When Alan Johnson is your crew chief and you’re Doug Kalitta, the reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion, it is not if you will win a race in 2024, but when.

"When" happened Sunday when Kalitta captured the victory at the 4-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In the final quad, Kalitta clocked the quickest elapsed time of the event at 3.715 seconds at 333.58 to defeat Justin Ashley (3.745), Steve Torrence (3.745) and NASCAR legend Tony Stewart (3.769), who was in his first career final round.

“That was a hell of a run,” said Kalitta, who drives the Mac Tools dragster for Kalitta Motorsports. “I was really happy to see that win come on because obviously those other three teams are all hungry and are running pretty strong. That was about as exciting as it gets, really. It was a super-close race for all four cars, and the fans got their money’s worth and we came out with the win. Getting the first 4-Wide was really special to me. I have been trying to pull one of these off and I have to admit my guys really had my car running strong.

“It would have been a crying shame to miss this opportunity and fortunately we got it done.”

Kalitta now has three Las Vegas wins in eight final-round appearances, and this was his 53rd national event win.

“I just love being out here,” Kalitta said. “Connie (Kalitta) has obviously given us some great cars and we have put together a hell of team here with Chad (Head) leading the charge. We are really fortunate with the success of all cars this year. We are just trying to keep all three teams running strong and everybody is working together. Just trying to make Connie proud of us all.”

The Kalitta Motorsports team consists of Doug, world champion Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon and world champion Funny Car driver J.R. Todd.

Prior to Sunday, Kalitta had three quarterfinal finishes in the season's three races and entered the Vegas race sixth in points.

On Sunday, he won his first round by ousting Steve Torrence and Shawn Langdon. In the  second round he won his quad with a 3.751-second elapsed time to edge Steve Torrence (3.777), Brittany Force (3.776) and Josh Hart (3.796).

“It's really hard to tell what's going on other than just staying in your own lane and just trying to do your own thing and hope that…You got Justin Ashley in the lane next to you and he's a hell of a leaver, so you just got to hope that he's not out in front of you and you're trying to catch him,” Kalitta said. “But no, I didn't see him the whole way and really, it was a hell of a run with all four cars, so really proud of my guys. Like I said, a 71 out there in the final, we needed every bit of that to get the win and we pulled it off. So, it was a good day for us.”

A year ago, Kalitta won three races, including the final event of the season in Pomona, Calif., to snare his elusive inaugural championship.

“It's a dangerous place to be for sure and Alan ... and we've got Mac Savage back on my car. I've won a lot of races with him, and it's real special to get a win with the Mac back on my car,” said Kalitta about his team celebratory mosh pit and tuner Savage. “We took Brian (Husen), separated those two guys, Alan, and Brian. After 20 years, I think they had like 10 championships and (won) over 100 races, so that was a little bit of a change for our team this year. And Brian is doing an incredible job on Shawn's car. He's working really close with Alan.

“I mean, obviously, that was the goal that we had was to try to get two good solid running cars that are exactly the same with two guys who can communicate really well together. We're trying to build on that. So far, I think it's working. And again, getting Mac to replace Brian is some big shoes to fill to work with Alan. Yeah, it'll be good dynamics really for what we have with our two dragsters and then J.R. with the Funny Car.

“We just switched to a different car in Phoenix, and it's just a matter of time for just getting more runs with that thing and just letting Alan and Mac and the guys figure out what's going on with it. So, I'm pretty excited really for what we've got so far. Second race in with this car. Yeah, we'll just try to build on it for sure.”

Kalitta emphasized how important the 4-Wide Vegas was to him.

“This is really special. I've got a lot of good friends and fans here and it just seems like we kind of struggle when we come here and got this guy, Jimmy Walker,” Kalitta said. “He's actually writing a book. I went to dinner with him last night, but he's flown Elvis and all the guys. He was the single Learjet guy in this country. So, he's always hosted us, it seems like when we come here. But it's just guys like that that are ... It's just cool place to run and we're fortunate that this facility is such a nice facility. We definitely appreciate the opportunity for sure to come here and win.”

Competing in the 4-Wide format isn’t easy, but Kalitta has embraced the challenge the format presents.

“Alan and the Toyota guys, they're out there looking at that track trying to decide which lane is the best,” Kalitta said. "Yeah, we just settled in, so it was not a situation where you're looking over at the light and then back over on your side. But I have to admit, the format, they've got numbers up there now, which that makes it even nicer. I'm not sure how we all did, if there were people who were screwed up on staging or leaving or anything this weekend, but it is a little bit of a challenge. And if you're in one of the outside lanes, it's definitely easier. But the inside lanes, I'm pretty comfortable there, too, so really it didn't matter to me. I was just happy that I was going rounds, so that was cool.”

After getting his first career 4-Wide victory, Kalitta will try and make it two in a row when the NHRA national circuit visits Charlotte, N.C., for the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway on April 26-28.

“It’s another incredible facility and we're looking forward to going there,” Kalitta said. “We're going to try (to sweep the 4-Wide races). I have some hungry guys tuning in my car and I'm just as hungry as they are, so we'll see what happens.”