INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 1, 2011) – Native Canadian Jeff Arend, driver of Kalitta Motorsports’ nitro-fueled DHL Funny Car, is eager to go racing and potentially accomplish what would be one of the biggest highlights of his 16-year pro racing career this Labor Day weekend, Aug. 31-Sept. 5, at the most prestigious drag racing event in the world, the 57th annual running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Arend enters the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in ninth place in Full Throttle Funny Car points, only six points away from eighth place and 16 points ahead of 10th. He is 78 points ahead of 11th place.
“This is something we really, really want,” Arend, a 48-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “Everyone on our DHL team and at Kalitta Motorsports are doing all that we can to ensure that we get a spot in the Countdown. A few races ago it looked like we had it locked up, but we’ve had some bad races and the teams behind us in points have been doing much better, so it’s gotten pretty tight.
“I’m extremely confident in my team and everyone in our organization that we’ll get the job done in Indy this weekend. I’ve never finished in the top ten in points so to be this close to making that a reality is very exciting. And, this is Indy, the biggest race of the year, and we want to get an Indy ‘Wally’ for the trophy case.”
The 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship breaks the 22-event season into two distinct sections: the 16-event Countdown to 10 and the six-event Countdown to 1. After the first 16 events, only the top 10 drivers advance into the final segment of the playoffs, and their points are reset to within 10 of one another with the exception of the points leader, who will have a 30-point advantage over second place. The 10 drivers will then compete for Full Throttle world championships at the season’s final six events beginning at the next event in Charlotte. Each round of eliminations is worth 20 points.
Arend and the DHL team have one win this season (Houston), one runner-up posting in Chicago, and two semi-final finishes in Bristol, Tenn. and Denver.
Arend took over the controls of the DHL Funny Car at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in 2008 after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta in a racing accident in June of that year in New Jersey.
Event Schedule
The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals begin Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with one qualifying sessions at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Two more qualifying attempts will take place on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. followed by two more qualifying efforts Sunday at noon and 3:00 p.m. The top 16 qualified cars in each pro class will race Labor Day Monday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Times and dates subject to change.
TV Schedule
9/4 Qualifying – 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. (ET) ESPN2
9/4 Qualifying – 5:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. (ET) ESPN2
9/5 Eliminations – 12:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M. (ET) ESPN2
Times and dates subject to change.
About Kalitta Motorsports
Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.
Jeff Arend drives the DHL Funny Car for the team. Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, drives the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster entry while Dave Grubnic drives the team’s second Top Fueler under the banner of Kalitta Air as well. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by crew chief Jim Oberhofer and assistant crew chief Troy Fasching on Doug’s Top Fueler and by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car. Connie serves as crew chief on the Grubnic-driven racer with help from assistant crew chief James Riola.
Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Candlewood Suites, ROCKY Boots, Red Line Oil, Technicoat Companies, OPTIMA Batteries, JEGS, and Mac Tools.
For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit www.teamkalitta.com. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta. Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KalittaMotorsports. Check out videos about Team Kalitta on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta