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Racing four-wide on a 1,000-foot track has always required an extra jab of confidence from drivers and crew chiefs in NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. This type of straight-line racing requires an added dose of concentration on starting line activities, and the best four-wide racers keep their eyes and their minds firmly on their own lane, nothing else.<\/p>\n
As NHRA arrives in Charlotte, North Carolina for its second, and final four-wide competition of the 20-race 2024 season, drivers with momentum in the nitro classes are the most recent winners: Doug Kalitta and Bob Tasca III. Those two veterans won in the first four-across competition in Las Vegas, along with 2023 Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta of Kalitta Motorsports earning his first Wally winner\u2019s trophy of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
Kalitta\u2019s Vegas success has shown the assignment changes, new chassis adoption are paying off for the team, which doubled up at the season opener in Gainesville, with Shawn Langdon winning Top Fuel and J.R. Todd taking Funny Car at the 55th Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals. In the third race of the season, at Phoenix, Langdon earned his second win of the young season and Kalitta joined him as a 2024 winner just two weekends past.<\/p>\n
Team Kalitta\u2019s surging is due to many things, including crew chief rotation and promotion. Brian Husen, long known as the right hand of uber-tuner Alan Johnson, is now the crew chief in charge of Langdon\u2019s operation, while Johnson continues to lead Kalitta\u2019s Top Fuel team, with the returning Mac Savage as his assistant. . Todd retains Jon Oberhofer and Todd Smith, who have worked with him since the nitro talent\u2019s 2018 Flopper championship.<\/p>\n
Team owner Connie Kalitta, \u201cJust turned 86 and he keeps a very close eye on Shawn\u2019s car because he\u2019s tuned that thing forever,\u201d Doug Kalitta explained as he delineated the changes to all three cars. \u201cSo it was great to get a couple of wins with that car; he couldn\u2019t be happier. Connie\u2019s given us everything we could need with parts and people. Chad Head (Kalitta Motorsports general manager) – you gotta love that guy! He pours his soul into our three cars and the people with a passion for everything that goes on, from the starting line to the parts to everything else. He\u2019 really a big part of what we have going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every team in motorsports – straight-line or otherwise – strives to achieve the kind of cohesiveness with their drivers and teams. And once gained, the camaraderie tends to stick around for a while. Tony Schumacher\u2019s string of championships and, more recently Steve Torrence\u2019s four straight titles are evidence that both the people and the parts are functioning in tandem. It appears to be this way in 2024 for Kalitta Motorsports, and the return of Mac Savage could be a major part of that: \u201cWe\u2019ve won a lot of races with Mac Savage, and it\u2019s real special to get a win with Mac back on my car, working with Alan,\u201d Kalitta emphasized.<\/p>\n \u201cWe separated Alan and Brian – i think after 20 years they have made 10 championships and more than 100 race wins – so that was a little bit of a change for our team this year. Brian\u2019s doing an incredible job on Shawn\u2019s car; he\u2019s working real close with Alan, and that was the goal. Try to get two good, solid-running cars that are exactly the same with two guys who communicate real well together. We\u2019re trying to build on that; so far, I think it\u2019s working,\u201d Kalitta stressed.<\/p>\n Even with all their successes, Kalitta Motorsports can\u2019t claim the Top Fuel points lead heading into this weekend\u2019s contest at zMAX Dragway. That belongs to Justin Ashley, winner of the Lucas Oil Winternationals, initially held at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in California – Ashley secured that rained-out race\u2019s title in Phoenix two weeks later. Ashley\u2019s consistency gives him a 23-point lead over Shawn Langdon, with Steve Torrence 51 points back and Kalitta another 10 behind Torrence. Steve\u2019s dad Billy is fifth, 102 points behind Ashley. The balance of the Top Fuel are rookie Tony Stewart, Tony Schumacher, Brittany Force, Antron Brown and Josh Hart.<\/p>\n Joining this group in Charlotte are Clay Millican, Dan Mercier, Mike Bucher, Shawn Reed, Doug Foley, Cody Krohn and Jasmine Salinas running Top Fuel, making for a 17-car field. Millican, in particular, has been on a roller-coaster ride with his Rick Ware Racing-backed dragster, and Jasmine Salinas is learning her craft, albeit without the assistance of father Mike, who is on the sidelines with medical issues. That\u2019s thrown his daughter into a lion\u2019s den, but she\u2019s shown composure in all four of her previous outings and is learning quickly how to stage and race these dragsters.<\/p>\n Everyone talks about momentum in racing. Bob Tasca III is planning to take advantage of the momentum from his first 2024 victory and his three holeshot wins on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Ford Mustang Funny Car racer performed the feat of winning all three of his Sunday quads just north of Sin City two weeks ago; the Rhode Island native feels right at home at zMAX Dragway, aka the \u201cBellagio of Dragstrips.