Legendary NHRA drag racing driver and crew chief Dick LaHaie, a 65-year old resident of Lansing, Mich., has decided to return after a brief retirement to the world’s quickest and fastest motorsport as a tuning consultant for Kalitta Motorsports effective immediately it was announced today by the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based team. LaHaie will begin his new responsibilities with drag racing patriarch Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta’s team of four nitro-fueled race cars this weekend, May 4-6, at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int’l Raceway, just outside of St. Louis. LaHaie’s newly created position will encompass his guidance on all Team Kalitta entries.
LaHaie’s last stint in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series was with Don Prudhomme Racing where he guided Top Fuel ace Larry Dixon to consecutive Top Fuel World Championships in 2003 and 2004. LaHaie retired as Dixon’s crew chief following the 2005 NHRA season. In his legendary drag racing career, LaHaie amassed 15 event wins as a driver and 46 wins as a crew chief, which helped place him in the No. 31 position on the list of the NHRA’s top 50 drivers of all time. He won the NHRA Top Fuel championship as a driver in 1987.
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