NHRA: Team Kitty Hawk Looking to Rebound at NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals
9 March 1999
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The 1999 NHRA Winston drag racing season has proven to be very testing for Top Fuel dragster drivers Doug and Connie Kalitta. Though they haven't spent a lot of time on the track on race day, they have been spending a lot of time on the track to correct that problem. When the NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals return to Gainesville Raceway (March 19-21) both men look to rebound and become contenders.While both have qualified for the first two events, they have gone out in the first round of competition. Driving nearly identical entries sponsored by air cargo carrier Kitty Hawk, the team has fallen victim to every racers goal - going quicker and faster. In order to achieve that goal one must apply new technology and conquer it. Recently switching from a four-disc clutch to a new five-disc set-up, it's the conquering part that is giving the team fits. The theory is that the extra disc will better control the 6,000-horsepower produced by the engine resulting in reduced tire shake and lower elapsed times. The result for Team Kitty Hawk, however, has been loss of traction (smoking the tires). Trying to get as many runs as possible on the cars, the team has taken every available opportunity to test in order to remedy the situation.
"This new combination is like a recipe," said Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch, Doug's crew chief and an advisor to Connie's team. "It takes a little of this and a little of that. However, too much of this and that won't respond positively. We've got all the ingredients, we're just trying to make them all work in harmony."
One of the key ingredients is second-year Top Fuel driver Doug. The 34-year-old Ann Arbor, Mich., resident began racing motorcycles at age 9, served as a crewman for Connie, his uncle, for most of the 1980s and achieved success as a midget and sprint car driver before turning to drag racing. His Kitty Hawk entry performed consistently in this last test session and was within a couple of thousandths of equaling his career-best elapsed time of 4.561 seconds.
"It's easy to say maybe we should just go back to what worked at the end of last year," said Doug. "But that's not an option. This sport has always been known for its innovators. If it weren't for them we'd all still be driving seven- or eight-second front-motored dragsters hoping to break 200 mph. This new set-up is just the latest challenge, for all of us. We're not the only team working through the bugs. We'll get it together and I think we'll be tough when we do."
Currently 11th in Winston points, Doug won last year's Autolite Nationals and was the runner-up at the Castrol Lone Star Nationals. He also won the $100,000 prize in the Big Bud Shootout at Pomona bonus race. The vice president of Customer Management at Kitty Hawk International in Ypsilanti, Mich., Doug qualified 12th at last year's Gatornationals before falling in round one to Kenny Bernstein.
This season marks 40 years of NHRA competition for Connie, 61, of Ypsilanti, who wants a repeat of the 1994 Gatornationals. Qualified in the lucky number seven spot for the silver anniversary celebration of the event, Connie ran a string of 4.89-second times to defeat his first three opponents then pulled out all the stops for the final against his now-retired son Scott. Connie's weekend-best run of 4.794 defeated Scott's 4.954 and earned him his first Gatornationals title. That run went down in the record books as the first-ever father-and-son Top Fuel final in NHRA history.
Asked to put his win in perspective with his many accomplishments, Connie said, "They're all neat and they all add a little spice to your life, but right now, I'd have to say it's the highlight of my career." A highlight that was overshadowed only by winning the 40th annual U.S. Nationals six months later. Kalitta, who also won the Southern Nationals in 1994, finished the year fourth in Winston points.
Coming into this race Connie is also on the outside of the Winston Top Ten looking in. "We've been struggling these past two races," said Kalitta, currently 12th in points. "This new combination has been testing us as much as we've been testing it. This last session was very productive so maybe we will have some luck in Gainesville. We've got some catching up to do."
Four-time Gatornationals Funny Car winner McCulloch sees light at the end of the tunnel. "I think we're on to something after this last round of testing," he said. "Doug is a great driver with a bright future; we've just got to put a good running car back under him. When we do that, I think he'll be back in the hunt. I'm optimistic about Gainesville and the rest of the season."
Professional qualifying for the 30th annual Mac Tools Gatornationals gets underway on Friday, March 19 with sessions at noon and 4 p.m. Qualifying will continue on Saturday with sessions again at noon and 4 p.m. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 21. ESPN2 coverage of the event includes qualifying highlights on March 19 starting at 5 p.m. (ET) and final round coverage on March 21 beginning at 6 p.m. (ET).