Goodson Tools & Supplies Blog

Hello Everyone,

I hope all of you had a great weekend and that the week is starting off good for you. Team Kalitta had a great weekend in Topeka, as Dave Grubnic won the Top Fuel title at Heartland Park Topeka. It was the 10th “Wally” that Team Kalitta has won at the Topeka track, and one that was well deserved for Grubby, Connie and the rest of the Candlewood Suites Team.

Going into the Topeka race, Grubby and Connie had been doing a great job with some consistent performances in qualifying, which led to some better performances on race day. During qualifying, Grubby and the Candlewood Suites team ran a nice 3.84, which put them in the number 7 spot going into raceday, and a first round race with Bob Vandergriff. Doug Kalitta and his Kalitta Air dragster, also ran a 3.84, but his was only good enough for the number 9 spot, which meant a first round matchup with number 8 qualifier JR Todd. Since JR drives for Bob Vandegriff Racing, it was Team Kalitta versus Bob Vandegriff Racing in the first round.

Over in Kalitta Funny Car world, Alexis DeJoria and her Tequila Patron Toyota, ran a nice 4.13 at 303 mph, which put the Tequila Toyota in the number 11 spot and gave Alexis a first round race with Jack Beckman. Jeff and the DHL Toyota Team, ran a 4.15 at only 288 mph, which put Jeff in the lucky number 13 spot and a first round showdown with Ron Capps. It was Team Kalitta up against Don Schumacher Racing!

On raceday, Grubby would be up first against Bob Vandegriff in a huge first round race in the Countdown points race. At the start, Grubby grabbed the lead and never looked back as the Candlewood Dragster ran a very nice 3.81 at 322 mph, that win gave Grubby a second round race with Atlanta winner, Steve Torrence. Up next was Doug and his Kalitta Air Dragster against JR Todd, who had run very consistent during the weekend, and even had lane choice. At the flash of yellow, Doug had the advantage off of the starting line, and never looked back, as the Kalitta Air Dragster ran a 3.78 at 324 mph. It was Doug’s quickest and fastest pass in the 1000 foot era, and it gave Doug lane choice over Antron Brown in the second round.

In the first round of Funny Car, Jeff was up first for Team K, and Ron Capps was his opponent. At the start, both drivers had good reaction times, and the DHL Toyota was right with Capps until about 300 feet, that’s when the DHL Toyota spun the tires, and gave Ron the win. Alexis was up next, and Crew Chief, Del Worsham hoped he had made the proper adjustments to the Patron Toyota based on what he saw with Jeff’s DHL Toyota. At the start, Alexis had a very good reaction time, and just like Jeff, she was right with Beckman until about the 300 foot mark, that’s when the Patron Toyota spun the tires in almost the same spot as Jeff did. While it was disappointing for both Jeff and Alexis to not make it out of the first round, a lot of progress has been made with the performance and consistency of both of those cars.

In the second round of Top Fuel, Doug was up first against number one qualifier Antron Brown. At the start, Antron left to early and lit the big red light, which automatically gave Doug the win. What was even better than the red light, was the fact that Doug ran a very nice 3.81 at 323 mph, on a track that was 107 degrees, which was about 15 degrees warmer than first round. That win would give Doug lane choice in his semifinal matchup with Spencer Massey. Grubby was up next, and would face Steve Torrence in a wild tire smoking battle. At the start, Grubby and Torrence both had good reaction times, but both soon spun the tires with Grubby doing the better job getting the Candlewood car to hook back up, which gave Grubby the win, and a semifinal race with Brandon Bernstien.

In the semifinals, Grubby was up first against Brandon Bernstien. After both drivers did their burnouts, we noticed that they were shutting off Brandon’s car because of a big fuel leak, which gave Grubby a free pass right into the final round! We have always said that we would rather be lucky than good, and that fuel leak by Brandon was certainly an example of a little bit of luck. Doug was up next, and we were all hoping for an all Kalitta final round. At the start, Doug and his opponent Spencer Massey, had very good reaction times, but unfortunately for Doug, the Kalitta Air Dragster spun the tires, ending our hopes for that all Kalitta final round.

In the final round, Connie felt he needed to give Grubby a 3.90 tuneup, if they were going to take home the Topeka Wally. At the start, both Grubby and Massey had excellent reaction times, and were locked neck and neck going down the Topkeka track. At about the 700 foot mark though, Grubby and his Connie Kalitta horsepower took over, as Grubby ran a 3.89 at 319 mph to Spencer’s 3.91 at 309 mph to get the win and the Topeka Wally! What a great job by Grubby, Connie, James Riola and he rest of the Candlewood Suites Team! The real cool part was that this win was the first win for a lot of the crew-members on the Candlewood Car, so to say that their was some excited people on the starting line, is a huge understatement! The Kalitta “Mosh Pit” was in full force, and James Riola took the brunt of the punishment that was dished out!

Well, that’s about it from me, I hope all of you have a great Memorial Day weekend, and I will get back with you before our next race in Englishown, New Jersey. Take care!

Jim O

Topeka, Kan. (May 20, 2012) – Native Australian David Grubnic scored an emotional and overdue victory Sunday in final eliminations of the Dollar General NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kan. Grubnic piloted his 8,000-horsepower, 320+mph Candlewood Suites Top Fuel dragster to his first win of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and made his first trip to the winner’s circle since 2006.

