YPSILANTI, Mich. — NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta has some good memories from the last time he raced in Phoenix.
This year, he hopes to do even better with SealMaster livery on his car. The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes April 5-7 at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix, Ariz.
SealMaster is a longtime Kalitta Motorsports corporate partner. In addition to the primary placement in Phoenix, SealMaster is a full-season associate partner on Kalitta’s dragster as well as J.R. Todd’s Funny Car.
One year ago in Phoenix, Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier and won the inaugural Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. It was his first victory-lane celebration in four years. He would, of course, go on to win three races and the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel title, but that race in Phoenix was the start of a very special season.
“We’re excited to see Doug pilot the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster,” SealMaster franchise representative Jason Hedlesky said. “We have the Top Fuel champion flying our colors at one of the NHRA’s greatest tracks. We see the Arizona Nationals as a celebration of that, along with the return of NHRA to Firebird. It’s going to be a very exciting event.”
“We’re really happy to have SealMaster on our cars again this season, but it’s even better for them to have the whole car at Phoenix,” Kalitta said. “We really appreciate all they do for our team — SealMaster has been with us for quite a while — I had a good race in Phoenix last year and I hope we can get them to the winner’s circle next week.”
“Our friends at SealMaster are great partners, and we’re grateful for our relationship,” Team Kalitta General Manager Chad Head said. “SealMaster and Kalitta Motorsports have been together for years. SealMaster franchisees coast to coast mean a lot to us, and they’ve been enthusiastic in supporting us; we appreciate that very much and always look forward to seeing them at the race track.
“We all hope for a great weekend with SealMaster in Phoenix.”