Returning to a race where he has been to the Top Fuel final round in three out of the last four seasons is probably as good of a place as any for Hot Rod Fuller to make his debut in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Just as exciting to Fuller about being back on the track at the upcoming Joliet race, is the knowledge that he will be representing one of the marquee Cat dealers in the country, Patten Industries. “The fact that I was born in Chicago and now have the opportunity to drive for Patten Cat, a dealer that has been in business in Northern Illinois for more than 75 years, has made it worth the wait to get back out on the circuit” noted the 7-time NHRA Top Fuel race winner.
Fuller will rejoin the tour after missing the first nine races of the season due to his former team dissolving over the off-season. Fellow racer and team owner Bob Vandergriff Jr., will turn the reigns of his Top Fuel dragster over to Hot Rod Fuller for the Chicago race and hopefully many more races to follow. Vandergriff assured Fuller and his fans that the team is ready to compete for the win in Joliet. “I drove the car at the recent Atlanta race for our sponsor partner, SpeedCo, and ran the third quickest time on the very first qualifying pass. The car is now being set up for Hot Rod’s specifications and our team will provide everything we can to get him to the Winner’s Circle” stated Vandergriff.
Patten Industries, Inc., covering 17 counties in Northern Illinois, and 2 counties in Northwest Indiana, will utilize their participation in the race to support several of its key 2009 objectives. Patten co-principal and general manager, Garrett Patten, added that “I recently had the opportunity to meet Hot Rod when he toured our dealership, and was impressed with the depth of his racing background, as well as his knowledge of our customers, machines, products and services. We are all very excited that Rod will be part of a customer function at our dealership in May, and then proudly display our dealership name on his 300 MPH dragster at the Joliet race track adjacent to our Joliet branch facility on Laraway road. It’s a win for everyone at Patten Cat.”
Route 66 Raceway will host the NHRA national event in Joliet, IL on the weekend of June 5-7, 2009. The event will feature two Top Fuel qualifying sessions on Friday, including the popular - Nitro at Night -session at 7:00pm, followed by two qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon, and eliminations on Sunday.
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