KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 10 of 24
Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, Ill.
June 5-8, 2008
Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com
Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team take the quickest Top Fueler in history back to Joliet
JOLIET, Ill., (June 3, 2008) – This weekend, June 5-8, Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red” 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, returns to race at one of his favorite quarter-miles and the scene of his team’s historic quickest lap in the history of NHRA drag racing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., just a few miles south of Chicago, for the annual running of the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
In May, 2004, Kalitta and the Mac Tools team made drag racing’s equivalent of “the shot heard ‘round the world” when they posted a jaw-dropping 4.420-second elapsed time on the scoreboard at Route 66 Raceway in a final-round victory over Brandon Bernstein to become the quickest auto racing team ever. Kalitta also visited the winner’s circle in Joliet in 2006 and 2002.
“Route 66 is an awesome race track,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “Obviously, we’ve had some successes there with our Mac Tools dragster, but it’s known by racers and fans alike for being one of the best places we go to race. When the weather conditions are right, Route 66 is a drag racer’s dream.
“We struggled a bit at the race in Topeka (Kan., previous event), so we’re really eager to get back on the track in Joliet. Hopefully our success at Route 66 will continue this weekend, and we can pick up the first win of the season for the Mac Tools team.”
Last weekend in Topeka, Kalitta qualified the Mac Tools dragster in the No. 5 position (4.590 sec., 324.83 mph). He was defeated in round one of eliminations by Joe Hartley after a mechanical malfunction slowed his red rail, 5.327 sec., 208.84 mph to 4.727 sec., 311.85 mph.
Kalitta is currently in 8th place in POWERade championship points.
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 Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals begins Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 3:30 p.m. (CT) and 7:00 p.m. Two more qualifying opportunities take place Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 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 Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals is the 10th 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 DHL 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 (KB Racing, LLC dragster), Jon Oberhofer (Mac Tools dragster co-crew chief), and Richard Hogan (Mac Tools dragster co-crew chief). 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 DHL dragster with assistance from co-crew chief James Riola.
Associate sponsors on all Kalitta Motorsports' race cars include Mac Tools, Red Line Oil, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Companies, K2M, and Toyota.