COMMERCE, Ga., – This weekend, April 24-27, The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series reconvenes at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., a few miles northeast of downtown Atlanta on I-85. Doug Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower “Big Red” Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, is seeking his third title trophy in the Peach State since 2005.
Kalitta won back-to-back events at Atlanta Dragway in 2005 and 2006. Last season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, Kalitta missed the opportunity to make it three in a row when he fouled out in the second round.
“Yeah, this time we’ll try to keep that red bulb from coming on,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “Atlanta has been a good place for our team, and there’s always a really big crowd at the race track. Hopefully we’ll get the Mac Tools dragster back in that familiar winner’s circle at Atlanta Dragway this year.”
Kalitta is currently in 10th place in 2008 POWERade Top Fuel championship points.
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 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals begins Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 3:00 p.m. (ET) and 6:30 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 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals is the 6th 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 (KB Racing, LLC dragster), Jon Oberhofer (Mac Tools dragster co-crew chief), and Richard Hogan (Mac Tools dragster co-crew chief). 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.
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