FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 18 of 24
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Ind.
Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com


Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, qualified No. 12 (3.901 seconds, 309.70 mph) – advanced to final round

Mac Tools driver Doug Kalitta takes runner-up finish at Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy


INDIANAPOLIS, (Sept. 1, 2008) – Doug Kalitta, driver of the Nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, raced his “Big Red” machine to a runner-up finish Monday in the finals of the most heralded drag racing event in the world, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Kalitta’s charge to the final round at the “Big Go” was his first final-round appearance of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and his first trip to the money round at an NHRA national event since he and the Mac Tools team went to the finals and won the title at the Richmond, Va., event last fall. Kalitta was also a finalist in Indy in 2004.

Kalitta, the nephew of team owner and drag racing legend Connie Kalitta, defeated J.R. Todd and Brandon Bernstein in the opening two rounds of eliminations Monday, and then defeated rival tool car driver Antron Brown in the semifinals to set up a rematch of the 2004 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals final round with the Alan Johnson-tuned dragster driven by Tony Schumacher.

Kalitta and Schumacher gave the fans at ORP a great side-by-side race to the 1,000 ft. finish line, but unfortunately Kalitta and the Mac Tools rail crossed the stripe a mere .08 seconds after their opponent and had to settle for the runner-up finish, 4.036 seconds, 299.86 mph to 3.916 sec., 309.13 mph.

“It’s tough to get to the finals in Indy and not be able to bring home the trophy, but it was still a great weekend for the Mac Tools team,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “We just kept fine tuning our car all weekend and it was very consistent. Indy is the biggest race in the world and we made the finals, so it’s still a good day.”

“We’re not hanging our heads at all about this. This was a big boost for me and the Mac Tools team going into the Countdown to 1. We’re disappointed for all the great folks at Mac Tools and all the Mac Tools Distributors who support us, but they know we tried our best and we’ll keep on doing that for them every time we race.”

Kalitta’s final round appearance in Indy was the 55th of his 11-year Top Fuel career.

Kalitta is in 9th place in POWERade championship points and in the Countdown to 1, which begins at the next event in Concord, N.C.

Beginning with the 13th event in Denver, the NHRA instituted a new racing distance for the nitro-fueled classes of Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster to 1,000 ft., as opposed to the traditional distance of 1,320 ft., or a quarter of a mile, as a temporary safety solution to help the drivers of the world’s quickest and fastest racing safely bring their cars to a stop more efficiently. The unprecedented action, which will be observed for the remainder of the 2008 season, is in response to the tragic death of Kalitta Motorsports’ Scott Kalitta, Doug’s cousin, who died in a high-speed Funny Car qualifying accident in Englishtown, N.J., June 21.

Doug, unofficially, recorded the quickest 1,000-ft. elapsed time in NHRA history, 3.758 sec., in Joliet, Ill., in 2004.

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, Doug 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, he 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, Doug 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.


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.