NHRA
Denver: Team Kalitta preview
Team Kalitta ready to "Go the Grand" in Denver while still mourning the loss of Scott Kalitta DENVER, Colo., (July 9, 2008) -- This weekend, July 11-13, the drag racing contingent of Kalitta Motorsports, drivers Doug Kalitta, Hillary Will, and ...
Published: Jul 10, 2008, 3:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Team Kalitta ready to "Go the Grand" in Denver while still mourning the loss of Scott Kalitta
DENVER, Colo., (July 9, 2008) -- This weekend, July 11-13, the drag racing contingent of Kalitta Motorsports, drivers Doug Kalitta, Hillary Will, and Dave Grubnic and their respective teams, travel to Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver, with the other competitors of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series for the annual running of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Doug, driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, Will, driver of he KB Racing, LLC Top Fueler, and native Australian Grubnic, driver of the DHL dragster, enter this weekend's racing in the Rockies still reeling from the tragic death of their teammate less than three weeks ago.
Scott Kalitta, a two-time former NHRA Top Fuel champion, died June 21, 2008, as the result of multiple injuries suffered in a Funny Car qualifying accident at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., during the running of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. He was 46.
Since Scott's accident, which remains under investigation, the NHRA and its race teams have moved quickly to work toward improvements in safety concerning in particular engine explosions, parachute failures, braking efficiency, shutdown areas, and speed reduction.
This weekend, the NHRA will also institute a new racing distance for the nitro-fueled classes of Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster to 1,000 ft., as opposed to the traditional distance of 1,320 ft., or a quarter of a mile. The unprecedented action will give the drivers of the world's quickest and fastest racing vehicles an extra 320 ft. to safely bring their cars to a stop.
Kalitta Motorsports General Manager Jim Oberhofer, who also serves as crew chief on Will's dragster, is confident that moving the finish line to 1,000 ft. is the best action that can be taken for now. "In light of Scott's accident, we think the shortening of the race distance is the best immediate solution that the NHRA could make to help prevent further accidents similar to Scott's from happening.
"It's a temporary fix, but it's the best we can do as a racing community to keep all of our racers safe until a more permanent resolution can be determined."
Entering this weekend's competition in Denver, Will is in 7th place in POWERade championship points while Grubnic and Doug take the No. 9 and 10 spots in points respectively.
Scott won the Top Fuel title three times at scenic Bandimere Speedway (2004, 1995 and 1994).
-credit: km
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Chicagoland: JJ Yeley preview
Next article Indy Racing League News and Notes 2008-07-09
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Doug Kalitta
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
NHRA
NHRA
Pomona II
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
C. Force, Kalitta, Gray and Hines secure No. 1 qualifiers at Carolina Nationals
NHRA
NHRA
Charlotte II
C. Force, Kalitta, Gray and Hines secure No. 1 qualifiers at Carolina Nationals
Can Millican start a winning streak?
NHRA
NHRA
Norwalk
Can Millican start a winning streak?
Latest news
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 h
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe