Three-peat!
At the end of my last blog, I said that I was hoping to have some happy news after our next races, and I’m excited to report back with some great news from Team Kalitta! It’s been an eventful month or so since I last wrote, so let’s go back in time a bit to Charlotte…
zMAX Dragway is sometimes described as “the Bellagio of dragstrips.” That isn’t an understatement. The facility is absolutely beautiful; from the starting line tower, to the pits, to the grandstands, it’s a top notch place. Add to that the fact that zMAX is the only dragstrip in the world (to my knowledge) that has four lanes, and you’ve got a one-of-a-kind facility. The 4-Wide experience is definitely different from our typical 2-wide format, but I think it’s an experience that any race fan should have at least once. I mean, it’s 40,000 horsepower going down the track at once! It can be a bit confusing to follow at times if you’re still getting used to the 4-Wide format (like myself), but if you’re just looking for pure nitro madness, the 4-Wide Nationals would be the place to go. The racing side of things wasn’t much in our favor in Charlotte this year, with Alexis and Del both making first-round exits and J.R. going out in the second round. Doug made it to the final, but came up short as Brittany Force earned her second Top Fuel victory of 2016. Even though our race day didn’t turn out as we had hoped, it was still a pretty good weekend! Alexis qualified No. 1 after running her career-quickest e.t. (at the time) with a 3.934, Del qualified fifth with a 3.963, J.R. was the No. 2 qualifier in Top Fuel with a 3.743, and Doug qualified fourth with a 3.752. Strong efforts by all of our cars, but it just wasn’t our weekend to win.
It was great to have my grandpa, Dave O, out at the track with us in Charlotte! He came out to the race to celebrate his 75th birthday, and I think he had a great time. It was comical to watch him and Connie Kalitta sit on the golf cart and talk about race cars, airplanes, and everything in between.
From Charlotte we headed to Houston, which ended up being a pretty great weekend for us! Both Doug and Alexis were No. 2 qualifiers in their classes, with Alexis posting a 3.910 e.t. to reset her career-best e.t. again! That’s been a bit of a trend for her at the last few events, and I’ve gotta say, it’s a trend I like to see. Del reset the track speed record in his DHL Camry with a 328.06 mph lap in qualifying, so I think it’s safe to say that our Funny Cars are on the right track. J.R. struggled a bit in qualifying and got paired with a tough first round matchup against Antron Brown. Unfortunately, the SealMaster team was eliminated in first round, but they were ready to come back swinging in Atlanta. Both Del and Alexis went out in round two after some tough pairings, but we still had hope for a Wally since Doug was still in. Doug defeated Haddock, Kinsley, and Pritchett on his road to the final, and then got the win over Steve Torrence on a holeshot to hoist his first Wally of 2016! It was the first win for two of our new crew guys on the Mac Tools car, Andrew and Tyler, so they got the traditional Mello Yello shower. It’s always so much fun to me to watch the Mello Yello showers for the rookies because even though they’re getting soaked in sticky soda, they’re still grinning from ear-to-ear.
Aside from our fantastic weekend on the racing side of things, I got to see my Aunt Teri and Uncle Bubba when they came out to the track on Friday and Saturday. Bubba used to race an Alcohol Dragster in the 1980s-90s, and my dad says that Bubba Sewell was one of his favorite drivers at that time because “he was so laid back and he did such a good job.” As always, it was a pleasure to have my aunt and uncle out at the track, and I can’t wait to see them again!
After Houston, we headed to Atlanta. I couldn’t wait for this race because it marked my 21st birthday! Friday’s qualifying sessions were pretty decent, with all of our Toyota Racing cars making it solidly down the track at least once. Doug even ran a 3.731 e.t. to set a new track record and earn the provisional No. 1 starting spot (which he maintained) and three bonus points. After Q2 on Friday, I could hardly contain my excitement. At midnight, I would finally be 21! I had the perfect plan for the night: head to a bar and do a shot of Patron Silver at midnight with my Pops. Everything went according to plan, and I got to bring in my birthday in a simply perfect way. The next day we wrapped up qualifying. Doug remained No. 1 qualifier and earned another green hat, J.R. qualified third, Alexis was fourth, and Del was 10th. After getting all of my work done for the day, I headed back to the pit where our hospitality area was decorated with 21st birthday décor in preparation for a party. Our team manager, Rachel DeLago, even managed to get Jason (one of the fabulous track announcers/entertainers) to DJ for the party! It was an awesome night surrounded by so many amazing people. I couldn’t believe how many people came over to celebrate with me, and I’m still blown away by everyone who came by. Even Connie stayed around for a little bit, which was possibly the highlight of the night for me. I wouldn’t have wanted to celebrate in any other way than with my racing family. To everyone that helped make my birthday one for the books, thank you so much!
