Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta accomplished two goals in one run Saturday: He extended Kalitta Motorsports’ #2Fast2Tasty winning streak, and he secured the No. 1 qualifying spot for Sunday’s eliminations at the 12th annual NHRA New England Nationals.
In the final round of the specialty event, Kalitta defeated points leader Tony Stewart with a blistering 337.24-mph pass that reset the track speed record and marked his fourth straight No. 1 qualifier with a 3.670-second elapsed time.
Austin Prock (Funny Car) and Cody Coughlin (Pro Stock) qualified No. 1 at the seventh of 20 races that comprise the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Kalitta’s massive speed gives him the edge in his bid to win in Epping for the second straight year and pick up his first 2025 event victory as well.
Crew chief “Alan Johnson and the guys have been doing a great job. The car left straight and felt great, and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” Kalitta said. “We’ve been qualifying really well. I’m looking for a great Sunday.
Second in Top Fuel qualifying is Stewart, who recorded a 3.694 at 330.55. Reigning champion Antron Brown is third with a 3.697 at 337.07.
In Funny Car, Prock’s 3.860 at 331.69 from Friday was enough to hold the top spot through Saturday, although the defending series champion came close to replicating that run with a 3.867 to close out qualifying and send a message to the rest of the field heading into eliminations. This is Prock’s second No. 1 of the season and the 20th in his career. He races Buddy Hull in the first round as the defending world champion looks for his third win of the year.
“We went out and laid down another solid run — that’s two No. 1 qualifiers in a row, and we’re just getting started,” said Prock, who set a Funny Car record last year with 15 No. 1 qualifiers. “There’s still more on the table. If we need to push it harder, I believe there’s more in this car. I’ve always said all I ever wanted to do was drive a Funny Car. Then all I wanted was to line up against John Force like my grandfather did. Now I’m doing it at this level with this team. It’s surreal.”
Friday’s early leader, Bob Tasca III, is second with a 3.891 at 335.40, and Paul Lee’s 3.891 at 329.18 gives him him the third spot.
Cody Coughlin, the only member of the Coughlin Family racing under the KB Titan banner, topped Pro Stock qualifying on the strength of Friday’s 6.537 at 210.28 in his Cody Coughlin Construction Chevrolet Camaro. Just six races into his transition from oval track racing to drag racing, Coughlin opens race day against Brandon Miller.
“This is only my sixth drag race ever, so to earn my first No. 1 qualifier award already is really special,” Coughlin said. “Coming from the circle-track world, I never expected this would be easy. The KB Titan group builds rocket ships, and the level of competition out here is intense, even among teams using the same power. You have to do everything right to make a run like that, and I’m just proud we were able to put those numbers on the board. I hope this is just the beginning of more good things to come this year.”
Coughlin’s teammates, defending world champ Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn, qualified second and third. Anderson ran 6.537 at 209.95 and Glenn, the points leader, is third after going 6.539 at 210.28.
Eliminations for the New England Nationals begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday at New England Dragway.
