FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KALITTA MOTORSPORTS
2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Event 4 of 24
O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals
Houston Raceway Park
Baytown, Tex.
March 28-30, 2008

Media Contact: Todd Myers
tmyers@kalittaracing.com



Scott Kalitta and the DHL team barely miss eliminations in Houston

HOUSTON, (March 30, 2008) – For NHRA veteran Scott Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower, bright yellow and red DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, his chance of winning the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Tex., just a few miles out of the Houston city limits, came up short by less than 0.2 seconds.

Scott and the DHL team posted a best lap of 5.218 sec., 236.55 mph in their four qualifying attempts to make the 16-car Funny Car eliminations field, but they needed to run 5.052 seconds or better to make Sunday’s race day.

“We just struggled,” Kalitta, a 46-year old resident of Palmetto, Fla., said. “The track was tricky, and we had a hard time getting it figured out. Funny Car is so tough these days so you have to be almost perfect all of the time. We’ll be fine. Our DHL car continues to show a lot of promise. We’ll be ready to go when we get to [Las] Vegas (next event).”

Kalitta is currently in 17th place in 2008 POWERade Funny Car championship points.

Kalitta is the son of team owner and drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. He returned to the Funny Car class in 2006 after many successful years at the helm of a Top Fuel dragster. He won the NHRA Top Fuel World Championship in 1994 and 1995 as well as 17 NHRA national event trophies, but got his first professional NHRA national event win under the carbon fiber canopy of a Funny Car in Houston in 1989.

The O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals was the 4th 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, K2M, and Toyota.