Karamesines gets ‘new’ dragster
We hear that the ageless Chris Karamesines has purchased the Top Fuel car that Scotty Cannon drove occasionally in 2007.
Unlike his current ride, which doesn’t meet the current NHRA chassis specs and keeps him from running with the NHRA, the new car will allow him to run in that sanctioning body.
He is planning to have the car ready for the Gatornationals in 2009. This is the best news that Agent has received in a long time. (Jeff Burk photo) [9/24/2008]
Memphis marks 250th NHRA Top Fuel start for Kalitta
Doug Kalitta, driver of the “Big Red” Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, was first strapped into a nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower dragster in 1998. Since then, Kalitta has accumulated 30 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel event titles and 345 elimination-round wins and has finished in the top ten in POWERade championship points for 11 consecutive straight-racing seasons.
This weekend, Sept. 26-28, Kalitta will enter his landmark 250th NHRA national event at the annual running of the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.
“It’s hard to believe I’ve competed in that many events,” Kalitta, a 44-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “It never gets old, though. Every time I get in the car it’s still as exciting as it was the first lap. I still learn something new almost every time I go down the track. Top Fuel cars can be quite unpredictable at times, so you can’t ever get complacent.
“Our Mac Tools dragster has been running a lot more consistent in the past few races so we’re really optimistic about this weekend in Memphis. We need to fine-tune our engine tune-up now to get a little bit more horsepower applied to the track. If we can do that and get a little bit of luck on our side, we have a great shot at taking home another trophy from Memphis.” (DRO file photo) [9/24/2008]
Switch to supercharger pays off for Robertson
Switching from nitrous during this past off-season to a blown
Jan-Cen Hemi was a big jump for Todd Robertson and his Pro Power Motorsports team, but their patience paid off at the final meeting of the Rossler/DeCerbo Door Wars held at Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio, last weekend.
Robertson's Cobalt defeated Galena, Ohio's Scott Braskett with a 4.184 pass at 174.66 mph to Braskett's slower 4.21 at just over 174 mph. Robertson's trip to the finals wasn't a pretty one as traction problems faced many teams at this event.
"Everyone was here trying to make a killer pass for the final race of the year, but it turned out to be more of a driver's race," said Robertson's crew chief, Rocco Wilson. "Todd had to peddle the car almost every run except for the final. She went straight down that run and Todd did his job on the tree, cutting a great .035 light. This was a fantastic night for our team." (Roger Richards photo) [9/24/2008]