Hey Everyone,
I hope all of you are doing well and are having a great week! All of us at Kalitta Motorsports are ready to begin the second half of our 2011 season, and we are going to start off by racing at one of my favorite tracks, Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, which is just west of Denver. Team Kalitta has enjoyed alot of success there over the years, as each of the Kalitta’s, Connie, Scott and Doug, have taken home the Wally from the Mile High race. In fact, Doug comes into this years event as the defending champ.
Racing in Denver is a challenge to say the least. First off the altitude at the Denver track is over a mile high, and when you correct it for temperature and humidity, that altitude can be over 9000 feet. The highest altitude we race at besides Denver, is in Las Vegas, and it is about 2000 feet with a corrected altitude of about 4000 feet. To say that our engines struggle to make horsepower is an understatement. We run our engines harder in Denver than we do anywhere else, but we probably still come up about 1000 horsepower short than we would anywhere else because of the altitude. Along with the horsepower loss in Denver, comes a loss of downforce on the rear wings of the dragsters, and the bodies on the Funny Cars. Normally we are only allowed to run 2 degrees of rear wing, but at Denver there is no limit, so we run as much as 5.5 degrees of rear wing to try and achieve the most downforce we can on the dragsters. The Funny Cars run their rear wing in the highest position they can as well to create downforce.
For some strange reason I enjoy racing in Denver and I think Connie does as well, even though he may not admit it. Maybe it is because we have done so well there over the years, or maybe it is because the Bandimere Family does a great job promoting their race and filling their stands up with some great fans, but I think the real reason we all like Denver, is because Connie breaks out his black shorts and shows off his white legs at the Mile High race! It is funny that so many people look forward to seeing Connie in his shorts! Now that I say this, Connie will leave his shorts home.
Anyway, enough about Connie in his shorts. The race in Denver also marks the beginning of the annual Western Swing, after Denver, the Kalitta Team heads further west to Sonoma, California and then up north to Seattle, Washington before they head back to good ole Michigan. This is one of the toughest stretches for the Team Kalitta Crew-Members, and one that could make or break the season for the Team Kalitta. A good Western Swing by all of the Kalitta cars will go a long way in keeping Team Kalitta in the Top 10 and in the running for the Championships in 2011!
Take care everyone and I hope you enjoy your weekend and if you have a few minutes, check us out on ESPN2 on Saturday and Sunday, maybe you might get to see Connie’s legs as well!
Jim O