INDIANAPOLIS, – Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red”, nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, not only views the 54th annual running this Labor Day weekend, Aug. 27-Sept. 1, of the Mac Tools U. S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, as the biggest possible stage to win his first event of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, but he also sees his final possibility to qualify as a championship contender this season.
The Mac Tools U. S. Nationals, the world’s most prestigious drag racing event, is the final event in the 2008 Countdown to 1. Kalitta is in 10th place in POWERade championship points, while his Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Dave Grubnic, holds the 9th spot. Only the top ten pro drivers in points in their respective classes will be eligible for the 2008 Countdown to the Championship “playoffs” that begin at the following event in Concord, N.C., Sept. 11-14. Kalitta is only six points ahead of the driver in 11th place and only four markers behind Grubnic. An elimination round-win is worth 20 points.
“Indy is huge anyway, but now there’s even more pressure to qualify and do well,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “It’s the biggest race of the season and the one that every team wants to win the most, but now it’s also the last chance to secure a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, and our Mac Tools team is right there on the border.
“We know we’ll have the biggest cheering section at the track though. All of our great friends at Mac Tools will be on hand to give us support like they always do, and it’s a good feeling to know that you have such a big and loyal group pulling for you. Hopefully for Mike Murray, Trish Pieper, Tony Merritt, and all of the Mac Tools Distributors we’ll put “Big Red” in the winner’s circle and accomplish all of our goals this weekend.”
Kalitta’s red racing rail will also be adorned with special decals at the Mac Tools U. S. Nationals to commemorate an exceptional relationship between the world-renowned tool manufacturer and two of its best vendors – Challenger and OTC. Challenger and OTC signage will be visible on the Mac Tools livery throughout the event. Challenger and OTC are also both official sponsors of this year’s 7th annual MacFest, taking place during the Mac Tools U. S. Nationals, which hosts over 200 Mac Tools Distributors, corporate staff, and their guests.
Beginning with the 13th 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, which will be observed for the remainder of the 2008 season, 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.
Doug, 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, Doug 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, he 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, Doug 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.
| 
|