Kalitta drives pain away
NORWALK, Ohio — Doug Kalitta was surrounded by fans, signing autographs after arriving at Summit Motorsports Park on Friday afternoon following a short flight from Ypsilanti.
It might have looked like a normal day for him, but it wasn’t.
Dozens of fans waited in line to talk to Kalitta and offer condolences on the passing of his father, Doug Sr., who died earlier in the week at age 67 after fighting cancer for more than a year.
Kalitta, a consummate pro, was determined to take care of business. Somehow, he would put aside the flood of memories long enough to drive his “Big Red” MAC Tools’ 8,000-horsepower Top Fuel machine down the quarter-mile drag strip at 325-plus mph in 4 1/2 seconds.
“He loved racing,” Kalitta said of his father, who was known as Senior in the pit area. “He loved coming to see me race. He’d wash the parts and walk around the pit area and talk to all the guys. They all loved him.
“I’m happy to be here this weekend to get my mind off things. I just want to dedicate this race to him.”
Tony Schumacher, a three-time defending Top Fuel champion, said the race strip was where Kalitta needed to be.
Not just because he enjoys the competition — Schumacher overtook Kalitta during the final event in 2006 to win the National Hot Rod Association title by 14 points — but because Kalitta typifies what the sport is all about: family.
“You know it has to be very tough on him to get in a car like that and focus,” said Schumacher, speaking from his transporter on pit road after Saturday’s qualifying sessions. “We all knew Senior. He was a great guy. This was his coffee house.
“This is a great support group for Doug. We’re more than just competitors. We’re good friends.”
Dad gave kids his time
Doug idolized his father, racing motorcycles with him as a teenager. Senior owned a welding supply company, and Doug planned to work in the business.
But Doug’s career took a different path — to racing and to the airline business.
He worked as a crew member on his uncle’s Top Fuel team — Connie Kalitta is an iconic figure in drag racing.
Then, he changed directions, opting for sprint cars and midgets, winning the USAC Sprint Car championship in 1994 with Tony Stewart as one of his top rivals. When a Top Fuel seat opened with Connie’s team in 1998, Doug jumped at the opportunity.
Still, Doug had off-the-track aspirations, too.
He was a full-time pilot, flying for Connie’s airline company before starting Kalitta Charters earlier this decade.
Kalitta Charters has 180 employees and 24 planes, and specializes in air ambulance, cargo and executive passengers. His business has a contract with the government to bring home soldiers who die in Iraq.
But, on this weekend, Kalitta was focused on winning the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals — for Senior.
“He was a great guy,” Doug said. “I have two older sisters and he always had time for us. He loved to deer hunt and race sailboats (on Lake St. Clair).”
Senior competed in 38 Port Huron-to-Mackinac races, winning in 1976 and 1985.
Earning his own name
Kalitta, a graduate of L’Anse Creuse North High, has become a legend in his own right. He has won 29 events during his career, and finished second in points three times (2003, ’04 and ’06).
Last season, Kalitta led the points race for the final 11 events, but Schumacher capped off the greatest comeback in NHRA history by winning the final race with a 4.428-second run at 327.98 mph — the second-fastest time in series history.
This year, however, Kalitta hasn’t enjoyed the same level of success — he entered the weekend 13th in points.
But after the event, which was the 11th this season, he is 10th (the top eight drivers after 17 races contend for the title).
“I’ve been real fortunate during my career,” Kalitta said before his first qualifying run. “You have to take the good with the bad. I’m not about to get down about it.”
How racing works
Jon Oberhofer, Kalitta’s crew chief, talked about race weekend.
“It’s all about strategy,” he said. “You have to go after it during qualifying to get in ‘the show’ (race day), but you also have to save something for race day.
“You get four qualifying runs — two on Friday and another two Saturday — and you take the top run for field position on race day Sunday.”
Then, the top 16 drivers compete Sunday, starting with the first round, then quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
But there’s more to Kalitta’s run than that.
Between runs all weekend, eight crew members rebuild the engine, taking about 45 minutes to complete the task.
Kalitta then climbs in and tests the motor, to the delight of the crowd. Fans cover their ears while some enjoy the noise and throw their fists in the air when the two giant pops take place before the test is finished.
The car is soon taken to a long line to wait its turn to show its power on the dragway.
Team is family
Besides the cost of running a successful team — the annual budget is $2 million, and Oberhofer said it costs $3,000-$5,000 per run, and can be higher if there is damage to the car — the thing that sets motor sports apart from other sports is the people involved.
Not only is it family, but it’s family that includes all walks of life — college graduates, high schoolers, friends.
The four-car Kalitta team — Scott Kalitta competes in the Funny Car division — has 45-50 members. Among them:
Clayton Musser is in charge of cylinder heads. He’s also one of the drivers who takes the large transporters — with cars and parts — from event to event.
Phil Gutierrez, another crew member, has a mechanical engineering degree from Detroit-Mercy, but decided to trade in his suit and tie to get dirty and see the country.
John Paul Gutierrez, Phil’s brother, is a senior at Detroit Catholic Central, and a crew member of Jack Ostrander’s team in the International Hot Rod Association that runs at Milan Dragway.
Matt Korol, 26, was working in the tire and battery department at Sam’s Club in Fargo, N.D., when he got a call in April for a two-race tryout. Korol hopped on a bus and was in Ypsilanti the next day. He passed the tryout and is now an assistant clutch specialist.
“I’ve already been to more states this year than I had my whole life,” Korol said. “This is like living a dream. And the guys are great. They’ll teach me anything I want to learn about.”
The characters
MAC Tools is the primary sponsor of Doug’s car, with Technicoat Companies, Summit Racing Equipment, Toyota and Red Line Oil the associate sponsors. Fischer Honda of Ypsilanti is another sponsor.
“I’m a working sponsor, and these guys are celebrity sponsors,” said Rick Fischer, owner of Fischer Honda.
Fischer could double as a standup comic during race weekend. He helps out on Doug Kalitta’s team and said spending time with them is like “being at a baseball fantasy camp 23 times a year.”
Bob Coffman and Glen Williams, both of Technicoat Companies, are known around the track as “the Cowboys” — they wear cowboy hats and boots. They have been best friends since age 8, growing up in Southern California. They are now business partners; Technicoat specializes in waterproofing, roofing and flooring of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas.
“The Cowboys” were drivers in drag boat racing until losing several friends in accidents. They decided to become a sponsor when Fischer introduced them to Jim Oberhofer nearly seven years ago.
“Racing’s in our blood,” Williams said. “Our goal is to own a team and let them (Kalitta) run it.”
Overcoming trouble
Kalitta’s “Big Red” machine has a fuel problem before the first qualifying run Friday.
The problem? A piece of steel the size of a pencil eraser.
“This was our problem,” Jon Oberhofer said. “That was the source of aggravation for us. Now, we’re ready to go.”
Kalitta runs a 4.618 time in 320.13 mph, 10th best in the session. His first run of the weekend ultimately will be his best, getting him in “the show” at the 13th position.
In the evening session Friday, a $10 part fails. During Saturday’s two runs, Kalitta is too aggressive and “Big Red” has trouble getting down the track.
Jon Oberhofer has the data from the runs in the computer, and also places the information in notebooks to chart the progress.
Dick LaHaie, hired as a consultant, gives his opinions to Jon Oberhofer.
“We’re going to work on the ignition timing for race day,” Jon Oberhofer said.
Great until semifinals
It’s early Sunday morning, and the first run gets under way. Kalitta has a monumental task of facing Larry Dixon, who has won the previous two events and is second in points.
Kalitta tops Dixon with a run of 4.586 at 325.5 mph. Oberhofer and his crew made the right calls and their driver worked his magic.
“It was tuned up great,” Kalitta said. “It’s really good conditions this morning.”
The crew gets 75 minutes between rounds. It’s close to 1:30 p.m., and Kalitta takes on Bob Vandergriff Jr., who sits eighth in points. Kalitta has another solid run and moves to his first semifinal appearance this year with a time of 4.601 at 322.11 mph.
But his goal of winning for Senior falls short when points leader Rod Fuller gets the best of him in the semifinals. Still, Kalitta knows the ship is now steered in the right direction for the stretch run.
“He’s an awesome driver,” Connie said of Doug. “I’m proud of him. We knew (Senior’s passing) was coming. There’s never a good time.”
Added Doug: “We were definitely in contention for the win and that’s all we try to do. We didn’t get that win for Dad, but we’ll save that for next time.”
Doug walked away, knowing Senior was smiling down on him for a job well done.