During final eliminations Sunday of the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex., just a few miles south of downtown Dallas, Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, made his eighth trip to the quarterfinals in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
In round one, Kalitta, the No. 3 qualifier, his highest qualifying spot of the season, faced off against his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Hillary Will. The two Team Kalitta drivers gave the fans at the Texas Motorplex an incredible neck-and-neck racing show. At the finish line, it was Kalitta who picked up a very close win, 4.601 seconds, 321.65 mph to 4.614 sec., 327.27 mph. In the quarterfinals, Kalitta rolled to the starting line to race against Bob Vandergriff, Jr. This time, the Mac Tools dragster struggled to maintain valuable traction near half-track. Vandergriff, Jr. was then able to pull away for the win, 4.985 sec., 274.78 mph to 4.642 sec., 317.49 mph.
“Yeah, we thought we had a car to win today, ” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “I can’t say enough about the great job that Jon (Oberhofer, crew chief) and the Mac Tools team have done as we have struggled through a very tough year. More than anything, I want to win rounds for them. Our car performed much better this weekend, so we’re hopeful we can pick up a win in the last three races this year. ”
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