FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 3 of 24
ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville Raceway
Gainesville, Fla.
March 13-16, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com



Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team going for glory in Gainesville again

GAINESVILLE, Fla., (March 12, 2008) – For drag racing veteran Doug Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower “Big Red” Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, this weekend, March 13-16, at the annual running of the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla., could hopefully be the cure for the woes that he and the Mac Tools team have endured since last October.

It was the semi-final round in Las Vegas last fall. That was the last time Kalitta and his team won an elimination round. Keep in mind that there have only been three NHRA national events since then, but after almost five months, he is hoping that past glories in Gainesville will aide the Mac Tools team to victory for a third time at Gainesville Raceway.

“We’ve had some success in Gainesville in the past. Hopefully we can re-capture that this weekend,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “We were fortunate to get wins in Gainesville in 2000 and in ’05, so it’s certainly a special track to us. There’s always a huge crowd of fans there to cheer us on which makes it even more of a great place and a great race. I have a good feeling that we’re going to break back into the [round] win column this weekend and hopefully go for Wally (trophy) No. 3 at Gainesville Raceway.”

Since winning the NHRA’s equivalent of Rookie of the Year, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Road to the Future Award after the 1998 drag racing season, Kalitta has driven his dragster to 30 Top Fuel national event titles, which places him in sixth in career wins for the sport’s quickest and fastest class. In the past five NHRA seasons, Kalitta has solidified his place among the best Top Fuel pilots of all-time. In 2006, he won a career-high five national events in 2006 and led the POWERade points for almost the entire second half of the season. After finishing just 14 points shy of his first NHRA championship, Kalitta garnered his third career runner-up points finish in 2006. He was also points runner-up in 2003 and 2004. In 2007, he won one event – the event held in Richmond, Va.

The ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals begins Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 1:00 p.m. (ET) and 3:30 p.m. Two more qualifying opportunities take place Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The top sixteen qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.

All times and dates subject to change.

The ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals is the 3rd of 24 national events in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.


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. His son, Scott Kalitta, drives the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car. Scott’s cousin, Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta drives the flagship Top Fuel dragster for Mac Tools. Native Australian Dave Grubnic drives the Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragster, while Hillary Will drives the Ken Black-owned and Kalitta Motorsports-managed Top Fuel dragster.

Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by crew chiefs Jim Oberhofer (Hillary Will-driven dragster) and Jon Oberhofer (Mac Tools dragster). Connie serves as crew chief on the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car with assistance from co-crew chief Glenn Mikres and as the crew chief on the Kalitta Motorsports dragster with assistance from co-crew chief James Riola.

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