After all the birthday madness died down, it was time for race day. All four of our cars made it past first round, which is always a good way to start the day, but then both Alexis and Del went out in round two. We still had Doug and J.R. in contention for the Wally, and they were on opposite sides of the ladder. After Doug won the semi’s it was pretty exciting! J.R. was up next in the SealMaster dragster, and I think everyone on our team was wondering if it was going to be an all Team Kalitta final in Top Fuel. Then, some sort of an issue happened with J.R.’s car while they were switching lanes that had everyone scratching their heads and possibly freaking out a little bit internally. I’m not sure what James Riola did to that car on the starting line that day, but whatever he did worked! J.R. was able to run, defeat Shawn Langdon, and head to the final round against Doug! Major shout out to James for helping avert that crisis situation.
11 years ago, I went to the Atlanta race with my dad for my 10th birthday. I remember Bob Frey announcing my birthday to the crowd over the loudspeaker while I sat in the back of the tow vehicle, and I was on cloud nine. The icing on the cake that weekend was Doug winning the race! From that point, I think the only thing I asked my dad to get me for my birthday was a Wally. Even 11 years later that was all I wanted! This time, the win was about to get delivered in an even more spectacular fashion.
I couldn’t believe we had two cars going to the final round for the second time in just a couple months! First in Vegas with Del and Alexis and now in Atlanta?! It was too good to be true. It was going to be a perfect ending to an amazing weekend. As I’m sure you may have heard by now, the final round between Doug and J.R. was the closest race in NHRA history, with the margin of victory less than .0001-second. Someone asked me before the final round who I thought was going to win, and I said that I thought they would tie. Obviously I need to take up a career as a psychic because that’s pretty much what happened!
Riding the wave from Doug’s back-to-back wins in Houston and Atlanta, we headed to Topeka. My grandpa, Dave O, made another appearance at the track, but this time my grandma, Sue O, accompanied him! They made the drive from Texas and got to the track on Friday shortly after my dad and I got there from flying in with Connie and Doug. It’s always fun to have my grandparents out at the track because I get to hear stories about my dad and uncle that I may not have heard before, and I get to have some delicious homemade treats that my grandma brings. She makes some of the best brownies, cookies, and pumpkin bread you’ll ever eat!
Qualifying in Topeka was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Funny Cars were laying down 3.8-second passes like it was nothing. The conditions were described as “Candyland” and the passes confirmed that description. Doug ran a career best 3.701 at 331.85 to reset both the low e.t. and top speed of his career. Once again, Alexis reset her personal best e.t. (this time with a 3.875) as well as her personal best speed at 332.18 mph! Del followed suit and reset his career best e.t. and speed with a 3.880 at a blistering 332.67 mph. I never would have thought I would see Funny Cars have faster speeds than dragsters! Stranger things have happened I suppose…
After the crazy qualifying sessions, Doug was No. 2, J.R. was No. 9, Alexis was No. 5, and Del was No. 6. Once again, J.R. got paired with Antron Brown for a tough first round opponent, and the reigning champ sent the SealMaster team packing. Alexis and Del were both victorious in first round, but their days ended in round two. As in Houston, the Mac Tools car was the last Team Kalitta entry standing (or rolling). Doug had won back-to-back races before, but he had never won three in a row. Would it finally happen here in Topeka, at Scott Kalitta’s favorite track? The answer is yes! In spectacular fashion, Doug piloted the Mac Tools dragster across the finish line after doing some crazy drifting to get the win over Antron in the final. It was pretty sweet to see how much coverage Doug got online after the slo-mo video of that run was released. That driving job backs my dad up when he says Doug is one of the best in the business!
