Doug Kalitta has secured his second NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel World Championship following the cancellation of qualifying due to weather at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. This achievement adds to Kalitta’s career, marking his second world title in three seasons.
With this win, Kalitta Motorsports celebrates its sixth overall championship and fourth in Top Fuel. Toyota also marks its ninth Top Fuel title since entering the NHRA category in 2007, and it is their second consecutive Manufacturers Cup championship.
Kalitta’s 2025 season included four race victories—at Sonoma Raceway, Brainerd International Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway, and Texas Motorplex—bringing his career total to 59 wins. He now ranks fourth on the all-time Top Fuel wins list and twelfth for all-time NHRA victories. During the first 19 races of the season, he achieved nine No. 1 qualifying positions, placing him seventh on the all-time qualifiers list with a career total of 67.
Kalitta also won five Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge events and claimed victory in the Top Fuel All-Star Callout at Pomona earlier in March. He is now among thirteen drivers who have won at least two NHRA Top Fuel championships.
Reflecting on his season, Doug Kalitta said: “Yeah, this (clinching the championship before race day) is definitely a lot easier (than 2023). It’s always seemed to come down to the last race, last day, but we had a nice string of runs throughout the Countdown. Alan (Johnson, crew chief) and my whole Mac Tools Toyota team have had my car going down the track. It’s been really nice, and just getting good, solid runs. Alan is always throwing down and always has something up his sleeve. So, I’m just really proud of him and my whole team. It’s a huge relief to be able to win the championship before the last round at the last race, and we’re all just super happy.”
Chad Head, general manager of Kalitta Motorsports, stated: “Very proud to work for Connie Kalitta (team owner) and Kalitta Motorsports. Obviously, doing this with Mac Tools – two out of the last three years, it’s just really exciting. Having Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) giving us all of the technology, all the support really means a lot to this organization. Hopefully, Kallita Motorsports can continue to win championships in this sport for a long time.”
Alan Johnson, crew chief for Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster at Kalitta Motorsports commented: “The championship run is about two parts of the season. You have the regular season and then, the Countdown to the Championship. The regular season, we tried to prepare ourselves to be at our best when the Countdown started. We were pretty much on a roll and we ended up having that incident in Reading (Maple Grove Raceway) that set us back a little bit. But we came back and got those two wins (at Gateway and Ennis) that set us up for this. Everything we worked on throughout the year played out how we envisioned it, and we got the job done!”
Paul Doleshal from Toyota Motor North America said: “This was an exceptional season for Doug Kalitta and his Kalitta Motorsports team, and to cap it off with another world championship is icing on the cake. Doug is one of the greatest drivers ever to pilot a Top Fuel Dragster, and we have been honored to celebrate so many wins with him over the years and now two world championships. We look forward to celebrating this tremendous triumph with Doug, his family and our great partners at the Kalitta Motorsports organization.”
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In 2025 Toyota began assembling automotive batteries for electrified vehicles at its North Carolina plant.
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