Sunday during eliminations of the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., just a few miles south of Seattle, native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the bright yellow, 8,000-horsepower DHL Top Fuel dragster, raced to his fourth quarter-final finish of the 2008 POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Grubnic, the No. 8 qualifier (3.862 seconds, 302.69 mph), defeated his teammate and No. 9 qualifier Hillary Will in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations, 4.136 sec., 249.81 mph to 4.650 sec., 195.73 mph. In the quarterfinals, Grubnic and his colorfully decorated rail rolled to the starting line to “Go the Grand” against the Alan Johnson-tuned Top Fueler. The two dragsters were side-by-side at the beginning of the race, but Grubnic’s DHL machine began to fade behind as it began losing valuable traction, and that let his opponent get to the 1,000-ft. finish line first for the win, 4.186 sec., 245.99 mph to 3.938 sec., 305.77 mph.
Grubnic is currently in 9th place in POWERade championship points.
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, who died in a high-speed Funny Car qualifying accident in Englishtown, N.J., June 21.
Grubnic, unofficially, recorded the quickest 1,000-ft. elapsed time of the 2008 season, 3.783 sec., in Madison, Ill., in early May.
In early 2004, Grubnic was hired to drive for legendary team owner Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta and Kalitta Motorsports. In the fall of ‘04, Grubnic won the lucrative and coveted Budweiser Shootout in Las Vegas, becoming only the fourth driver in the special event’s history to win its $100,000 prize in his first attempt. Grubnic picked up an emotional first NHRA national event win in May, 2005 in Topeka, Kans., to become the first non-native North American to win a Top Fuel trophy. He has one other event victory to date, the 2006 running of the famed Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
The Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals was the 14th event of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
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