Hello Everyone,
With all that seems to be going on in this world lately, I can honestly say that I enjoy writing these little updates about Team Kalitta and our travels. I know that I, along with everyone else here at Kalitta Motorsports, are fortunate to be working for a guy like Connie Kalitta, who luckily for us, loves nitromethane and drag racing.
This past weekend Team Kalitta was in Commerce Georgia for the NHRA Southern Nationals. When I arrived at Atlanta Dragway on Thursday, I checked my weather station and noticed the temperature was about 90 degrees, which didn’t surprise me at all. What did surprise me though, was that the weather forecasters were calling for temperatures to fall about 5 degrees each day. It wouldn’t be Atlanta without some crazy weather and then you throw a bumpy racetrack in the mix, and you have pure fun!
Jeff and the DHL Team were still riding high after their Houston win and made some nice runs in qualifying. Their 4.13 was good enough for the number seven spot and a first round match up with Ron Capps. The one thing we have really tried to do with the DHL Car as of late, is to not smoke the tires. Unlike the Top Fuel cars, it seems that if you can just go down the track in Funny Car, you have a good shot of winning that round. I think the DHL Team proved that in Houston with their win. Jon O and Nicky made sure the DHL Car would go A to B by running a nice 4.18 against Ron’s 4.26, giving Jeff the win. In the second round Jeff was matched up against Bob Tasca, who had been running very well all weekend. The DHL car kept Tasca honest but just didn’t have enough to beat Bob who ran a 4.12 to Jeff’s 4.21. The good thing is that the DHL Car is going rounds and in sixth place in points!
Doug and the Kalitta “K” Car made some changes to the chassis before Atlanta and they seem to be working. After qualifying in the number eight spot with a 3.91, Doug was ready for a first round duel against Doug Foley, who whipped our butts in Gainesville earlier this year. Myself along with Troy Fasching and the rest of the “K” Car crew, wanted to make sure that we would not be whipped again. With the track being in better shape than it had been all weekend long, we knew we could be more aggressive with the engine and clutch combo. Of course, when you have a driver like Doug Kalitta, you always have a shot no matter what. At the start, Doug left first and never looked back, running our best time of the weekend, a 3.87 at 315 mph. With the win, that set up a second round race with number one qualifier Spencer Massey, who ran a 3.86 in the first round. At the start both Doug and Spencer had great reaction times, but in the end Spencer had just a little bit more power running a 3.90 to Doug’s 3.91. All in all I really believe that we are heading in the right direction with Doug’s car, and a win shouldn’t be to far off in the future.
Grubby and the Candlewood Suites car made some pretty good laps in qualifying, running a best of a 3.91, which ended up being good for the number 10 spot. For first round, Grubby was paired up against Antron Brown who was very capable of throwing a good number on the board. Now we all know that the Bossman, Connie Kalitta, is never afraid to be aggressive with his tuneup. With Grubby being the last pair and the track being about 5 degrees warmer than when Doug ran, Connie knew that he was going to take a chance with his tuneup. At the start Grubby and Antron both had good reaction times, with Grubby being right there until about 300 feet, when the Candlewood Suites Car spun the tires ending Grubbies day. It was really cool representing Candlewood Suites this weekend and we look forward to doing it again in Chicago.
With no weekend off between Atlanta and our next race in Topeka, Team Kalitta stayed at Atlanta Dragway on Monday, servicing the cars and then driving the rigs to Topeka. Heartland Park in Topeka has been good to Team Kalitta in the past, and we hope it is good to us again this weekend. Over the years a Team Kalitta car has visited the Topeka Winners Circle 9 times, and have been in numerous final rounds. Topeka is kind of like Atlanta, in that you never know what kind of weather you will have or how hot the track will be.
Well, that’s all of my rambling for this week. I hope all of you have a great weekend and if you can, check us out on ESPN 2 on Saturday and Sunday. You never know, you could see a Kalitta Mosh Pit on the starting line.
Take care everyone!