Doug Kalitta didn’t appear particularly interested in answering the question. The two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion had just won the Las Vegas Nationals, and the last thing he probably wanted was a reminder of the championship Tony Schumacher stole from him 20 years earlier.
The reporter tried asking it another way, hoping Kalitta might entertain the possibility of doing to someone else what Schumacher had done to him. Kalitta, as polite as ever, talked about the opportunity, his team and the competition, but never quite addressed what it would feel like to be on the other side of that particular heartbreak.
Maybe some memories are better left alone, especially when they involve losing a championship on the final run of the season. And if there’s anyone in drag racing who seems incapable of holding a grudge, it’s Kalitta, although nobody could blame him if November 2006 still stings.
Kalitta heads into the Nov. 12-15 In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona trailing Kalitta Motorsports teammate Shawn Langdon by 107 points, needing another remarkable turn of events to win his third Top Fuel championship. And here’s where the story gets interesting: Alan Johnson, the crew chief who engineered Schumacher’s historic comeback in 2006, is now the man turning the wrenches for Kalitta.
“Obviously Alan Johnson, he’s the creator of all this stuff,” Kalitta said when asked about producing his own version of Schumacher’s famous run. “It feels like a long shot, but like you say, it’s hard. Anything can happen. Points and a half at Pomona.”
Kalitta has already done his part to keep the championship from becoming a coronation for Langdon. He defeated his teammate in the Las Vegas semifinals, then beat Leah Pruett in the final with a 3.658-second pass at 338 mph to claim his fifth victory of the season and 64th of his career.
The victory prevented Langdon from leaving Las Vegas with the championship secured. Instead, the two Kalitta Motorsports drivers will settle their season-long battle at the same racetrack where Kalitta once watched another championship disappear.
In 2006, Kalitta arrived at Pomona holding a 46-point advantage over Schumacher. Under the scoring system in place at the time, Schumacher needed nearly everything to fall his way, including a national elapsed-time record worth 20 bonus points.
Kalitta reached the semifinals before losing on a holeshot to Melanie Troxel, leaving Schumacher one last opportunity. Schumacher had advanced to the final, but winning the race alone wouldn’t be enough to take the championship.
Johnson had to tune Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster to a national record, breaking the existing mark of 4.437 seconds. Schumacher then had to beat Troxel in the final while delivering the quickest quarter-mile Top Fuel run in NHRA history.
finishes.
Schumacher ran 4.428 seconds at 327.98 mph, and just like that, Kalitta’s 46-point lead coming into Pomona was gone. Schumacher had the race win, the national record and the championship by 14 points, courtesy of a run that drag racing fans still talk about 20 years later.
It would take another 17 years before Kalitta finally secured his first Top Fuel championship in 2023. Now Johnson, the architect of that 2006 disappointment, has an opportunity to help Kalitta create a very different memory at Pomona.
The points-and-a-half deal at Pomona gives Kalitta 30 points for every round he wins instead of the usual 20. He’s 107 behind Langdon, so if Kalitta wins the race and Langdon goes out in the first round, that’s a 120-point gain before qualifying points are figured in.
If Langdon advances to the second round, Kalitta can still overcome the deficit by winning the race, provided qualifying and bonus points don’t erase his advantage. A Langdon semifinal appearance would effectively end Kalitta’s chances because the remaining elimination and qualifying points would not be enough to close the gap.
Kalitta knows he cannot afford another weekend in which Langdon controls the proceedings. Las Vegas provided the break he desperately needed, and Kalitta admitted losing that semifinal would have effectively ended his championship hopes.
“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about that, definitely,” Kalitta said when asked whether a semifinal loss would have made Pomona a lost cause. “There was no question about that.”
The semifinal victory was particularly satisfying because Langdon had dominated their head-to-head meetings this season. Before Las Vegas, Langdon had won seven of their eight encounters, leaving Kalitta searching for an answer against a driver whose operation shares the same ownership and equipment resources.
“That was definitely a sigh of relief to see that win light come on, finally to get by those guys,” Kalitta said. “And the conditions were tough out there.”
Kalitta’s team made a significant adjustment before that semifinal, changing head gaskets and compression after assessing the conditions. The decision worked, with Kalitta running 3.665 seconds while Langdon smoked the tires shortly after leaving the starting line.
Kalitta followed with another strong performance against Pruett, completing a day in which his dragster consistently ran in the 3.60-second range. Johnson and assistant crew chief Mac Savage had the combination Kalitta needed, and the driver made sure their work wasn’t wasted.
“Yeah, I have to hand it to my guys,” Kalitta said. “They really had my car on a rail today. 60s all day, that 65 in the final. So definitely had it hopped up good.”
For all the talk about Kalitta Motorsports being one big family, the championship is about to test just how far that sentiment extends. Langdon has spent the season building his advantage, while Kalitta has fought to stay close enough to make the finale meaningful.
Both drivers have maintained that the competition between their teams is genuine, despite working under Connie Kalitta’s ownership. The Las Vegas semifinal offered evidence that neither side intended to surrender anything for the convenience of the organization.
“We all work together, chip in, try to make whatever needs to happen as a team,” Kalitta said. “So I tell you, it would be a hell of an opportunity. It is a hell of an opportunity. And between those two teams and the guys, there’s a rivalry for sure. And they share the same shop, so it’s bragging rights.”
Those bragging rights could become considerably more valuable at Pomona. Langdon is seeking his second Top Fuel championship, while Kalitta is trying to win his third in four seasons after spending most of his career chasing the first.
Twenty years ago, Johnson’s tuning decisions helped produce the run that devastated Kalitta. This time, Kalitta will be strapped into the dragster receiving those decisions, with a chance to deliver the same kind of knockout blow to his own teammate.
Kalitta wasn’t willing to predict another miracle in Las Vegas, and he certainly wasn’t interested in describing how Langdon might feel if one occurred. He knows better than most what the losing side of such a story looks like.
“Pomona’s really one of my favorite places to race,” Kalitta said. “So we’ll be definitely up on the wheel and hoping that it doesn’t rain like it did last year because that would be bad for sure. So praying for no rain and an opportunity is all you can hope for, for sure.”
