Kalitta remains determined after a decade of driving dragsters

Pomona, Calif. - Doug Kalitta, driver of the 8,000-horsepower, bright red Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, begins his 10th season behind the steering wheel of a 330-mph quarter-mile rail rocket this weekend at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 2007 season-opener, the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, at fabled Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif.

Since winning the NHRA’s equivalent of Rookie of the Year, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Road to the Future Award, after the 1998 drag racing season, Kalitta has driven his Mac Tools/Kalitta Motorsports dragster to an astonishing 29 Top Fuel national event titles, which already ties him for sixth in career wins for the sport’s quickest and fastest class.

In the past four NHRA seasons, Kalitta has solidified his place among the best Top Fuel pilots of all-time. Last season was arguably the best of his straight-line career. He won a career-high five national events in 2006 and led the POWERade points for the entire second half of the season until a heart-breaking finale in Pomona at the year’s final event that resulted in Kalitta ending up just 14 points shy of his first NHRA championship.

“That’s all in the past,” Kalitta said. “It’s a new season and everything has been reset. We can’t dwell on that stuff. We’ll go back to Pomona looking to win the event and none of what happened last year will affect that.”