Mac Tools Announces Multi-Year Primary Sponsorship Deal with Kalitta Motorsports

(Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel dragster. Photo provided by Team Kalitta PR)


Mac Tools®, an industry-leading hand tools manufacturer, announced this past weekend at its annual sales conference, Mac Tools Tool Fair, that the Columbus, Ohio-based company plans to return as a primary sponsor of the Doug Kalitta-driven Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragster. The partnership will begin at the 2012 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis through the remainder of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and also continue through the 2013 and 2014 racing seasons.

Mac Tools Distributors and their families were on hand to show their support as Brett Shaw, President of Mac Tools, made the announcement at the kick off meeting for the Mac Tools Tool Fair.

“Our relationship with Kalitta Motorsports is a testament to Mac Tools’ commitment to driving our brand, building product awareness with fans and technicians; while engaging with our distributors at all the NHRA events across the U.S,” Shaw said. “We’re truly excited to offer our continued support to the Kalitta organization, the NHRA and look forward to a successful partnership for everyone involved.”

Kalitta Motorsports and Mac Tools have celebrated a long-standing relationship that dates back to 2001, when Mac Tools began serving as the primary sponsor on Kalitta’s 8,000-horsepower Top Fueler through 2008. In 2012 Mac Tools entered their 12th year as an associate sponsor for the Ypsilanti-Mich.-based multi-car team, which also includes the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by Jeff Arend, the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster driven by David Grubnic, and the Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by Alexis DeJoria.

Kalitta, a 47-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich. and a 15-year veteran driver of the world’s quickest and fastest race cars, has amassed 32 NHRA Top Fuel title trophies in 64 final-round appearances. He has finished in the top ten in Full Throttle championship points in every year of his straight-line career. He was the 1994 USAC National Sprint Car champion.

“Despite the tough economy, Mac Tools has been committed to Kalitta Motorsports and to NHRA drag racing,” Jim Oberhofer, Kalitta Motorsports Vice President of Operations, said. “We are thrilled they are back as primary sponsor of Doug Kalitta. We’ve enjoyed a lot of success over the years with Mac Tools on the side of our dragster, and we look forward to continuing to share that success with them. We also look forward to representing all of the hard working Distributors who have always been big supporters of Kalitta Motorsports.”

About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.

Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car. David Grubnic drives the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car, by Del Worsham on the Tequila Patrón Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Optima Batteries Top Fuel dragster.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Candlewood Suites, ROCKY Boots, Red Line Oil, Technicoat Companies, OPTIMA Batteries, JEGS, and Mac Tools.

For more info about Kalitta Motorsports including exclusive content such as videos, photos and more, please visit www.teamkalitta.com. Follow Us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta. Like Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KalittaMotorsports. Check out videos about Team Kalitta on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/TeamKalitta

Alexis DeJoria Ready for First Full Season as a Professional Drag Racer

(Photo by NHRA PR)

And so it begins. After a year of testing and a ‘mini-season’ of four races in 2011, NHRA National Event Winner Alexis DeJoria will be strapping into her new Tequila Patrόn Toyota Camry Funny Car at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, CA this Thursday for the kickoff race of her first full season as a professional NHRA Drag Racer.

DeJoria, who has spent the off-season testing and following a grueling training regimen, is anxious to get the season started. “I’m very excited for Pomona. We’ve made a lot of test runs, and we’ve really gelled as a team.  Of course, the addition of Del [Worsham] as Crew Chief has been a huge asset to us as well. Pomona always sets the tone for the year and I can’t wait to go out there and show everyone what we’ve got. The first race is always great because everyone starts off on equal footing and our team is very optimistic about the way the season should pan out,” said the Tequila Patrόn-sponsored Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car driver.

