Hey Everyone,
I hope all of you had a great weekend and took care of your Moms on Mothers Day! It’s a good thing my Dad took my Mom out to breakfast and dinner on Sunday otherwise Jon O and I would have to have a chat with him in a dark alley somewhere, just kidding Dave O.
This weekend Team Kalitta heads to Commerce, Georgia which is about 70 miles Northeast of Atlanta for the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Atlanta is always an interesting race because you never know what to expect in terms of weather. Last year it was pretty warm there and they are calling for the same this year. We have also raced in Atlanta when the conditions were near perfect and you could throw whatever you wanted at your tuneup. It’s always fun when you can get crazy with your tuneup but it can also be fun trying to slide your hotrod down a 130 degree track! What am I talking about, drag racing is fun no matter what the weather is or how hot the track is!
One of the cool things about racing in Atlanta this year is Team Kalitta’s new partnership with Candlewood Suites who by the way will be the primary sponsor on Dave Grubnics car this weekend. Candlewood Suites parent company IHG is headquartered in Atlanta and Grubbies guys will be doing a display at IHG Headquarters on Wednesday. We are really looking forward to meeting alot of great new people at IHG this weekend and introducing them to Team Kalitta and NHRA Drag Racing. I know Connie and Grubby are looking forward to running great and putting the cool looking Candlewood Suites car in the Atlanta Winners Circle.
Jeff and the DHL Funny Car Team are also doing a display before the Atlanta race at Robins Air Force Base which is in Warner Robins, Georgia. I know the DHL Team always looks forward to do displays at Military Bases because they always learn something interesting and have stories to tell the other guys when they get to the track. It is also cool that Jeff and the DHL Team can brag about their win in Houston a couple of Sundays ago and since the weather looks to be about the same as Houston was, maybe the DHL guys can win back to back races, now that would be cool!
Since the Houston race Doug’s guys have been busy working with our in-house chassis guy Chuck Lett to change the chassis around on Doug’s Kalitta Air car. We decided to make a change in the chassis to see if it will help Doug’s car get to the 60 foot timers quicker which has been our biggest problem since we have gone to 1000 foot racing. When you are already two or three hundredths behind at 60 feet, it is hard to make that up by the time you get to the 1000 foot finish line without risking smoking the tires. I guess we will see because we have tried everything else known to mankind and they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I think we are there now so it is time to do something different! I do know this, it can’t 60 foot any worse than it currently does…at least I hope doesn’t! If this works, I think Doug will have a very good weekend and after all, Doug does know his way to the Atlanta Winners Circle as he has won there a couple of times.
Well that’s about it from me, I hope all of you have a great weekend and if you can’t be in Commerce, Georgia with us, check us out on ESPN2 on Saturday and Sunday. Oh, one more thing, my daughter Ashley O is turning 16 this Saturday and she will have her drivers license pretty soon so with that being said…STAY OFF THE ROADS IN MICHIGAN! Just kidding, she is a good driver because I taught her myself…well that isn’t saying much I guess. Take care everyone!
Jim O
Jim “O” Oberhofer
Kalitta Motorsports