Everyone in the room stood and lifted a goblet at the NHRA Awards Ceremony. The honoree, Doug Kalitta, was amazingly stoic, considering the day before he had outrun Leah Pruett in a winner-take-all final round to claim his first Top Fuel championship after 26 years of trying.
Shaking the exasperating distinction as a six-time runner-up and driver with the most victories and no championship, Kalitta hit the jackpot Nov. 12 by claiming the In-N-Out Burger Nationals trophy and the Top Fuel crown in his 587th race.
“I’m living proof you never give up on your goals,” Kalitta said.
Kalitta’s achievement was arguably the most popular result in drag racing in a long time. Top Fuel team owner Scott Palmer declared it “the best thing that’s happened in our sport in the past decade.”
Erica Enders, who celebrated her sixth Pro Stock title, said, “He’s been the people’s champion for years, and today he’s the world champion.”
Kalitta won the title by 48 points over Steve Torrence with Alan Johnson as his tuner. Johnson was the crew chief for Tony Schumacher when Schumacher beat Kalitta in 2004 and ’06. For Johnson, it was the 13th championship, as Kalitta joined Gary Scelzi, Schumacher, Larry Dixon, Del Worsham, Shawn Langdon and Brittany Force as beneficiaries of Johnson’s talent.
Kalitta began the Countdown as the No. 6 seed and that’s when he came alive. He hadn’t led the standings all season — actually, not since Oct. 13, 2019 — and hadn’t won a race since Oct. 4, 2020. During the playoff opener at Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway, he earned his 50th career victory. It came in a back-up car he switched to on the eve of eliminations, because a shredded tire in the last qualifying session caused the rear wing of his dragster to crumple, damaging the chassis, too. It turned out that car was Kalitta’s favorite, anyway, and he also cruised to victory in the following race at North Carolina’s zMAX Dragway.
But he dropped back in the standings a bit as Steve Torrence and the late-surging Pruett commanded the spotlight. But at Pomona, Kalitta earned his third victory in six Countdown races to add this long-sought Top Fuel trophy to his 1994 USAC National Sprint Car Championship hardware.
Hagan Earns Fourth Title
While the drag-racing community had a lovefest with Doug Kalitta, Funny Car ace Matt Hagan had a lovefest during the Finals with fellow driver Chad Green.
Hagan, fellow three-time champion Robert Hight and Bob Tasca III, who was seeking his first title, duked it out throughout the Countdown. But like dominoes, “The Big Three” fell in the second round of the season’s final eliminations.
Hagan was still the points leader, but he had to stand at the top end of the track and wait — to see if Hight could beat him to championship No. 4.
If Hight beat Green in the final, Hight would become the first four-time Funny Car titlist since John Force in 1994. But Hight lost traction toward the finish line, handing the victory to Green and a fourth championship to Hagan, who joined legends Force, Kenny Bernstein and Don Prudhomme with four Funny Car crowns.
“I jumped in the car over there with Chad Green and I told him, ‘Flip your visor up, because I’m going to kiss you on the lips.’ And Chad, I definitely owe him a beer,” Hagan said.
Tasca had said during qualifying, “Forget the big three. It’s the big 19 right now that can take any one of the big three out.”
And that’s what happened. Green, who three seasons ago switched from the Pro Mod class, established himself as a key player. Asked when he thinks he’ll become a top dog in Funny Car, Green said, “I already am.”
Hagan’s feat delivered team owner Tony Stewart his first drag-racing championship. Stewart himself had been poised to capture the Top Alcohol Dragster title before an NHRA penalty to his team knocked him out of the lead. Julie Nataas capitalized and earned her first championship.
Tasca, who called his campaign “a career year for me,” said that for his newly assembled team “the best is yet to come.”
Hight, who lost the championship by a mere three points to Ron Capps in 2022, was second by 12 points. He said, “Congratulations to Matt Hagan. They’ve been there all year. We’ve been here just at the end. I’m still proud of my team.”
Hagan closed his season with six victories in eight final rounds and a 41-15 race-day record.