Phoenix: Scott Kalitta preview

Scott Kalitta and the DHL team hope to celebrate the big 7-0 in the Phoenix winner's circle

PHOENIX, Ariz., (Feb. 20, 2008) -- For drag racing veteran Scott Kalitta, driver of the 7,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled DHL Funny Car, this weekend's annual running of the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., has the potential to be cause for multiple celebrations in the desert.

This Sunday, as final eliminations of the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals will be thrilling race fans with the most exciting form of auto racing in the world, Scott's dad and Kalitta Motorsports patriarch Connie "the Bounty Hunter" Kalitta, a drag racing icon, will also be celebrating his milestone 70th birthday at the place where he is most widely known and comfortable -- the race track.

"My dad has been involved in this sport for almost half of a century." Scott, who celebrated his 46th birthday Monday, Feb. 18, and resides in Palmetto, Fla., said. "That is an impressive feat in any form of sports. I'm extremely proud of my dad and all of his accomplishments, both in drag racing and as a businessman. He truly is one of a kind, and it would be incredible for me and for him if we could get our DHL car into the winner's circle this weekend."

Scott returned to the Funny Car class in 2006 after many successful years at the helm of a Top Fuel dragster. He won the NHRA Top Fuel World Championship in 1994 and 1995 as well as 17 NHRA national event trophies, but got his first professional NHRA national event win under the carbon fiber canopy of a Funny Car in Houston in 1989.

-credit: km