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Kalitta Racing
INDIANAPOLIS – Hillary Will, driver of the 8,000-horsepower KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, is anxious to get her nitro-fueled racing machine on the track this weekend, for the annual running of the historic Mac Tools U. S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, but the rising Top Fuel star is quick to point out that her eagerness to compete in the world’s most prestigious drag racing event should not be confused with nervousness.
“I’m more relaxed than I’ve ever been going into Indy,” Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., said. “Our car has been running great all season and my team is the best out there, so there’s definitely a sense of a confident calm in me and my team right now, but we’re still going to Indy to try to run better than we have all year. Every team pushes themselves harder at Indy.”
Will will have even more “backbone” in her and her team’s efforts in Indy. Spinal technology company, K2M, Inc., a longtime supporter and associate sponsor of Kalitta Motorsports, along with FOCOS (Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine) and CURE International will share special decal signage on Will’s KB Racing, LLC charge throughout the racing action at the Mac Tools U. S. Nationals.
Will is currently in 7th place in POWERade championship points and has secured a position in the 2008 Countdown to the Championship.
Will continued, “It does take quite a bit of the burden off of this race to know that we have locked ourselves into the Countdown. We missed it last year and that was a big letdown, so we’re very happy to be able to make a run at the championship this season. It’s going to be exciting for us, our fans, and everyone involved, but first things first – Winning in Indy.”
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.
Will became the fastest woman in the history of NHRA drag racing when she posted a 334.65-mph lap down the quarter-mile race track at the first of event of the 2008 season in Pomona, Calif. She became the first driver of either gender to go over 300 mph at the new 1,000-ft. finish line in Denver with a 302.21-mph mark in qualifying.
Will is currently the only female driver competing in the Top Fuel class.
A former standout in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Will moved up to the quickest and fastest NHRA professional class, Top Fuel, in 2006 behind the wheel of a newly formed team owned by Las Vegas businessman Ken Black and managed by Kalitta Motorsports, the multi-car team founded and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. She won her first Top Fuel event trophy in Norwalk (IHRA) in her rookie season and made her first NHRA final-round appearance in Memphis later that year. She finished the season in 10th place in Top Fuel championship points in ‘06. Will picked up an emotional first NHRA national event title in Topeka, Kan., June 1, 2008.
