YPSILANTI, Mich. (March 4, 2024) --- In one of the longest-running and most-successful sports marketing partnerships, DHL and Kalitta Motorsports signed a multi-year contract extension for J.R. Todd’s DHL GR Supra Funny Car, the team announced today. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins Friday at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. 

The 2024 NHRA season is the 17th of the DHL-Kalitta Motorsports partnership. What started in 2007 as an agreement to sponsor race cars is now a relationship that enjoys success on and off the race track, including charitable efforts, business-to-business networking and track-side experiences for DHL customers.

In addition to winning NHRA Funny Car championships with Del Worsham (2015) and current driver J.R. Todd (2018), DHL and Team Kalitta partner in the fight against cancer as well as the fight against food insecurity. Through “The Race to End Hunger,” DHL, Kalitta Motorsports and Kalitta Air worked together last season to raise funds equivalent to one million meals through Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States. 

“Kalitta has been an exceptional partner, supporting us in promoting our global brand and engaging thousands of racing fans and employees over the years, as well as collaborating with us on important causes to help our communities. We’re thrilled to extend this valued sponsorship and continue enjoying the full support of the Kalitta Motorsports team,” said Mike Parra, CEO of DHL Express Europe and Head of Global Partnerships. “At DHL, our success relies on providing fast, world-class service. We’ve also relied on Kalitta Air to uphold this standard, supporting our global Aviation network with the same elite performance they demonstrate on the racetrack. It’s been an exciting ride so far, and we anticipate even more success in our journey ahead.”

As the global leader in international logistics and express shipping services, DHL enjoys a decades-long partnership with Kalitta Air, which transports DHL customers’ shipments around the globe. Its relationship with Kalitta Air led DHL to Kalitta Motorsports in a business-to-business development which can encompass all Kalitta Motorsports corporate partners. Each year, Kalitta Motorsports hosts a business-to-business summit among all its partners in hopes of fostering additional business relationships among the attendees.

“DHL is pretty much the best kind of partner you could have,” Team Kalitta General Manager Chad Head said. “They work very closely with Kalitta Air and sponsor our Funny Car, but the relationship is so much more. We fight cancer together, we fight hunger, and we work together to grow each other’s businesses through business-to-business efforts. When you have a multi-layer partnership like that, it’s so much more than dollars and cents. It’s about being part of the family, and that’s how it feels.”