Doug Kalitta finally added an elusive NHRA Top Fuel championship to his stellar resume last season.
This weekend, he’s trying to check another career accomplishment off his bucket list.
New England Dragway in Epping, N.H., the site of this weekend’s New England Nationals, is the lone NHRA national event track that Doug Kalitta has yet to win.
Kalitta took a step in the right direction to reach that goal, qualifying in the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot with a 3.702-second elapsed time at 332.84 mph Friday in Q2.
“We went into that session first and as the cars were running, I’m like, ‘I’m not sure where I’m going here. But definitely cars are going around us.’ But I was really confident, real hopeful, obviously,” Kalitta said. “Because I think Clay (Millican) in front of me smoked the tires, so it was just one of those deals that the car left good and smooth. I was really happy once I figured out we got quick time. This is a pretty cool area up here and it’s attractive and definitely on the radar to try to get to the finals and get another shot at winning.”
Kalitta, who has 53 national-event wins, edged Steve Torrence (3.702 seconds) for the provisional top spot. Kalitta has wins this season in Pomona, Calif., and Charlotte, N.C.
If Kalitta’s spot holds through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, it would be his third this season – he was No. 1 in Las Vegas and Chicago – and the 56th of his career.
“The history here (in Epping) is incredible, and the area is beautiful, too, with all the water and seafood and whatever else is going on around here,” Kalitta said. “Just hats off to Alan (Johnson) and Mac Savage. These guys, they just seem to have my car really running well, and all my guys working on this thing. Obviously, we got the Mac Tools car this weekend. We’ve been switching it up a little bit. And the Toyota guys are out here helping us with the track, so just can’t thank them enough. And, yeah, got Connie (Kalitta) out here. All our cars ran pretty well in that session. So, we’re all trying to work together and just trying to see what we can do with all three of our cars at each one of these events.”
Kalitta, who arrived in Epping third in the points standings, knows the changing weather Saturday and Sunday will be a big factor for his team.
“Yeah, so (Saturday) will be hotter. So, I think hopefully, my 70 will be in the next safe spot, but you never can tell,” Kalitta said. “We’ll just try to get some consistent runs (Saturday). It’s supposed to be a little warmer and then a little warmer on Sunday. We’ll just try to get dialed in. And the way my car’s been running, and the job of Alan and all my guys have been doing, it’s been fun. And hopefully after (Saturday), I’ll be back up here and then we’ll start off on Sunday and see what we can do.
“It’s really amazing with what all these crew chiefs do with the temperatures and the track temperature and all of what goes into this thing. I’m glad that’s somebody else’s job actually. No, and I’ve got a great group. Just real thankful. But yeah, that’s the plan. We’ll just see if we can get down it with the conditions (Saturday) and see where it leaves us.”
