FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 21 of 24
O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals
Memphis Motorsports Park
Millington, Tenn.
Sept. 26-28, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com



Memphis marks milestone 250th NHRA Top Fuel start for Mac Tools driver Doug Kalitta


MILLINGTON, Tenn., (Sept. 23, 2008) – Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red”, Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, was first strapped into a Nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower dragster in 1998. Since then, Kalitta has accumulated 30 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel event titles and 345 elimination-round wins and has finished in the top ten in POWERade championship points for 11 consecutive straight-racing seasons.

This weekend, Sept. 26-28, Kalitta will enter his landmark 250th NHRA national event in the quickest and fastest class in professional drag racing at the annual running of the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn., just a few miles north of the birthplace of Rock n’ Roll, Memphis.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve competed in that many events,” Kalitta, a 44-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “It never gets old, though. Every time I get in the car it’s still as exciting as it was the first lap. I still learn something new almost every time I go down the track. Top Fuel cars can be quite unpredictable at times, so you can’t ever get complacent.

“Our Mac Tools dragster has been running a lot more consistent in the past few races so we’re really optimistic about this weekend in Memphis. We need to fine-tune our engine tune-up now to get a little bit more horsepower applied to the track. If we can do that and get a little bit of luck on our side, we have a great shot at taking home another trophy from Memphis.”

Kalitta took home the Top Fuel title trophy from Memphis in 2006.

Kalitta is in 9th place in POWERade championship points and in the NHRA Countdown to 1 postseason. He is 240 points away from the lead. Including Memphis, there are four events remaining in the 2008 Countdown to the Championship.

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.

Qualifying for the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals begins Friday for the Nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 4:00 p.m. (CT) and 6:30 p.m. Two more qualifying sessions take place Saturday at noon and 3:00 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.

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.