Doug Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria. and Troy Coughlin Jr. picked up wins in the inaugural #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge mission, which took place during Saturday’s qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
The #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge mission brings competitive racing to the qualifying schedule in 12 regular-season events during the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series campaign, pitting the semifinalists from the previous race, in this case, the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, against each. another in a pair of rematches, with the two winners then meeting in the final qualifying session.
The Top Fuel final pitted the top two finishers at the Arizona Nationals and it was No. 1 seed Kalitta who earned a double celebration Saturday as her Mac Tools dragster cruised to a 3.86 victory after the Mike Salinas’ dragster lost traction at halftrack.
“We certainly appreciate the opportunity to run this race and for Mission Foods to put up the money and it’s a great challenge,” Kalitta said. “It’s great to get new sponsors in the effort. In that race it went well until about halfway down the track and then I started to give it up and I was like, ‘Oh man, I hope Mike doesn’t get around me,'” and luckily I got to the end and the win light was on, so that was good. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the win light come on in the final, we’re really happy.”
In the first round of Top Fuel, where only two dragsters made the power in the entire qualifying session, Salinas was one of them as she repeated her semifinal victory over Leah Pruett, scoring a 3.752 . Pruett, who smoked his tires in Gainesville, pedaled expertly to avoid a similar fate when his car broke traction, but still trailed with a 4.337.
Meanwhile, Kalitta had reversed the outcome of his Gainesville semifinal loss to Steve Torrence in a freak race that was precipitated by Torrence double-stepping the throttle on his Capco Contractors dragster and running red (-.204 reaction) alongside Kalitta who, as he did himself, by losing in Gainesville, smoked the tires but was nevertheless the automatic winner this time.
DeJoria, who claimed his first Funny Car title at this track in 2014, defeated Toyota teammate JR Todd in a one-sided match as his Bandero Premium Tequila Supra ran a 3.91 after Todd smoked the tires on the green.
“It’s really amazing to be able to do it at this racetrack where I got my first Nitro Funny Car in 2014,” he said. “To be the first winner of the #2Fast2Tasty Mission is truly amazing – it only makes better memories of this track and they keep coming. I have so much respect for the two opponents I raced against today, Matt Hagan and JR, both of whom are obviously championship winners and really good drivers. The track was a bit tricky this weekend so just getting down the track was really important. It wasn’t pretty at the top end but we got it down there and did – it’s very cool.”
In the first round, DeJoria avenged his painful Gainesville loss to Matt Hagan, posting a second qualifying session low with a 3.980 after Hagan’s Gatornationals-winning Dodge Power Brokers Charger pounced on on the centerline as it approached 1,000 feet, slowing it down. to a 4,078.
Todd repeated his victory over Chad Green, but unlike the three-second affair in Gainesville, this turned into a costly contest after both drivers encountered traction problems. Green’s Bond Coat entry suffered enough mechanical damage that it automatically deployed the chute, allowing Todd to take a 5.33 to 7.49 victory.
Coughlin, winner of the season-opening Gatornationals, remained undefeated in head-to-head matchups, winning both of his starts to take the money in the JEGS.com/Elite Camaro. Coughlin closed out the victory with a decisive 6,572 to 6,603 victory over Greg Anderson, who took a slight edge into the final.
“Cloud nine would be an understatement,” Coughlin said. “What an honor to be the first winner of such a neat race. My guys saved me there. Greg was just a tad better up front and my guys in the engine shop and Mark Ingersoll and Tim Freeman and everybody in the crew chief saved me there in the final with some smoke.”
In the opening round of Pro Stock, Coughlin repeated his Gainesville conquest of Dallas Glenn, this time beating him by a margin of 6,567 to 6,572, while Anderson reversed the result of his outing in Florida, edging out Mason McGaha, 6,575 to 6,623.
Kalitta and DeJoria pocketed $10,000 while Coughlin got $7,500. Each challenge winner also earned three bonus points that will be added to their point total to begin the countdown to the championship playoffs. The runners-up (Salinas, Todd and Anderson) earned two points and the fastest losing semifinalist — Pruett in Top Fuel, Hagan in Funny Car and Glenn in Pro Stock — earned one point.
