Doug Kalitta, driver of the bright yellow, 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled Kalitta Motorsports “No. 50” Top Fuel dragster, is hoping that this weekend’s, March 27-29, trip to the Lone Star State for the annual running of the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, just outside of the Houston city limits, will be an encore of his team’s performance at HRP six years ago.
Kalitta collected his only Houston Top Fuel title trophy thus far at the event in 2003 when he defeated Cory McClenathan in Kalitta’s only final round appearance at HRP. Since his straight-line racing career began in 1998, Kalitta has also been a four-time semifinalist in Houston, including last year. “Houston was one of the highlights of our season last year,” Kalitta, a 44-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., and 31-time NHRA national event winner, said. “Our car was a little off in Gainesville (Fla., previous event), but we realized what was wrong, and we’re all set now. Jim (Oberhofer, crew chief) and the team have the car running great and capable of winning on any given weekend, so we’re ready to get going in Texas and see if we can get back in our winning stride.”
Kalitta, a 12-year NHRA veteran, and his team won the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., in early February. It was Kalitta’s first trip to the winner’s circle since the fall of 2007. Kalitta has finished in the top ten in Full Throttle Top Fuel championship points in every season of his drag racing career. He is currently in 4th place (194) in Full Throttle championship points, 65 points behind the leader.
Kalitta’s brightly hued dragster entry is beginning the 2009 season without a primary sponsor. Although the dragster is not currently adorned with the signage of a major backer, it is be decorated with large, special-edition “50 years of Connie Kalitta” decals near the cockpit on each side of the car. In 2009, Kalitta Motorsports is celebrating 50 years of drag racing by team owner and drag racing legend Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. Over the past 50 years, Connie, who has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and as an owner, has dedicated unequalled amounts of time and resources to building one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing. Kalitta Motorsports has won five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.
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