FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 19 of 24
NHRA Carolinas Nationals
zMax Dragway @ Concord
Concord, N.C.
Sept. 11-14, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com

Team DHL drivers have different motivations but the same goal at new Charlotte NHRA event


CONCORD, N.C., (Sept. 11, 2008) – Native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the bright yellow, Nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower DHL Top Fuel dragster, enters this weekend’s, Sept. 11-14, inaugural running of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord in Concord, N.C., just a few miles from downtown Charlotte, as one of ten Top Fuel drivers in the 2008 NHRA Countdown to 1 “playoffs”. The NHRA Carolinas Nationals is the first of six events in this year’s Countdown to1.

Grubnic enters the event this weekend in 10th place in POWERade points. In years past, before the Countdown to the Championship “playoffs” system was first employed by NHRA last season, Grubnic would enter this weekend’s spectacle an insurmountable 996 points behind the points leader. Under the 2008 Countdown to 1 points tally, Grubnic now only trails the lead by 110 points.

“We love the Countdown,” Grubnic, a 46-year old resident of Ennis, Mont., said with a smile. “I was talking to Connie (Kalitta, crew chief, team owner and drag racing legend) right after we lost in the first round in Indy (previous event and last event in the “regular” season) and he was really bummed out about it, but I told him to cheer up because we just made up almost 900 points!

“Of course, the only goal we have for the remaining six races is to qualify well at each and go as many rounds as we can at each. Every single point from here on out is going to be critical. We’re excited that we made the Countdown this year, and we going to do our best to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity we’ve been given.”

In early 2004, Grubnic was hired to drive for legendary team owner Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta and Kalitta Motorsports. In the fall of ‘04, Grubnic won the lucrative and coveted Budweiser Shootout in Las Vegas, becoming only the fourth driver in the special event's history to win its $100,000 prize in his first attempt. Grubnic picked up an emotional first NHRA national event win in May, 2005 in Topeka, Kans., to become the first non-native North American to win a Top Fuel trophy. He has one other event victory to date, the 2006 running of the famed Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Like his Team DHL/Kalitta Motorsports teammate, native Canadian Jeff Arend, driver of the Nitro-fueled DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, is also excited about “breaking in” the new drag strip in Concord, but he and the DHL Funny Car team are concentrating on win lights and consistency.

“The most important thing for us is to go out there and make good, consistent laps,” Arend, a 46-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “We did some testing last week and changed a lot of things on the DHL car, and the car responded in a very positive way so we’re excited to go to the new track and see what we can do. Getting a win at the inaugural event in Charlotte would be a tremendous lift for everyone on this team.”

Kalitta Motorsports team owner and drag racing legend Connie Kalitta chose Arend to drive the DHL Toyota Solara mount in late July to help preserve the legacy of his legendary son, Scott Kalitta, who died as result of a high-speed Funny Car qualifying accident in Englishtown, N.J., June 21. Arend is a 13-year Funny Car veteran with one NHRA Funny Car national event win to his credit – Reading, Pa., 1996.

Qualifying for the NHRA Carolinas Nationals begins Friday for the Nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 3:30 p.m. (ET) and 6:30 p.m. Two more qualifying sessions take place Saturday at noon and 6:30 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at noon.

All times and dates subject to change.


About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) POWERade Drag Racing Series. The racing operation was started in 1959 by now legendary drag racer and team owner Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta drives the flagship Top Fuel dragster for Mac Tools. Native Australian Dave Grubnic drives the DHL Top Fuel dragster, Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, and Hillary Will drives the Ken Black-owned and Kalitta Motorsports-managed KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster.

Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by crew chiefs Jim Oberhofer (KB Racing, LLC dragster) and Glenn Mikres (DHL Funny Car). Connie serves as crew chief on the DHL dragster with assistance from co-crew chief James Riola. Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante are co-crew chiefs on the Mac Tools dragster.

Associate sponsors on all Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Mac Tools, Red Line Oil, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Companies, K2M, and Toyota.