Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta, the newly crowned 2023 NHRA world champion, will begin his 2024 season chasing after the $250,000 Top Fuel title at the inaugural SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout presented by Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage, Feb. 8-10, at Bradenton Motorsports Park. The first-time champion is one of a dozen world champions, record holders, and all-around Top Fuel stars who will compete for the eight spots in the field at the invitation-only event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Alan Johnson and Brian Husen calling the shots on his Mac Tools dragster, Kalitta won three of the six races in the 2023 NHRA Countdown to the Championship to secure his first Top Fuel world championship. It came after an incredible 25-year streak of finishing in the top 10 in points, including six runner-up finishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big relief,\u201d Kalitta said of winning the championship. \u201cFor all the people that have helped me over the years, hopefully it\u2019s brought some satisfaction to them as well. It\u2019s cool to think back on occasion and know that you checked that one off the list of accomplishments. I\u2019m looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what we can accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before kicking off his title defense at the NHRA Gatornationals, Kalitta will throw down against 11 of the toughest drivers and teams in Top Fuel at the PRO Superstar Shootout. The winner will walk away with $250,000, while total payouts of more than $1.3 million will provide a sizable payday for the other competitors. Kalitta is eying the big prize, of course, so he can reward his team for their efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime that kind of money is on the line \u2013 in anything that you\u2019re doing \u2013 you\u2019re hopefully going to rise to the occasion,\u201d said Kalitta, owner and president of Kalitta Charters. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain percentage of the prize money that goes to the guys that are working on the car. We\u2019ll definitely be trying to win that thing. It\u2019ll be great to be able to share it with my guys and be able to say you won the first one of these races.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are some unique aspects to the inaugural PRO Superstar Shootout, which appeals to Kalitta. The event will begin with one qualifying session on Thursday night, followed by three sessions on Friday. After qualifying, the eight qualified drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Car and the 16 qualified drivers in Pro Stock will draw chips to set the pairings for Saturday eliminations. Additionally, FloRacing will offer exclusive livestreaming coverage of the race, providing on-track coverage and behind-the-scenes access to several teams in the pits. The PRO group, led by Kalitta\u2019s tuner, Alan Johnson, and made up of numerous professional drivers and team owners, developed the PRO Superstar Shootout to try new ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m intrigued to see what some of those items are and I\u2019ll try to help the event and support whatever they come up with,\u201d Kalitta said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be exciting. In the end, we\u2019re just trying to come up with things to maybe incorporate into what we\u2019re doing with the NHRA. We\u2019re trying to work together. We\u2019re hoping there\u2019s something that sticks that\u2019s really cool. That\u2019s the way I see it. Obviously, the prize money they\u2019re putting up \u2013 $250,000 to win \u2013 is pretty intriguing. There\u2019s a lot of excitement going on there with that event.\u201d<\/p>\n
The random chip draws will add an element of unpredictability to the race, but Kalitta realizes any and every matchup will be a tough one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith eight cars, and they\u2019re all going to be really competitive cars, I don\u2019t think it really matters who you race, to be honest with you,\u201d Kalitta said. \u201cI\u2019m totally down with the chip draw. It seems appropriate, and it\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Kalitta has never raced at Bradenton Motorsports Park, he does have a sentimental connection to the Bradenton, Fla., area. His cousin, the late Scott Kalitta, lived in nearby Snead Island, and his widow, Kathy, and sons Colin and Corey still live in the area. Scott, the son of Kalitta Motorsports team owner Connie Kalitta, was the Funny Car runner-up at the 1988 IHRA Super Nationals at Bradenton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my cousin\u2019s hometown track, so to be able to be in his backyard at this event will be cool,\u201d Kalitta said. \u201cMy grandparents used to spend the winters in Bradenton, so it\u2019s one of those places I would go to when I was younger to hang out for a week or so with my grandparents. I guess it has some history with me. It should be fun. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inaugural SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout presented by JHG will also feature $250,000-to-win Funny Car and $125,000-to-win Pro Stock, as well as sportsman racing, live music, a vendor village, and more. Tickets are now on sale at https:\/\/bit.ly\/scagpro<\/a>. Fans at home can tune in to the official FloRacing livestream at https:\/\/flosports.link\/3t04gHk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The post Reigning NHRA Top Fuel World Champion Doug Kalitta Seeking Meaningful Victory at PRO Superstar Shootout<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta, the newly crowned 2023 NHRA world champion, will begin his 2024 season chasing after the $250,000 Top Fuel title at the inaugural SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout presented by Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage, Feb. 8-10, at Bradenton Motorsports Park. The first-time champion is one of a dozen world champions, record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}