Kalitta Motorsports News

Team Kalitta Qualifying Recap – NHRA Gatornationals – Gainesville

Posted on by admin
Gainesville Gary Nastase
20
Mar

Gainesville Gary Nastase

Team Kalitta Qualifying Recap – NHRA Gatornationals – Gainesville GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 19, 2016) – Kalitta Motorsports, the nitro-fueled, four-car NHRA drag racing team based in Ypsilanti, Mich., has completed qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla. Results and quotes follow.

Doug Kalitta – Driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster: Q1: 6.910 sec., 98.45 mph Q2: 5.544 sec., 125.18 mph Q3: 3.761 sec., 324.05 mph (One bonus points for the third quickest run of the session.) Q4: 7.799 sec., 89.22 mph

No. 8 Qualifier

J.R. Todd – Driver of the SealMaster Top Fuel Dragster: Q1: 4.667 sec., 160.96 mph Q2: 4.479 sec., 175.39 mph Q3: 3.875 sec., 304.39 mph Q4: 3.779 sec., 323.35 mph

No. 10 Qualifier

Del Worsham – Driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car: Q1: 3.978 sec., 305.70 mph (Two bonus points for the second quickest run of the session.) Q2: 3.958 sec., 320.28 mph Q3: 5.003 sec., 152.24 mph Q4: 4.083 sec., 257.53 mph

No. 8 Qualifier

Alexis DeJoria – Driver of the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car: Q1: 4.505 sec., 188.17 mph Q2: 8.754 sec., 84.20 mph Q3: 4.958 sec., 153.54 mph Q4: 4.041 sec., 314.61 mph

No. 11 Qualifier

First Round Competition:

  • 8) Doug Kalitta v. 9) Dave Connolly
  • 10) J.R. Todd v. 7) Steve Torrence
  • 8) Del Worsham v. 9) John Force
  • 11) Alexis DeJoria v. 6) Matt Hagan

Quotables:

Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster: “Not the way we wanted to perform in qualifying with the Mac Tools Toyota dragster. We did have a solid run to start the day, so we were definitely going for it in the late session and it just didn’t stick. However, we are still in the field and get lane choice in the first round so we will put our heads down, get to work and prepare for our thought first round pairing.

J.R. Todd, driver of the SealMaster Top Fuel Dragster: “A solid Saturday for the SealMaster team. With this new chassis, we were testing a few things to start the weekend. We had a hole out in the first run of the day, so it felt good to end Saturday with a solid run. Torrence has a great team behind him, so it is a tough draw, but I am confident with what Connie, Rob and all of my SealMaster guys have planned for tomorrow and we look forward to the challenge.”

Del Worsham, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car: “A little hot with that fire in the last session, but we did not hurt anything major on the DHL Toyota Camry so we should be fine for tomorrow. We did not run how we wanted to today, but these DHL boys know what is going on and we will be ready for raceday.”

FOX Sports TV Schedule:

3/20 Eliminations – 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST (FS1) Times and dates subject to change.
Event Schedule: Sunday’s eliminations begin at 11:00 p.m. EST.
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) Mello Yello 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 six world championships and over 100 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Team Kalitta is the home of the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car World Champions, Del Worsham. He drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. J.R. Todd drives the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Mac Tools 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 Toyota Camry Funny Car, Tommy DeLago and Glen Huszar on the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car, Rob Flynn on the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster and Jim Oberhofer on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include ARP, AutoDesk CAM, Champion, Cogistics, Darton Sleeves, DHL, Justice Brothers, Kalitta Air, Mac Tools, Optima Batteries, Phoenix Fuel Converter, Racing Electronics, Red Line Oil, SealMaster, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Companies, Tequila Patrón, TMS Titanium, Toyota and Ziebart.

Konnekt with Kalitta Motorsports:

For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit #KalittaStrong online – Website: www.teamkalitta.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/TeamKalitta Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta Instagram: www.instagram.com/TeamKalitta