Doug Kalitta might scoff at the idea he’s gunning for Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel record. But from the outside, the scoffing looks a lot like a wholehearted run.
For years, Kalitta had everything on the resume except the championship. He finally got that out of the way in 2023, and instead of easing off, he has been winning at a better rate ever since.
At 63 career victories, Kalitta isn’t knocking on Schumacher’s door just yet. Schumacher’s 88 victories remain 25 wins away, but Kalitta has reached the point where putting their numbers on the same page no longer looks ridiculous.
The reason for the analysis is what Kalitta has done since 2023.
He won three races in five final rounds in 2023, then went three-for-four in finals in 2024. Kalitta followed with four victories in seven finals last season and has already matched those numbers in 2026, winning four of seven finals while putting together a 34-9 elimination record.
The qualifying numbers have followed the same path. Kalitta has accumulated 19 No. 1 qualifiers since 2023, including eight last season, and has qualified in the bottom half of the field only three times over the last two seasons.
More telling is what happens on Sunday. Kalitta’s round-winning percentage has improved every season since 2023, climbing from 61.7% to 67.3%, then 72.2% last year and 79.1% this season.
Kalitta is 135-58 in eliminations over that stretch, winning nearly seven of every 10 rounds he has raced. At an age when most drivers are trying to hang onto what they have, Kalitta is putting together some of the best seasons of his career.
It is a long way from the years when Kalitta carried one of drag racing’s most unwanted labels. He was known as the best Top Fuel racer never to have won a world championship.
“Yeah, I only dreamt about the opportunity,” Kalitta said of imagining this kind of run. “And when Alan first started with us the first year, we kind of struggled. I got about halfway through that season thinking, ‘Hadn’t won a race.’ We were just kind of struggling. I’m like, ‘I’d hate to be the driver that didn’t even win a race with Alan Johnson.’
“And then it seemed like after about halfway through that season, we started getting things figured out, started winning some races, and then we were able to get that championship in ’23. So that was a huge relief, that definitely weighed on me a lot.
“And after all the years, really more so people just bringing it up, it’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It’s one of those deals that we’re still trying to make happen.’ But no, it’s taken a while.
“Obviously, I’m one of the older guys out there, and we’re still running good and still trying to get these wins at championships. Another great opportunity this year, we just got to stay cool.”
Kalitta came painfully close enough times to earn the label, finishing second in the Top Fuel standings six times before finally winning the 2023 championship.
Kalitta insists the driver inside the car hasn’t changed. What changed was the race car underneath him and the opportunity created by Alan Johnson and the Kalitta Motorsports crew.
“It’s the same driver,” Kalitta said with a smile. “Obviously, with this kind of opportunity, you just don’t want to screw it up, that’s been the motto of the last few years. And really, all my guys, we’re all in this together.
“But the pressure’s the same. We were always content and right there, second, second. But it’s certainly been nice to get a car that Alan’s tuning and that thing runs like it does. It’s pretty incredible.”
Success has brought something else Kalitta spent years trying to manufacture while chasing championships: momentum.
“It’s a mental game out here, you know as well as anybody,” Kalitta said. “Yeah, you just got to, obviously, just keep going rounds. And the more you get going, the more real momentum and everything else that happens along with that with your guys. Yeah. So we kind of feed on one another.
“Yeah, it’s never easy. Each round, doesn’t matter who you’re up against, I mean, they can put you on a trailer. So you just got to be… Each round’s real important.”
Schumacher isn’t taking up space in Kalitta’s head, but the benchmark he established creates a goal to shoot for.
For most of Kalitta’s career, Schumacher’s numbers lived in another ZIP code. Schumacher won 88 times in 161 final rounds and collected 99 No. 1 qualifiers in 594 races, numbers built during a career that included eight Top Fuel championships.
Kalitta has 63 victories in 133 finals and 70 No. 1 qualifiers through 639 races. He trails Schumacher by 25 victories, 28 final-round appearances and 29 No. 1 qualifying positions.
That’s a lot of ground to make up. The pace Kalitta has established over the last four seasons is what could make folks begin thinking, “What if?”
Since 2023, Kalitta has averaged 3.5 victories, 5.75 final rounds and 4.75 No. 1 qualifiers per season. Maintain those averages and Schumacher’s 88 victories remain a little more than seven seasons away, while the gap in final-round appearances could disappear considerably sooner.
Four-win seasons shorten the average pace. Kalitta won four last year and already has four this season, and a sustained pace of four victories per year would put 88 within reach in a little more than six seasons.
Five wins a year gets him there even faster.
“That might be a stretch. Not that long,” Kalitta said when asked whether he could catch Schumacher.
Reminded there might be a little unfinished business involved, from “The Run” that fuels the bid, Kalitta laughed off the suggestion before giving Schumacher his due.
“That’s a feat,” Kalitta said. “He’s done a hell of a job over the years. But no, it would be cool to be even close to where he’s at, for sure.”
Kalitta knows better than most how Schumacher built some of those numbers. Their best years have been defined by the one making the tuning calls – Alan Johnson.
Anyone familiar with Kalitta’s history remembers the 2006 NHRA Finals at Pomona, when Schumacher delivered what became known as “The Run,” setting a national elapsed-time record on the final pass necessary to overcome Kalitta and win the championship by 14 points. It remains one of the most painful championship reversals in NHRA history. And Johnson was behind the performance push.
Kalitta doesn’t talk like a driver trying to settle an old score, and chasing Schumacher’s 88 victories isn’t something he appears ready to turn into a public campaign. He is more interested in what remains directly in front of him, and another championship opportunity.
Kalitta about how much longer he wanted to do this. Winning has provided a pretty convincing answer.
“It’s one of those deals,” Kalitta said. “Right now it’s a hell of an opportunity for me. And as long as everything around me that I’ve got going on in my life stays, I’d like to be able to keep going as long as this thing’s going well.”
Kalitta may never get to Schumacher’s 88. He may not even be particularly interested in trying to make it a chase.
But if he keeps winning at this rate, somebody is going to keep doing the math.
