NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

More than a week removed from the Atlanta event, people are still talking about the incredible Top Fuel final between Kalitta Motorsports teammates J.R. Todd and Doug Kalitta that was the closest race in the category’s history. Though there have been dead heats in Pro Stock, most recently at the 2012 Bristol event when Mike Edwards defeated Allen Johnson, there had never been a .0000-second margin of victory in Top Fuel until the Atlanta event.

Reaction time

60 feet

330 feet

660 feet

1,000 feet

When Kalitta and Todd left the starting line, Kalitta had the reaction-time advantage by .021-second, then Todd steadily reeled in his teammate, cutting Kalitta’s advantage to .017-second at 60 feet, .015-second at 330 feet, and just .002-second at the eighth-mile mark. By the time the pair got to the 1,000-foot finish line, they were in a dead heat, with .0000-second separating the two as they crossed the finish line (full incrementals are to the right). The timing computer only shows the first four digits, but the math is calculated much further to determine a winner, and the official final numbers gave Kalitta the holeshot win in the 3.801 to 3.780 contest.

“I really didn’t think I had won,” said Kalitta. “The last couple of rounds, I didn’t see the win light on the wall. J.R. went blowing by me at the end there, and I got around the corner, and I was very relieved, to say the least.”