\u201d Tasca won the fall two-wide race at zMAX and would love to bookend his Vegas victory by sweeping the two 4-wide contests this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would definitely be nice to sweep (the four-wide races) and we\u2019re definitely going to try,\u201d Tasca said. \u201cNobody is going to try harder than us. Last week was a big moment and you have to rise to the occasion. We\u2019ve got a good car and a great team, but this is tough to do! It\u2019s really hard to win an NHRA race when you\u2019re racing against one car in the finals, but do you know how hard it is to win when you\u2019re racing three people in the finals? It is, by far, the hardest race to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Tasca has had a roller-coaster season and we\u2019re only four races into the 2024 campaign. While he\u2019s qualified well with his Ford Mustang, earning the No. 2 spot twice so far, first-round departures in both Pomona and Phoenix, against Paul Lee and Alexis DeJoria, respectively, dropped the team to sixth before winning in Las Vegas. Now back in third place, Tasca says he is \u201cthrilled about the state of the sport. And Ford is committed to drag racing\u2026 that\u2019s very exciting. We\u2019re four races in a 20-race season, so we\u2019ve got a lot more action we\u2019re going to show fans this season.\u201d<\/p>\n With Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks tabulating the numbers, third-placed Tasca (-90) will try to usurp points leader Austin Prock, driving the John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS, J.R. Todd\u2019s Kalitta Toyota GR Supra (-48), while fending off fourth place Matt Hagan\u2019s Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (-106) and John Force\u2019s Camaro in fifth place, 113 points behind his teammate. Prock is substituting for Robert Hight, with Jimmy and Thomas Prock tuning their son\/brother\u2019s race car. The balance of the top 10 are Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria with their Toyota GR Supras, Chad Green\u2019s Mustang, Paul Lee\u2019s Charger and Daniel Wilkerson, driving his Ford Mustang and sitting 218 points from first place.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a group of six racers joining the top 10 drivers in Funny Car, making this a full field with no one – at this reading – in danger of not making Sunday eliminations. Two-time champ Cruz Pedregon – in his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat –\u00a0 <\/span>is hoping to get his campaign back on-track this week, while Dave Richards, who is in his first full year of competition, is bringing his Toyota to the show, and John Smith has his Charger. Look for Blake Alexander in Jim Head\u2019s Mustang, Buddy Hull driving Jim Dunn\u2019s Charger, while Jim Campbell\u2019s independent run in an older Chevy Flopper is glad he\u2019ll be able to make this field and race in at least one quad.<\/p>\n Kalitta and Tasca III weren\u2019t the only drivers thrilled with their Las Vegas results. After returning to full-time action at the start of this season, Jeg Coughlin Jr earned his first 2024 Wally trophy during the 4-Wide Las Vegas race, showing that he\u2019s managed to remove any rust build-up from not being full-time in Pro Stock for a couple of seasons. Coughlin Jr. returned to the class at Las Vegas last fall with Elite Motorsports, and is now a teammate to six-time reigning champ Erica Enders, Aaron Stanfield, cousin Troy Coughlin Jr., David, Cristian, Fernando and Fernando Cuadra Jr., as well as Jerry Tucker.<\/p>\n Just before teams settled into the zMAX pits, Elite announced this particular race is designated as Fernando Cuadra\u2019s final professional Pro Stock race. Cuadra chose this weekend because his 65th birthday occurs April 26, the same day his wins, Cristian and David celebrate their 25th birthdays. Not only will the senior Cuadra hang up his helmet this weekend, he\u2019s also retiring from running the family\u2019s conglomerate of leather goods companies that includes Corral Boots, Cuadra and Colombia Impex. Those brands are synonymous with the Cuadra Boys in NHRA drag racing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all perfect timing,\u201d Fernando Cuadra Sr said. \u201cWith the businesses, it\u2019s in the by-laws. it\u2019s no surprise. We\u2019ve been preparing and my boys will be taking over,\u201d the responsibility of running 34 factories and the conglomerate\u2019s 12,000 employees, together with worldwide partnerships. \u201cEch of the boys will have equal say in the company; they will have to unanimously agree on decisions. They\u2019ve been involved for a long time and this is just the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n Elite has to deal with their traditional competitors, KB Titan Racing, and while Enders leads the points standings, KB\u2019s Dallas Glenn is just 18 points behind her, with Greg Anderson, like Jeg Coughlin Jr. a five-time titleholder in Pro Stock is third, lagging by a mere 38 points. Coughlin Jr. is fourth (-65) while Brandon Foster of KB Titan holds fifth place points, 163 behind Enders. The balance of Pro Stock\u2019s top 10 consists of Elite\u2019s Jerry Tucker, Cristian Cuadra, Aaron Stanfield, David Cuadra and Troy Coughlin Jr. The monstrous 23-car entry includes the full top-10 racers, together with Matt Hartford and Camrie Caruso of KB, although Caruso\u2019s condition might not allow her to race, KB\u2019s Brandon Foster, Larry Morgan, the return of Dave Connolly, Deric Kramer, rookie Sienna Wildgust, Kenny Delco, Brandon Miller, Eric Latino, along with Chris and Mason McGaha.