GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the second time in three years, Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta will start the season as the reigning world champion heading into this weekend’s Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, an impressive feat considering Kalitta’s longtime quest to win a world title in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Kalitta will open NHRA’s special 75th anniversary season as the driver everyone is chasing after a brilliant run in the second half of the 2025 campaign. He remained poised and consistent in the Countdown to the Championship, winning twice in the playoffs to capture a second world championship in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster.
It’s a moment Kalitta continues to treasure as he heads to Gainesville to open NHRA’s milestone year. He’ll have a chance to defend his title in the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout specialty race as well. The bonus race takes place on Saturday and Kalitta enters as the No. 1 seed with the opportunity to have a magical weekend in Gainesville.
“It’s really nice to go to the first race and have the No. 1 on your car, for sure,” Kalitta said. “The first race kind of resets everything and it’s off we go again. I’m really proud of what our Mac Tools team accomplished last year. It’s nice to have that number one back on the car for the year and seeing it there on the car never gets old. It’s taken a while – we had a long time of trying to accomplish this goal, and it looks good on there, I think.”
Last year, Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Chad Green (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won on the hallowed grounds of Gainesville Raceway to open the year.
It’s the first of 20 races during the 2026 season and along with a full slate of racing, fans can expect a multitude of events to celebrate the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals and NHRA’s 75th anniversary, including:
Appearances from a host of NHRA legends during the event, including Kenny Bernstein, Don Garlits, Joe Amato, Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney, Darrell Gwynn and Bob Frey.
A celebration of Bernstein’s historic 300-mph run from 1992.
Kalitta would love to be the first to win the 75th anniversary Diamond Wally and he’ll certainly be among the favorites in the loaded Top Fuel ranks. After riding high thanks to a season that included four victories and seven trips to the final round – along with eight No. 1 qualifiers – Kalitta enjoyed strong results at the test session in Gainesville two weeks ago.
That added to his confidence level and Kalitta has high hopes for what should be one of the biggest Gatornationals in recent memory.
“Testing went very well,” Kalitta said. “The car performed well. All the things you hope to find at a test session – we were able to work through a lot of issues, and I think we’re hopefully in good shape. The car ran really well, but we always win testing. It’s good to get everybody working again and doing our thing. We’ll be ready to hit the ground running.”
Joining Kalitta in the eight-car Callout will be teammate Shawn Langdon, Brown, racing legend Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley, Clay Millican, Shawn Reed and 2023 Callout winner Josh Hart.
