Will heads to eliminations in No. 7 spot

CLERMONT, Ind. (September 3, 2006) – Hillary Will qualified her KB Racing-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed dragster in the No. 7 position for the 52nd running of the premier event in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, with a pass of 4.531 seconds at 324.67 mph.

Will, whose dragster has been consistent through the five qualifying at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, hopes to build on the success of her last two races – a final round appearance at the last NHRA race in Memphis and a win at the just completed race in Norwalk, Ohio.

“We do have a consistent car,” said Will. “We went down the track five out of five times and if you count back a race that’s nine out of nine times. This is a Monday race. Mondays have been good for us recently because we’ve gone to the finals the last two Mondays in a row and we won one of those. Hopefully, good things are in our future tomorrow.”

“It’s going to be hardball out there tomorrow,” added Jim Oberhofer, Will’s crew chief. “We have a tough opponent in Brandon Bernstein and we need to build on our qualifying time, a 4.53, from yesterday. The driver is going to need to be on the top of her game. The team is going to need to be on the top of our game. In short, we need to get after it tomorrow.”

Last year, driving a Top Alcohol Dragster, Will came close to taking home a Wally from the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the race called by many the most prestigious event on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. This year she hopes to win in the KB Racing-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed dragster.

Against No. 10 qualifier Brandon Bernstein, Will begins her quest for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Top Fuel title tomorrow, Labor Day, with eliminations for all classes beginning at 11 a.m. Time is local Indianapolis time (ET) and subject to change at anytime.