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been no two-wheel competition since NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods series left the wilds of central Florida in early March, but Pro Stock Motorcycle is returning to action this weekend and is competing in the final 4-wide competition of the season, with 19 racers vying for spots in eliminations. The six-week hiatus for the two-wheeled set allowed many to do some updates to their equipment and, of course, some testing. Matt Smith Racing, in particular, noted it would be going to Darlington prior to competing, as six-time zMAX Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Matt Smith looks for a third hometown win. \u201cWe won the first ever four-wide race in Charlotte,\u201d Matt Smith reminded. \u201cOur goal is to try to win the four-wide this weekend. We need to get back to winning races and give Gaige [Herrera] a run for his money. Hopefully, one of our Denso bikes or our Scrappers Racing bike can win this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Beating Herrera, the reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion and his Vance and Hines Motorsports team is no easy task. With Richard Gadson as Herrera\u2019s teammate, the V&H contingent, which sells parts to fellow Suzuki runners, is usually in a class of its own. Smith, along with the balance of the top 10 after a single race, hope to change that. To effect success, \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of testing since Gainesville. Testing, testing, testing,\u201d Matt Smith stated. \u201cWe\u2019ve done some dyno work, but the main thing is we\u2019ve just tested a lot, working on our 60-foot times and our 330-foot times. We\u2019ve found some stuff and I think we should be better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n After a single race, won by Herrera, Matt Smith on his Buell is in second place, 24 points back, while 2010 titleholder (as a rookie) LE Tonglet IV needs to make up 50 points in third on his Suzuki. Angie Smith is fourth (-53) on her Buell, with veteran Steve Johnson, riding his Suzuki is fifth, 71 points behind Herrera. John Hall\u2019s Buell took him to sixth, Gadson\u2019s Suzuki holds seventh, while Marc Ingwersen (Buell), Chase Van Sant (Suzuki) and Hector Arana jr. completes the top 10, 95 behind Herrera on his Buell.<\/p>\n Joining this group are Jianna Evaristo (Buell), Kelly Clontz\u2019s Suzuki, Chris Bostick\u2019s Suzuki, 2009 champ Hector Arana\u2019s Buell, Eiji Kawakami on a second Bostick Motorsports Suzuki, Ron Tornow\u2019s EBR, Joey Gladstone returning on his Suzuki, Ryan Oehler and Mark Paquette\u2019s Buells.<\/p>\n This is the first time the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge takes place at zMAX Dragway, which will make Saturday\u2019s activities that much more compelling. In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the first quad belongs to Matt Smith, Le Tonglet, Marc Ingwersen and Richard Gadson. The other ladder is comprised of Herrera, John Hall, Angie Smith and Steve Johnson. Pro Stock\u2019s pair of quads includes Jerry Tucker, Brandon Foster, Dallas Glenn and Eric Latino. Look for Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Greg Anderson and David Cuadra in the other quad. The Top Fuel Mission Challenge features Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley, Clay Millican and Antron Brown in one quad, with Doug Kalitta, Steve Torrence, Brittany Force and Josh Hart the second foursome. Funny Car Mission Challenge quads see Tasca III taking on Austin Prock, Alexis DeJoria and Chad Green, while three-time champ Ron Capps squares off against four-time champ Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd and Paul Lee. The winners of this race within the race can double-up on Sunday if they prevail on both days.<\/p>\n Lucas Oil Sportsman fans will enjoy seeing Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman, Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Top Dragster and Factory X on the zMAX dragstrip throughout the weekend, which is looking good, weather-wise. The current forecast calls for temps in the mid- to high-70s with partly cloudy conditions throughout to challenge the capabilities of crew chiefs. FS1 will be showing the race on tape delay this Sunday at 6PM ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Racing four-wide on a 1,000-foot track has always required an extra jab of confidence from drivers and crew chiefs in NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":95793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[38,598,10004,10128,7,4801,74,73,800],"class_list":["post-95792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-funny-car","tag-lucas-oil","tag-mission-foods-2fast2tasty-challenge","tag-mission-foods-nhra-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-pro-stock","tag-pro-stock-motorcycle","tag-top-fuel","tag-zmax-dragway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/NHRA_4WideNationals-logo-min-e1713999905721.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-oV2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95792"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95807,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95792\/revisions\/95807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Doug-Kalitta-mug-Pomona1-min-300x226.jpg\")
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