Three stinking, lousy points stood between Doug Kalitta and his first championship at the end of last season. They’re three stinking, lousy points that the Mac Tools Toyota Dragster driver probably could have earned easily during qualifying. And he’s well aware that those bonus points that are up for grabs four times a race, 24 times a year is a key to avoid winding up second in the final standings for an NHRA-record fifth time in his career that’s studded with 47 victories.

“Qualifying is one of the things that we’re going to be focusing on this year,” Kalitta said. “Usually on race day, we’re consistently good, so qualifying a little bit better will help us be there at the end again this year. The points you gain in qualifying can make a big difference in the point standings.

“We’re just hoping to be running up front the whole season. We need to start off strong,” he said.

And he has started strong the past two seasons, for certain. He won both the 2019 Winternationals and Finals, book-ending an outstanding season that saw him surpass the 500-race mark (he’s at 513) and zoom in on 700 elimination round-wins (his career record is 690-459).

“We’ll try to go back to Pomona,” Kalitta said as he prepares a bid for a third straight Winternationals trophy, “and pick up where we left off. We’ve been testing well here in spring training in Vegas. I think the addition of NGK and Mobil 1 should be a big plus, as well. We’re really looking forward to having them aboard this year.

“I’m excited to get to Pomona. I love going to Pomona. It’s a place that has always been special and it’s been very good to us,” he said. “To me, the cool thing about Pomona is the history of the place. I’ve seen so many of the greats race there, and I love the museum. I hope the fans take some time to visit there. Personally, I grew up watching Connie there over the years, and it was just the coolest place to race. Hopefully, we can keep running well there.”

And who could stop Kalitta? If you take his word for it, a ton of competitors could. He said, “It’s going to be a really strong field again this year. All of the top teams from last year are back. With Shawn [Kalitta Motorsports colleague Langdon] moving back to Top Fuel, we’re adding another world champion. I think our Toyota teammate Antron Brown is going to be right back in the hunt, especially with [crew chief] Brian Corradi back with them. Plus you have all the young kids who came up last year, like Austin Prock and Jordan Vandergriff.  There’s never an easy round out there.”

That’s true, but Kalitta has reached four consecutive Winternationals finals. He was runner-up in 2016 (to Steve Torrence) and 2017 (to Leah Pruett).

“I’ve been very fortunate over the years. I’m really proud of what this Mac Tools Toyota team has accomplished, especially last year. The car was running good throughout the year.,” Kalitta said. “I think what benefits us the most is simply that we have the ability to stay consistent. We don’t seem to have many long stretches where we struggle, and that allows us to enter the Countdown in a good position to challenge for a title. This team is something special, and I’m looking forward to the coming season.