Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Bandimere Speedway; Morrison, Colo.
Post-Event Wrap-Up
Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 2 qualifier at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals. Kalitta’s best qualifying attempt came in the final round of qualifying Saturday evening when the Mac Tools Toyota team made a 3.779-second pass at 322.42 mph.
Eliminations: Kalitta raced to his first final round of the season. He defeated Terry Totten, Josh Hart and Steve Torrence before losing to Clay Millican in the final round. The Mac Tools Toyota team made seven eight runs in Denver, and seven of the eight elapsed times were all within .11 seconds.
Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta leaves Denver in 8th place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails seventh-place Mike Salinas by 13 points and leads ninth-place Josh Hart by eight points.
Kalitta on Denver: “This Mac Tools Toyota team definitely has a lot of momentum going to Seattle, but obviously getting to the final today was a big deal. We were just a little short on getting the win, but I’m real proud of my guys. It was a hell of an effort they put in, and we had a lot of support from our friends at Mac Tools, Revchem and Toyota. It was also disappointing because we were really hoping to win that last race in Denver. It’s all good – going to the final and contending for the win is more progress. We’ll keep digging, and it was really awesome to see all three Kalitta teams make the semifinals – that’ll make Connie happy for sure!”
J.R. Todd, DHL Funny Car
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 7 qualifier at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals. Todd reached the finish line in 3.998 seconds at 323.04 mph during the final qualifying session Saturday evening.
Eliminations: Todd raced to his third semifinal in the last four races. He defeated Tim Wilkerson and John Force before losing to Alexis Dejoria in the semifinals. Todd was ahead most of the race until the DHL Toyota encountered mechanical problems allowing Dejoria to advance.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Denver in ninth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails 8th-place John Force by 60 points and leads 10th place Cruz Pedregon by 26 points.
Todd on Denver: “Three semifinals in four races – that’s good momentum; the DHL Toyota GR Supra ran really well today. It’s just unfortunate that it dropped a cylinder in the semifinal. It spun the tires, then the boost rev deal went off and shut the car off, and when it did that, it put the chutes out so we were a sitting duck at that point. It’s a really unfortunate way to lose when we had the better car that could have contended for the win in the final round. We’ll put it behind us and go on to Seattle.
“It's really hard to race up here in Denver, and I hope getting three cars in the semifinals is a sign of more good things to come. I feel like a win for at least one of our Kalitta teams is coming really soon. It’s awesome to see a packed house here today - hopefully it’s not the last time we race in Denver.”
Shawn Langdon, SealMaster Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 9 qualifier at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals. His best qualifying attempt came during the Friday evening session when the SealMaster Toyota team posted a 3.837 seconds at 317.87 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon raced to his first semifinal since Las Vegas. The 2013 Top Fuel champion defeated Greg Carrillo and Rob Passey before losing to Clay Millican in the semifinals.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Denver in 11th place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails 10th place Clay Millican, today’s race winner, by 20 points and leads 12th-place Tony Schumacher by 49 points.
Langdon on Denver: “It feels fantastic to get to turn on some win lights and get to the semifinals; we’re very excited to get to Seattle. The guys on this SealMaster team have worked so hard all season, and it’s nice for them to see all their hard work pay off. I’m looking forward to racing in the Mission Foods#2fast2Tasty challenge in Seattle because we want to win it, but also because it has valuable playoff points.
“It was awesome to have all three Kalitta cars in the semifinals. We’ve all struggled at times throughout the year so to be able to have all three in the semifinals at one race was a great feeling. We’re very excited to get to Seattle to hopefully keep this progress going.”
Finals Broadcast Replay: 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 on FS1
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action July 21-23, 2023 at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals near Seattle. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
