(Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)
Native Australian David Grubnic, driver of the 8,000-horsepower Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster, has a new outlook and a newly-decorated, nitro-fueled hot rod as the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series gets rolling with the season-opening NHRA Winternationals this weekend, Feb. 9-12, at famed Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif.
When the action heats up on the 1,000-ft. Auto Club Raceway track this weekend, Grubnic will debut the colors of Optima Batteries as the primary sponsor on his 300+ mph race car. The new digs and recent pre-season testing performances have Grubnic brimming with optimism about the upcoming season.
“You bet, I’m very excited about getting started this season with the Optima Batteries dragster,” Grubnic, a 49-year old resident of Bozeman, Mont., said. “Our race car looks amazing and I think it’s going to put up some great numbers on the score board as well turn some heads in the grandstands. We’ve been working really hard in the offseason to come up with some new tuning combinations and we’ve already seen some great results from that during our pre-season testing last month.
“Pomona is such a special place to everyone that loves drag racing. My first Top Fuel race in the States was at the Winternationals in 1995. I think we have a really great shot at winning the trophy this year, and that would certainly be a highlight of my career.”
Grubnic, an 18-year Top Fuel veteran, earned his first career Top Fuel victory in Topeka, Kan. in 2005, becoming the first racer born outside North America to win an NHRA Top Fuel event. He has two wins in his career with 15 final-round appearances. Grubnic’s Optima Batteries Top Fueler is helmed by drag racing icon and team owner Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta who serves as crew chief.
Kalitta won the Winternationals as a driver in Top Fuel in 1967, his first of ten NHRA national event wins. Also in 1967, Kalitta swept the winter national events for the three major drag racing sanctioning bodies at the time by also winning the AHRA and NASCAR event titles.
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