done it once with Shawn (Top Fuel Teammate Shawn Langdon) in Gainesville a couple years ago, and now to do it with Doug, I can't thank Connie, Dougie and everybody that lets me drive Scott's car (Scott Kalitta's car). We got it back in the winners' circle where it belongs, and hopefully, we can do it a lot more this season.
"We've had a really good car all year long; we just stumbled a little there in the middle of the season. Now I think we're getting back to where we need to be. You can't take anybody lightly in Funny Car. Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) do a really good job of racing smart - not throwing down every run; they race the conditions and the track.
"You never know if the next win is ever gonna come. I thought for sure, earlier in the season and even in pre-season testing, I was like, 'we've got a hot rod; we're gonna win some races.' A lot of things weren't going our way, but I knew we had the right personnel, parts and pieces and everything behind us to go out there and win. Our dragsters had been making it look easy all season long. I was like, 'man, what are we not doing right?' It's not easy by any means.
"I've thought all season long that we're a championship contender. I know what we have in the pit area and at the race shop. You're only as good as your last race so we'll go to Brainerd and try to win there and maybe double up again. Now's the time to get rolling with Brainerd, points and a half at Indy and the regular season championship. One of our dragsters is most likely gonna win that so if we could both win that, it would be huge. In the last six races, like I keep saying, that's when 'you gotta let it eat.'
"We always go to Brainerd a little early and hang out on the lake. It's kind of like a little mini vacation before and during the race so it's a nice little getaway from the racetrack. I definitely look forward to that, and I look forward to seeing the fans at the racetrack.
I like the Brainerd fans; they're probably some of, if not the, rowdiest fans on the tour. They're really passionate about us coming there, and it's a way cool environment - you know they'll be energetic."

For J.R. Todd's 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.

TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 7-8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 10:30-Midnight Saturday, Aug. 22 on FS1
- Finals: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23 on FS1

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