Top-fuel leader Kalitta remains under the radar

Doug Kalitta seems the perfect guy to be your next-door neighbor. Quiet, unassuming, won’t cause any problems. It is the perfect temperament for his day job, pilot and owner of his Kalitta Charters.

It seems so far from the mold typically associated with world champions. And yet, Kalitta is poised to win his first National Hot Rod Assn. Powerade Drag Racing Series top-fuel title. He is 45 points ahead of Tony Schumacher with only Sunday’s eliminations remaining at the Auto Club Nationals at Pomona Raceway.

If Kalitta breaks the mold and denies Schumacher his third title in a row, it will be the highlight of a nine-year career in which Kalitta has never finished lower than sixth in the championship. He has finished second twice and won 29 races, including five this season.

But Schumacher has stolen the headlines this weekend with a chance to complete an NHRA record comeback from 336 points behind. Friday, he posted the quickest qualifying run for the second day in a row, 4.506 seconds at 326.24 mph, though it remained slower than his run of 4.490 Thursday.

“He’ll be a great champion if he pulls this off,” Schumacher said of Kalitta. “Right now, he needs to be humble and quiet because this is a big one for him.”

Uncomfortable in the spotlight, humble and quiet seem primary character traits for Kalitta.

“I’m not that open to people, telling them my life story or how I feel,” he said Friday after dropping to sixth in qualifying. “If I get to know somebody, maybe it’s a little different.”

The Ypsilanti, Mich., resident is from the school that teaches drivers to mention their sponsors often and not attract attention to themselves. Like his uncle and team owner, Connie Kalitta -- a five-time champion -- Doug is more about racing than soaking in the attention afforded the sport’s elite. Publicly, his answers are often standard, revolving around the team and just being happy to be in the position he is in.

“I have a charter company that consumes all my time away from the track, a couple of kids, family, that’s me,” Kalitta said. “I’ve got 200 employees that work for me. It’s either 100% there or 100% here. It’s actually kind of relaxing to get away from the business on the weekends, get out and race and have the opportunity to run toward the front.”

His emotion is often saved for the back room, not TV cameras.

“He has a great personality and a very good sense of humor,” said teammate David Grubnic. “He’s a lot of fun to be around, but this is a very serious business out here, and obviously, we race to win. Doug is an intense competitor and that’s what you see come out in him.

“It’s probably hard for the fans to see the real anybody.”

Kalitta smoked the tires Friday after running 4.546 seconds and 326.87 mph Thursday. Schumacher, who will go for a national record today, is still No. 1.

Del Worsham also remained the No. 1 qualifier in funny car, though he totaled his 2005 Monte Carlo after a supercharger exploded. He twice hit the retaining wall, and unable to reach the parachute lever, hit the sand trap at more than 200 mph. It cartwheeled twice and jumped a catch fence. The Chino Hills driver was sore and suffered cuts and bruises on his legs.

Newly crowned pro-stock champion Jason Line took the top qualifying spot from teammate Greg Anderson with a run of 6.667 seconds, and Andrew Hines remained No. 1 in pro-stock motorcycle.

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martin.henderson@latimes.com