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NHRA: Team Kalitta Prepared for Flight in 1999 NHRA Winston Season

1 February 1999

POMONA, Calif. - One year ago Doug Kalitta made his debut in a Top Fuel dragster at the Los Angeles County Fairplex. Cheering him on from the sidelines was his uncle and team owner, Top Fuel veteran Connie Kalitta who was on a driving hiatus. When the NHRA season opens next week (February 4-7) with the AutoZone Winternationals both men will be competing and both are aiming for the same reward - the 1999 Winston Top Fuel Championship.

Driving nearly identically prepared Kitty Hawk/American International Airways entries Doug, 34, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Connie, 60, of Ypsilanti, Mich., would like nothing better than to tag-team the competition. When it comes to pulling up beside each other, however, it will be each man for himself in their quests for the title.

Doug impressed a lot of people with his driving ability when he joined the Top Fuel ranks last year. It was that ability that helped earn him the 1994 USAC National Sprint Car Championship. Now that he has learned the ropes and passed the tests in drag racing, he would like to be the first Top Fuel driver to win championships in two completely different forms of motorsports. Eager to get back to Pomona, Doug plans to pick up where he left off last year. At the season finale here in November he recorded his career-best speed (320.85 mph) and won the $100,000 Big Bud Shootout at Pomona bonus race. Just the fifth person in 14 years to win the Budweiser-sponsored event in their first appearance, Doug qualified seventh for the elite eight-car field that is based on qualifying points.

The winner of last year's Autolite Nationals and runner-up at the Castrol Lone Star Nationals, Doug finished the season sixth in Winston points. The recipient of the Automobile Club of Southern California "Road to the Future" award, Doug qualified fifth and went out in round one of last year's Winternationals.

Not since his fourth place finish in 1994 has Connie made a real run at the championship. He was plagued by first round losses in 1995 and finished eleventh. He rebounded to eighth in 1996 with the help of two final round appearances. Due to business obligations, Connie ran limited schedules the past two years - just five events in early 1997 and eight events late last year. This season, however, he plans to attend all events. Though he hasn't been to a final round since the 1996 Keystone Nationals, he hopes to recapture some of the past luck he has had here at Pomona Raceway and change that statistic.

Connie will be making his 27th appearance in Winternationals competition. It was at this event in 1963 that he made it to his first final round. He followed up that runner-up finish with his first-ever NHRA National event win here in 1967. The runner-up three more times here - 1980, 1986 and 1996 - he has yet to win this event again. This was also the site of Connie's historic run at the 1989 Winternationals breaking the 290-mph barrier (291.54 mph).

In preparation for the season-opener the team headed to Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix for preseason testing. Doug's best run of the weekend also turned out to be his worst. Near the end of his 4.658-second run the rear tire blew causing serious damage to the new chassis. After accessing the damage, the team pulled out last year's car, now the spare, and put a couple of runs on it just in case it would have to be used at Pomona. The team left Phoenix Monday morning and headed straight for Los Angeles International Airport where they took advantage of the fact that their sponsor is an air cargo company. They put the damaged car on a plane operated by Kitty Hawk's American International Freight division and sent it to chassis builder Murf McKinney for repair. The L-1011 arrived in Terre Haute, Ind., about 3 a.m. Tuesday morning and the car was at McKinney's shop in Otterbein, Ind., by 8 a.m. Plans call for the good-as-new chassis to leave McKinney's shop Thursday afternoon, February 28, and arrive back at LAX early Friday morning. Connie's weekend was not nearly as eventful. His best numbers were 4.747 seconds and 304.60 mph.

Directing the efforts of Team Kitty Hawk is Hemet, Calif., resident Ed McCulloch. A 49-time finalist as a Funny Car and Top Fuel driver, McCulloch is also a former Winternationals champion. While driving a Funny Car McCulloch won the 1972 Winternationals and was runner-up in 1976 and 1990. "The Ace" would like to pick up his third National event win as a crew chief here and it would also make a nice belated birthday gift as he turns 57 on February 2.

Professional qualifying for the 39th annual NHRA AutoZone Winternationals will start with one run at 3 p.m. on both Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5. Saturday qualifying will take place at noon and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, February 7. A season preview and qualifying highlights from the Winternationals can be seen on ESPN2 starting at 11 a.m. (EST) Sunday, February 7. Final round coverage can be seen the same day beginning at 9:30 p.m. (EST).