FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 1 of 24
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, Calif.
Feb. 7-10, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com



Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team ready to get “Big Red” back on track in 2008

POMONA, Calif., (Feb. 5, 2008) – Doug Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower, bright red Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, begins his red-hot pursuit of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship at this weekend’s season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.).

Last season, Kalitta won one event (Richmond, Va.) and finished in the top ten in POWERade points for the tenth consecutive year, but he and his Mac Tools team are looking for much more at the cusp of a new season.

“We’re ready to go racing,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “Our Mac Tools team has worked so hard during the off-season to get our “Big Red” car ready to go in 2008. I can’t say enough about how hard all the guys have worked to get our car not only ready, but ready to win.

“This is going to be a good year for our Mac Tools team on the track and off. We are looking forward to seeing all the great Mac Tools Distributors this season in our pit-side hospitality area, and we think we’re going to give them a great race car to cheer for on the track.”

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 CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals begins Thursday for the nitro-fueled classes with one qualifying session at 2:30 p.m. (PT). One more qualifying session follows on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Two more qualifying opportunities take place Saturday at 12:30 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 CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals is the 1st 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 Toyota.