A Kalitta in the winner’s circle? Sounds right.
The name carries weight in drag racing, from the early days of the sport to the pen strokes of history pressing into the pages of today. Connie Kalitta was first in flight for the family, diving into drag racing in the 1950s and earning “The Bounty Hunter” moniker as he picked off the competition and became one of the most feared and successful racers the world has seen. Son Scott and nephew Doug followed Connie’s lead, setting records and adding victories and championships to the Kalitta Motorsports legacy.
At the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod in Florida earlier this year, Mitch Kalitta — the 25-year-old son of reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Doug — joined the fold with his first win in a still-quite-young racing career.
“It was pretty sweet, but I didn’t go into it expecting to win, to be honest. It was really kind of a shock,” said Kalitta, who drove through the competition at Bradenton Motorsports Park to win the Super Pro class in a dragster owned by longtime Sportsman standouts Bo and Randi Lyn Butner.
Though humility is the leading affect in conversation with Kalitta (much as it is with his notably even-keeled father), the path to his first victory was pebbled with clues indicating an innate capability, including perfect reaction times in both time trials and eliminations. Most importantly, he was prepared.
Initially, Kalitta attended Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School with no serious intention; he was still attending university and only wanted to see what this drag racing deal was all about. He found it to be an engaging and enjoyable endeavor, and that led to a connection with his father’s Top Fuel teammate Shawn Langdon, who owns championships both as a Sportsman and a Pro NHRA driver. After further training and test laps with Langdon, his father offered a piece of encouragement, if not a bit of a nudge.
“My dad said, ‘It would be a lot more fun if you were racing people, not just making test runs,’ ” recalled Kalitta. “So, we finished testing with Shawn and it was like, let’s run the U.S. Nationals.”
The younger Kalitta made his NHRA debut in Super Comp on the grandest, most historic stage driving Langdon’s dragster, and although a win light was not to be found there at the 2025 Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, the experience left a mighty impression. Kalitta wanted to keep going.
Langdon had been a great contributor to his early education behind the wheel, but the Countdown to the Championship was underway and time was limited, and so through Langdon, a connection was made with the Butners.
The husband-and-wife duo — Bo with a pair of national championships in Comp and Pro Stock and Randi Lyn as an Allstar with a North Central Division title — invited Kalitta to the divisional event in St. Louis. There, he entered in their Super Comp dragster and was almost immediately comfortable. A perfect .000 reaction in time trials had everyone smiling as they got a glimpse of what the future could hold.
A few months later at the World Series of Pro Mod, Kalitta shifted from NHRA-style Sportsman competition to bracket racing. It was only his third drag race, but the foundation was in place, and the lift-off was swift, even if the new driver wasn’t fully familiar yet with the format.
“I didn’t really understand how the bracket worked,” admitted Kalitta. However, when he earned a late-eliminations bye run, it all started to sink in. “Bo told me I had a bye going into the semis, and at that point I was like, oh my gosh, I might actually have a shot at this. Then I really started to lock in, and all three of the last rounds happened pretty fast.”
Ultimately, it was Kalitta’s .007 in the final that tapped in the last nail. His dead-on 4.404 kept the Bo Butner Racing/Jim Butner Auto Group dragster just ahead of Corky Markwart’s equally well-targeted 4.734 on a 4.73.
“I knew Bo would have me dialed to the thousandth, and I knew I hit the tree pretty good, but after I saw the win light and gave a couple fist bumps, I was pretty shocked,” said Kalitta. “I was just trying to comprehend what had happened. It was a big deal.”
The biggest challenge for the still-new driver throughout eliminations was maintaining consistency on the starting line. After early exits in both of the previous events he had attempted, he had to get used to having another driver in the other lane. He had also only run Super Comp before, and the Super Pro category runs with staggered starts based on each driver’s chosen dial-in.
“Everyone was different, but they were all leaving in front of me,” he said. “I had some good reaction times, but the thing was really dialed in. Once I hit the gas, I didn’t have to do much other than get to the finish line.”
On the starting line, Kalitta’s parents, Doug and Josie, were smiling brightly and sharing high-fives with everyone. His cousin, Scott’s son Corey, was his crewman and there to enjoy the win as well.
After the adrenaline rush of winning had worn off, Kalitta had the opportunity to let the magnitude of the moment sink in, as well as consider what the future might hold.
“I don’t think people expected this because it’s really my introduction to drag racing, but now people are going to expect big things, I’m sure,” said Kalitta. “I’ve been watching this my whole life and seen my dad and our Kalitta Motorsports teams be successful, but I always put drag racing on a pedestal. I thought it was awesome, but I didn’t really know if I could do it. As the pressure was ramping up at this race, I kind of realized that I can actually do this, and it’s really cool. My confidence has really come up, and I’d like to see where this goes, try to run as many of these races as I can.”
In order to qualify to compete at the national event level, Kalitta will need to attend divisional events in order to build grade points. Even with a trophy in hand, Kalitta recognizes that he is still very much in the learning process. While he sees the possibility of Top Fuel or Funny Car racing in his future, he is content with a methodical approach that may later include a turn in an A/Fuel dragster. He plans to race with the Butners more this year when the opportunity is present, and he’s got his eye on another shot at the U.S. Nationals, if that should work out.
He’s also building a career in aviation that includes a daily job in the finance department at Kalitta Charters, and he’s working on advanced pilot licenses. Kalitta is already licensed as a private pilot and logs as many hours as possible as he works toward flying jets alongside his father. It’s a full life for such a young man, but it’s one full of drive and the kind of inspiration that comes from observing firsthand the paths and patterns of legends, even as they’re being made.
“This has just always been my life. Connie is a pioneer with a lot of stories, and he’s still sharp and remembers every detail of things that happened back in the day. It’s incredible,” said Kalitta. “I know that success comes and goes, so I’m just trying to learn as much as I can. I really just want to make everybody proud.”
If you find an error in this story or have anything to add, please contact WinLight News editor Kelly Wade: kelly@winlightnews.com. Thanks for reading!