All three of the races the Mac Tools team won were won because of Doug. That is not to discredit the tuning job done by my dad and Troy Fasching and all the work the Mac Tools guys do, of course; they keep that car running! The team put together a great car for Doug during the day at all three of those races, and Doug just took over in the driver’s seat in the final rounds to seal the deal. It was the fact that Doug was on his game and got a holeshot win over Torrence in the Houston final that earned the first Wally. The second Wally was earned over J.R. on a holeshot as well! And then in Topeka, well, the video of the car drifting sideways and then straightening back out perfectly demonstrates that Doug’s driving earned that win. Whether it’s on a dirt track, straight track, or down a runway in an airplane, Doug has definitely earned the nickname “Mr. Smooth.”
In Epping, Doug’s win streak came to an end after a semifinal loss to Steve Torrence. Although winning four in a row would have been completely amazing, going three in a row is nothing to be ashamed of! Winning just one race is enough of a feat to accomplish with the level of competition today, so being able to say Doug won three in a row even once in his career is incredible.
Alexis debuted her Bounty Hunter FC001 chassis with an impressive 3.928 in its first trip down the track, which was fantastic! Our entire chassis shop crew was pretty stoked to hear about the successful pass by their first in-house built Funny Car. Aside from that excitement, the racing aspect of the New England Nationals was pretty low for us, with a rainout on Sunday and some early exits on Monday when we finally ran eliminations. The weekend wasn’t a total wash for me though; I got to spend some time with my boyfriend Isaac’s family! His mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, brother, and grandmother all drove down from Maine, and some various other relatives came from some other New England states as well. I was so excited to see Isaac’s nephew, Colby, because I haven’t seen him since Epping last year! He has grown so much and is just the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen!
It was great to catch up with Isaac’s family and talk with his dad, Andrew, about his plans to make maple syrup. I fully support Andrew’s new business venture, as I love maple syrup! Did you ever see the movie Elf with Will Ferrell where he says syrup is part of his four main food groups and then proceeds to pour syrup all over his spaghetti? Well, I’m not that bad, but I do love maple syrup— especially when it’s from Maine!
After the “Monday Nationals,” my dad and I flew home with Connie and Doug, spent a few days at home where I caught up on school, and then flew out to Englishtown on Friday. Englishtown is a very special track to our team since that’s where the accident took place that took the life of our friend and family, Scott Kalitta. Every year since Scott’s accident, we have had a gathering known as Eddie’s Lobsterfest in our hospitality area after the second qualifying session on Saturday evening. You might be wondering who Eddie is, so I’ll explain. It was a bit of an inside joke that started because some of the guys thought Scott looked like Eddie Munster. The nickname stuck! I remember after my dad got a cellphone, he had the Munster Family theme song as his ringtone for Scott. Now that the mystery of Eddie has been clarified, back to the Lobsterfest…
Joe Poulin brings tons of fresh lobsters down from Maine, Mike brings some amazing steaks, the Calise family brings sausage, and many others contribute various foods that are out of this world. We congregate in our pit to eat, drink Coors Light (Scott’s beer of choice), and remember the life of our friend. Seeing all of the people that come over to support our team on this night shows how tightly knit the racing community is. We’re a family out at the track, as dysfunctional a family as it may sometimes be, but we will always be there for one another in times of need. It always blows me away and fills my heart to see the turnout for Eddie’s Lobsterfest, and I’m sure that it always will.
Since Scott’s accident, we have not won the race in Englishtown. The goal for our team every year is to win that race in honor of Scott and unfortunately, that did not happen this year. Del made it to the semifinals before eventual winner Ron Capps defeated him, but the DHL team still had a pretty good weekend. The ‘Yella Fellas’ have come close a few times in Englishtown over the past eight years, and I’m confident that they will earn the Wally at that track one of these days. It would be special for any of our cars to pick up the win in Englishtown, but having the yellow car that still says “Scott” make it to the winner’s circle there would be just perfect.
It’s been an exciting season thus far in 2016, and things are just starting to heat up! Follow along with all the excitement from Team Kalitta by following us @teamkalitta on Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope, and by “liking” Kalitta Motorsports on Facebook. Until next time!