{"id":5237,"date":"2014-04-25T10:49:13","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T17:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=5237"},"modified":"2014-04-25T10:54:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T17:54:39","slug":"kalitta-soaring-skyward-in-2014-nhra-top-fuel-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/kalitta-soaring-skyward-in-2014-nhra-top-fuel-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalitta Soaring Skyward in 2014 NHRA Top Fuel Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"14DougKalittaActionPhoto\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos:<\/strong> Courtesy NHRA<\/p>\n

In his 17 years of driving a NHRA Top Fuel dragster, Doug Kalitta has never had a season start like 2014.<\/p>\n

In his first five races, the Ypsilanti, Michigan resident has reached the final round in four of the first five events, highlighted with a win at the coveted Amalie Oil Gatornationals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s certainly been fun,\u201d said Kalitta.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve been building up a lot of momentum and everybody is happy on the team with what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 Now we can go to each one of these thinking we can get the win on any weekend.\u00a0 Having a shot at it week in and week out is pretty exciting, so we\u2019re all just trying to do our best to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

It started in Dallas in the midst of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship when Kalitta won a race tying him with Shawn Langdon. That race kicked-off\u00a0 an incredible run of performance that has him back to No. 1 in the points standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got that win in Dallas last year and since then Jim (Oberhofer, crew chief) and Troy (Fasching, asst. crew chief) and the rest of the guys have played such a big part of the set up we run and we\u2019ve been trying to stay fairly close with that,\u201d said Kalitta. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing about tuning these cars, they\u2019re always this new part, a little bit better blowers, better heads; \u00a0it\u2019s constantly evolving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to give a lot of the credit with my car to JimO.\u00a0 He\u2019s surrounded himself with real good guys like Troy, who’s Jim assistant on the car and between the two of them, they\u2019re making good decisions.\u00a0 We\u2019re able to go up to the line to make the car do what they\u2019re trying to do a little more consistently now.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m proud of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Showing their confidence in their tune up for this season, the Team Mac Tools Kalitta Top Fuel bunch didn\u2019t touch the setup from their final round appearance at Pomona in 2013.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t test in Palm Beach and brought the car out to Pomona for qualifying at the Winternationals and grabbed the No.1 spot on the qualifying ladder (3.713 seconds) and again reached the final round before being defeated by Khalid alBalooshi in the season-opener.<\/p>\n

The only final he has missed this year has been in Phoenix, losing in the semi-finals to Antron Brown. Kalitta currently leads Brown by 25 points in the standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, after this kind of start, it will be a good year for us,\u201d said Kalitta, who has been the runner-up in the Top Fuel points three times (2003-04, and 2006).\u00a0 \u201cWe intend on keeping it that way.\u00a0 It\u2019s really exciting to be a part of it right now.\u00a0 We have a lot of confidence and have momentum on our side with everything going on.\u00a0 That puts a little extra skip in your step.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cool, calm demeanor that Kalitta shows on the outside is matched by the intensity on the track that makes him a formidable opponent.\u00a0 He has made the Countdown for the last six years, but will 2014 be his year?<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it will,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m real excited about our chances this year and I\u2019m surrounded by a great team, a great sponsor in Mac Tools and a great car owner.\u00a0 So, it shouldn\u2019t be any good reason not to take the title this year, I can tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Doug\u2019s dragster that is running better.\u00a0 The entire Kalitta organization has stepped up the program.<\/p>\n

Kalitta has one win, and Alexis DeJoria is in the top three in points with two 2014 wins in her Kalitta Racing Patron XO Caf\u00e9 Funny Car.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim Oberhofer has been nurturing this thing for a long time and he\u2019s the one over there at the shop all day, every day.\u201d smiled Kalitta. \u201cObviously we rely on him a lot to oversee what\u2019s going on.\u00a0\u00a0 It was Jim and Connie\u2019s (Kalitta, car owner) decisions of who they put in charge of various things.\u00a0 I really believe that through those two working together particularly to get Tommy Delago in place there with Alexis DeJoria\u2019s car with his right hand, Glen (Huszar) working along with him was a great move.<\/p>\n

\u201cNicky (Boninfante) and JonO (Oberhofer) are working with one of the most well rounded guys in Del (Worsham).\u00a0 So we put some good people in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all realize Connie\u2019s passion for the sport that we\u2019re in.\u00a0 We\u2019re all are just trying to obviously build each team the best that we can to go along with the people already there in place for a couple of years now.\u00a0 It\u2019s great to see every one gel better. We\u2019re all a bunch of hungry \u2018Bounty Hunters\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the great start this season, Doug Kalitta has a big confidence boost going into Sunday\u2019s eliminations knowing that crew chief, Oberhofer has checked and rechecked all things on the car and is prepared for\u00a0 raceday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d said Kalitta.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been there for a long time and a big part of the stuff with the whole effort there.\u00a0 It\u2019s definitely nice to have him on my car tweaking on it all the time.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better situation.\u00a0 His daughter, Ashley, has been a part of a lot marketing type of things, so he\u2019s bringing along another generation as well.\u00a0 They make a good pair, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley Oberhofer heads up their social media and the response from the fans has been tremendous.\u00a0 The Kalitta Motorsports Facebook pages have over 50,000 \u2018Likes\u2019 and their @teamKalitta on Twitter has nearly 18,000 followers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some good people in that,\u201d Kalitta said.\u00a0 \u201cTodd Myers has been very instrumental on our website.\u00a0 Ashley has been a vital part of all the daily stuff you have to do on Facebook and Twitter.\u00a0 I\u2019m real proud of what she\u2019s doing.\u00a0 She catches on quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now as Kalitta goes into the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Springnationals this weekend, his 34 Top Fuel wins is just one short in the win column that would tie him with the biggest name in the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be Big Daddy (Don Garlits),\u201d said Kalitta.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s the man.\u00a0 I grew up watching him and Connie race.\u00a0 He was the force to deal with all those years.\u00a0 That will be a proud moment and I hope we get to that spot real soon.\u00a0 He\u2019s someone I have a lot of respect for and it’ certainly an honor to at least tie him.\u00a0 That\u2019s our goal for sure in Houston.<\/p>\n

After three runner-up points campaigns in 2003-04 and 2006, 2014 is proving to be his year to reach the summit of the NHRA Top Fuel points standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously for me and my family it would be the best.\u00a0 Connie has been a part of building a lot of the champions in the NHRA.\u00a0 It would be a proud moment for our whole family.\u00a0 So far, this is definitely one of my best opportunities and I\u2019m going to give it my all.”<\/p>\n