Hi team Kalitta blog readers, Todd here. Ben Marshall, our team’s Sponsor Relations Manager asked me if it were okay if he wrote a blog about Doug Kalitta’s long overdue victory in Virginia. I, of course, never wanting to deny anyone from blogging, said yes. Take it away, Ben!

It was such a great relief for Team Kalitta to get a win in Richmond. It was great to keep Doug’s streak of winning at least one race in each year of his career alive, and he drove like he stole Connie’s car, but it is about more than that.

As everyone knows, this has probably been one of the toughest years in Kalitta Motorsports’ history, but all the people here have not given up. We understand that it is such a roller coaster ride in NHRA drag racing with the highs and lows. The great thing about Kalitta Motorsports is how we are four race cars but one team. Connie has spent millions of dollars out of his pocket over the years in just bonus money for the guys. Everyone here gets a percentage of winning from all four cars -- every dime that the cars bring in at the race, from top 10 money to qualifying money to every round that we go. We all get a piece of it. If you ever notice at the races if one car goes out, those guys are working on the cars that are still in. It was such an awesome experience this past weekend before the final round to see about 30 guys waiting in the pits to help Doug’s team get ready for the final. Even Grubby was in the trailer with all of the crew chiefs trying to put his two cents in.

It is funny that the media always talks about our TEAM celebration on the starting line. We celebrate our wins like it is the last one that we will ever get because we know how hard it is to win in NHRA drag racing. The one thing about this TEAM is that nobody is arrogant and everyone is humble and knows that this could be the last win for a while. Doug came up to Jon “O” after the pedalfest with Foley and said good job to Jon “O”. Jon “O” told Doug, “You were the one that won that round. not me.” Doug was definitely on a mission Sunday.

This TEAM from the drivers to the parts cleaners always tries to take time out to talk with the fans or whomever because we all were on the other side of the ropes at one time. I have lost track of how many times people have come up to me and said the Kalitta TEAM looks like it is having fun. That is why we do this, not for the money, not for the glory but for those exciting moments of emotion that you feel after you win a round or a race. Time seems to stop in those moments, and there is nothing in the world that can change that feeling. It shows how much hard work everyone puts in for those 4.5 seconds down the track. I do believe that KALITTA probably means TEAM in another language somewhere.

Todd here again, I would like to add one footnote to Ben’s blog. I hope he doesn’t mind. After Doug Kalitta Sr. passed away earlier this year, we had t-shirts made up to pay tribute to Doug’s dad, a man we all dearly loved. Unbeknownst to anyone, Ben tucked away a box of those shirts for a special winner’s circle surprise for the next time Doug won. I will never forget the chill down my spine and the looks on the team’s faces when we passed them out in the winner’s circle at Richmond. So, to Ben: Nice job, my friend.