INDIANAPOLIS – Native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the bright yellow, nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower DHL Top Fuel dragster, knows that this weekend’s, annual running of the famed Mac Tools U. S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis is special enough as it is as the most prestigious drag racing event in the world, but he also knows it’s “make it or break it” time for him and his DHL team to make the Countdown to the Championship in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
“Well, here we go. It’s Indy time again – the Big Go,” Grubnic, a 46-year old resident of Ennis, Mont., said. “It’s the race we, as drivers, all want to win, even more so in my case as my DHL team is fighting for a position in the Countdown. Winning Indy would certainly bring a welcome breath of fresh and victorious air to my Connie Kalitta (team owner, tuner, drag racing legend and 1994 Indy Top Fuel champion) -led DHL team.
“We’re going to go out there and fight with all our might to keep our spot in the top ten. Every lap counts and every millisecond counts, so we have to be at our best all of the time with no exceptions. This DHL team is up to the test, and I’m looking forward to facing this and every challenge with them.”
The Mac Tools U. S. Nationals is the final event in the 2008 Countdown to 1. Grubnic is in 9th place in POWERade championship points, while his Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Doug Kalitta, holds the 10th 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. Grubnic is four points ahead of Kalitta and Kalitta is six points ahead of the driver in 11th place. An elimination round-win is worth 20 points.
“We have quite a few DHL guests joining us this weekend, and it will be good to visit with all of them,” Grubnic continued. “Indy is like a whirlwind. There are so many things, besides racing, that happen throughout the four days, but we’re always excited to get on the grounds at ORP to have fun, see everyone, and go racing.”
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, 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.
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