The win for the affable fan-favorite known as “Grubby” is the third of his 18-year Top Fuel career and his second in Topeka. Grubnic, who last reached a final round at Chicago in 2011, became the first non-native North American driver to win an NHRA Top Fuel event in 2005 at Heartland Park.

“What a great day for me and the whole Kalitta Motorsports team,” Grubnic, a 49-year old resident of Bozeman, Mont., said “We seem to have some great success in Topeka. Wow, I just can’t thank Connie (Kalitta, team owner, crew chief, and drag racing icon) and everyone on our Candlewood Suites team enough. We had some luck today, but we made some great runs, too, so I’m so happy to be able to get our guys a win today.

Grubnic qualified his Candlewood Suites hot rod in the No. 7 (3.841 seconds, 319.29 mph) spot for Sunday’s 16-car Top Fuel eliminations. He defeated Bob Vandergriff, Steve Torrence, and Brandon Bernstein en route to a final round match-up with Spencer Massey.

The two drivers gave the huge crowd of NHRA fans at Heartland Park Topeka a magnificent race in the final round. A race between two of the fastest and quickest accelerating race cars on Earth was decided by a scant 0.0097 seconds at the 1,000-ft. finish line as Grubnic turned on the win light, 3.893sec., 319.07 mph to 3.910 sec., 309.98 mph.

With his win in Topeka, Grubnic assures himself a coveted spot in the Traxxas Top Fuel shootout, a special non-points event to be held at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in September. He moves up two positions in NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel championship points from No. 10 to No. 8.

Team Kalitta Top Fuelers have dominated at Heartland Park Topeka since the track opened in 1989 with a total of 10 “Wally” trophies (Scott Kalitta – 6, Grubnic – 2, Doug Kalitta – 1, and Hillary Will – 1).

Grubnic’s Top Fuel teammate Doug Kalitta, driver of the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster, reached his second consecutive semi-final round Sunday in Topeka. Doug qualified his entry in the No. 9 (3.844 sec., 312.57 mph) position and defeated J.R. Todd and Antron Brown before rolling to the starting line to face Massey in his fourth semifinal of 2012. Both drivers’ dragsters had problems, but Massey was able to get the win, 4.601 sec., 267.32 mph to 4.151 sec., 267.91 mph.

Doug moves up one position to sixth place in NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel points.

Both of the Team Kalitta Funny Cars had a short Sunday with first round losses. Jeff Arend, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car and No. 13 (4.150 sec., 300.60 mph) qualifier, was defeated by Ron Capps in the opener. Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car and the No. 11 (4.135 sec., 303.91 mph) qualifier, was defeated by Jack Beckman. Arend is No. 10 in Full Throttle Funny Car points and DeJoria is No. 14.

ESPN2 TV Coverage

5/23 – Eliminations Re-Air
3:30 AM-5:00 AM (ET)

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 Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. David Grubnic drives the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car, by Del Worsham on the Tequila Patrón Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster.

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

Hello Everyone,

I hope all of you had a great Mothers Day weekend and have had a great week so far! Team Kalitta is getting ready for our next race down in Topeka, Kansas this coming weekend at Heartland Park Raceway. Heartland Park has been very very good to Team Kalitta over the years, and we hope that this years race will be good to Team Kalitta as well. Back in 1993, the late Scott Kalitta scored his first of six wins in Top Fuel at HPR, in 2005, Dave Grubnic won his first NHRA Wally at Heartland Park, and in 2008, former Team Kalitta driver, Hillary Will, won her first NHRA Top Fuel Wally. Doug Kalitta didn’t win his first race at Heartland Park, but he did visit the Winners Circle at the Topeka track in 2006! All in all, Team Kalitta has 9 Wallys from Heartland Park, and after this weekend, we would like to make that 10 or even 11!

After one of the best test sessions we have had with Doug’s Kalitta Air Dragster in quite some time, Doug and his Kalitta Air Team, feel they have a car that can run with anyone now! I know that when you give Doug a good car, he steps up like no other driver I have ever seen, well except for may Connie or Scott lol! Grubby will again be running the Candlewood Suites colors on his dragster, and both Grubby and Connie really have their acts together! Grubby has been doing a great job driving the car, and Connie, along with James Riola, have been doing a great job with the tuneup! It would be really cool for Doug and Grubby to meet in the finals, and I think it is a real possibility!

Down at the North end of Kalitta Motorsports World Headquarters here in Ypsilanti, the Tequila Patron and DHL Toyota Teams have been busy getting ready for this weekends race as well. Alexis, who also had a good test session after Atlanta, and her Crew Chief, Del Worsham are confident that both Team Kalitta Toyotas, will be able to improve on those dreaded 60 foot times, which will lead to better elapsed times down the 1000 foot track! I really like the way that our Team Kalitta Funny Car Teams have been working together as of late. Del, along with Nicky and Jon O, are really doing a great job, and I feel that either Jeff or Alexis, will be hoisting a Wally real soon! Now since a lot of Team Kalitta Drivers have scored their first wins at Topeka, I am betting on Alexis to do that this weekend!

Well, that’s all from me, I have to go get a pedicure in a little bit…no not really, just kidding, and I think Rachel is way to busy for that today…I hope! Anyway, take care, and if you can, check us out on espn2!

Jim O

Jim “O” Oberhofer
Kalitta Motorsports