EATTLE, Wash.– During eliminations of the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., just a few miles south of Seattle, Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red”, 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, had his day end much earlier than expected.
Kalitta, the No. 12 qualifier (3.878 seconds, 310.48 mph), raced against No. 5 qualifier Morgan Lucas (3.848 sec., 312.50 mph) in the opening stanza of eliminations. As the race began, Kalitta held a slight starting line advantage (. 057 sec. to. 070 sec. ), but Kalitta’s Mac Tools mount started smoking the tires down track from loss of traction, and that allowed Lucas to get the win light, 4.314 sec., 258.96 mph to 3.887 sec., 302.69 mph.
Kalitta is in now in 10th place in POWERade championship points.
Only the top 10 pro drivers in points in their respective classes will be eligible for the 2008 Countdown to the Championship that begins at the 19th event in Concord, N.C. Kalitta is now only 10 points ahead of the driver in 11th place.
Beginning with the previous event in Denver, the NHRA instituted a new racing distance for the nitro-fueled classes of Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster to 1,000 ft., as opposed to the traditional distance of 1,320 ft., or a quarter of a mile, as a temporary safety solution to help the drivers of the world’s quickest and fastest racing safely bring their cars to a stop more efficiently. The unprecedented action is in response to the tragic death of Kalitta Motorsports’ Scott Kalitta, Doug’s cousin, who died in a high-speed Funny Car qualifying accident in Englishtown, N.J., June 21.
Kalitta, unofficially, recorded the quickest 1,000-ft. elapsed time in NHRA history, 3.758 sec., in Joliet, Ill., in 2004.
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 Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals was the 14th event of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
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