NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Patriotism. Service. Sacrifice. As the United States honors its military veterans on Veterans Day this Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, Clean Harbors and Kalitta Motorsports are honoring these three attributes and recognizing this important holiday by hosting veterans in the Kalitta Motorsports hospitality area and including “thank you veterans” logos in its liveries at this weekend’s race. 

The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series ends this weekend at the In ‘N Out Burger NHRA Finals on the In ‘N Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif., the last of six races that make up the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs. 

Clean Harbors, North America’s leading provider of environmental and industrial services and the parent company of Safety-Kleen, is hosting 50 veterans in the Kalitta Motorsports hospitality area this weekend. Safety-Kleen is North America’s largest collector of used oil-related products; the company ensures those items consumed at NHRA Camping World Drag Racing events are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. 

In addition to hosting these veterans, Kalitta Motorsports entries driven by Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, and J.R. Todd will all feature a “Thank You Veterans” logo, but it will be most prominent on the front of Shawn Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel dragster. In addition, the logo will also appear on the Kalitta Motorsports team haulers. The team will conduct a special driver autograph session in its hospitality area on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for all guests and team-member veterans along with a group picture.

“This effort is a Clean Harbors initiative to host veterans and thank them for their service at the last NHRA race of the season in Pomona,” director of Safety-Kleen Motorsports Drew Patey said. “Veterans Day doesn’t always fall on a race weekend, but when it does, it’s an excellent opportunity to recognize our veterans and thank them for their service and commitment to keep America safe by welcoming them for a special day at the race track. Veterans Day feels a bit more important this year with members of our military deployed in the Middle East in support of the current conflict, so with that in mind, we are honored to welcome these heroes to the race track this weekend, and we thank all of them for keeping us safe.”

Kalitta Motorsports is proud to have three veterans on its team, all of whom served in the United States Marine Corps. Dustin Cowen works on the Mac Tools team; he served two tours in Afghanistan with the third battalion 8th Marine Regiment India Company. Nick Smith works in hospitality; he served from 2008-’11 and served in Afghanistan. George Barnett works in hospitality; he served from 1986-’89 and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.   

“We are honored to partner with Clean Harbors to thank our veterans this weekend,” Kalitta Motorsports general manager Chad Head said. “These men and women are the reason we can live with the freedom we enjoy in the United States. To all of our veterans, especially Dustin, George and Nick on our race team, on behalf of everyone associated with Kalitta Motorsports, thank you for your service.”