Doug Kalitta, driver of “Big Red”, the 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, is hoping to end his NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series winless streak this weekend, Aug. 9-12, at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int’l Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
Kalitta’s previous NHRA national event victory came in Memphis almost one year ago.
“We’re certainly due for a win, ” Kalitta, a 42-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., and five-time trophy winner in 2006, said. “We have all the necessary ingredients in place on our Mac Tools team. We just have to get a little luck and make the rest happen for ourselves.
“Every weekend we see another positive sign with our race car. I’m confident, and I know our team is confident that we are capable of winning anytime, anywhere. We’ve won the Brainerd event a couple of times, so maybe we’ll pick up a third win there this weekend. ”
Kalitta won the Top Fuel title in Brainerd in 2005 and 2003. He was the Top Fuel runner-up in 2000.
This season the NHRA instituted the new Countdown to the Championship points system. Only the top eight in POWERade points after the first 17 national events will be allowed to vie for the season championship. This weekend’s event is the 16th of the season.
Going into this weekend’s event at Brainerd Int’l Raceway, Kalitta is in 11th position in POWERade Top Fuel championship points. He is 64 points shy of 8th place.
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 29 Top Fuel national event titles, which already ties him for sixth in career wins for the sport’s quickest and fastest class. In the past four NHRA seasons, Kalitta has solidified his place among the best Top Fuel pilots of all-time. Last season was arguably the best of his straight-line career. 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.
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