The Patrόn team made at least twenty-five test runs during two week-long test sessions in West Palm Beach, FL during the winter break with new crew chief, 2011 World Champion, Del Worsham. Both Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car teams had the unique opportunity to test out a brand-new Toyota Camry body during the offseason. The team has spent so much time testing and preparing that they haven’t even had enough time to paint the new body, so Team Patrόn will have to debut the car with just vinyl stickers in Pomona. So far, they have found great success with the new body, accomplishing one of their primary goals, which was to get down in the 4.0’s (seconds). Of the new body, DeJoria says “the vision is always very good in the Toyota cars, but the vision in this car is even better. Plus, this body is worth at least three more mph, and definitely some more down force. Everyone at Toyota, from the engineers to Alan Johnson, made a great piece and we’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to use it.”

The crew has been working around the clock getting the car ready for Pomona- digesting everything they’ve learned from testing. In sticking with the 2011 strategy, Del, Jon Oberhofer and Nicky Boninfante are working together to set both Alexis’ and Jeff Arend’s cars to be mechanically as similar as possible, with the biggest difference being the body (Arend is using his 2011 Toyota body).

“We should see some good numbers in Pomona,” said Jim Oberhofer, Vice President of Kalitta Motorsports. “The car looked really good in West Palm, but should look even better in Pomona. The starting line will be better and the track is usually very good there. Because of the difference in altitude, the motor will react a little differently than it did in Florida, but we’ll take what we learned there and apply it to Pomona, and make the adjustments from there. Once Del gets this car tuned in and perfect, we should see some really impressive numbers.”

While so much has been made in the pre-season about Alexis being a top candidate for the coveted Auto Club Road to the Future Award (aka Rookie of the Year), the Kalitta Motorsports driver is determined to not let any of that get into her head. “I just want to go out there and do what I do best- drive. I’m very happy for Courtney [Force] and excited for Blake[Alexander] and Todd [Lesenko]. I’m a very competitive person by nature, so while I welcome the friendly rivalry, I’m not going to focus too much on it. I’ve been preparing for this season for a very long time and I know I’m ready for it- not just against the other rookie drivers, but in this class in general. There are a lot of really good Funny Car teams that are gunning for the trophy and I’m happy to be one of them this year.”

Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrόn Toyota Camry Funny Car team will compete at the 2012 season opener this weekend at the 52nd Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, February 9th-12th. Qualifying begins at 1:30PM on Thursday, Feb. 9th.

Grubnic Ready to Charge Into 2012 NHRA Season with New Optima Batteries Top Fueler

(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.

Arend Set to Deliver More Wins Coming Off Best Season Ever

(Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

Native Canadian Jeff Arend, driver of the 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, completed the best season of his steering wheel-wrangling career last November at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.). This weekend, Feb. 9-12, he and the DHL “Yella Fellas” Funny Car team return to the historic race track for the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in hopes of carrying their successful momentum into the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Arend posted the best championship points finish of his career last year by finishing in eighth place in Full Throttle Funny Car points. He also earned a berth in the ultra-exclusive NHRA “playoffs”, the Countdown to the Championship, for the first time. The “flopper” veteran thinks No. 8 is great but he’s hoping for something in an even smaller size at the end of this season.

“It was very cool to put those No. 8 decals on our DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for this season,” Arend, a 49-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “We had been competing under my competition license number (170) for the past couple of years, so we were very happy to switch those out after our first top ten finish.

“I think we have all of the puzzle pieces in place to be competitive enough to win at every event this year. I know everyone on our DHL team is really looking forward to getting out there and improving on what we did last year. Sure, finishing in eighth was awesome, but now we have our goals set even higher. I think we’ll have at least a top five Funny Car this year. We’re going to be right near the top of the pack all year and hopefully have a shot at the championship in November.

“It’s always a blast racing in Pomona. I live about five minutes away from the racetrack so it is right in my backyard. We always have a lot of friends and family come out to the track with us at Auto Club Raceway and cheer on the DHL Funny Car team. Hopefully we can hoist a Winternationals trophy for them all at the end of the weekend.”

Arend has posted three wins in eight final-round appearances in his 18-year Funny Car career. He took over the controls of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Kalitta Motorsports at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in 2008 after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta in a racing accident in June of that year