This weekend Jeff Arend, driver of the bright yellow, nitro-fueled, 8,000-horsepower DHL Toyota
Solara Funny Car, will revisit the site of his fondest drag racing memory in Reading, Pa., at the
annual running of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
In 1996, Arend went to the Funny Car winner's circle for the first time in his career at Maple
Grove. He is hopeful that he and his DHL team can make a repeat performance this year in Reading.
"It's hard to believe it's been 13 years," Arend, a 46-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif.,
said. "I still remember it like it was yesterday. It would be awesome if our DHL team could make
that magic happen again this weekend. I'm sure we'll do everything we can to make it happen."
Arend, a native Canadian, has 24 round-wins in his career. He is married to Windy, and they have a
daughter, Jenna, 9.
Native Australian Dave Grubnic, driver of the DHL-branded Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragster,
will race with Reading's rail contingent this weekend.
Grubnic, a 46-year old resident of Ennis, Mont., has two NHRA national event wins in 14 final round
appearances in his 14-year Top Fuel career. In May, 2005, he became the first racer born outside of
North America to win an NHRA Top Fuel event.
Grubnic's 8,000-horspower dragster will serve as a testing vehicle for the team, and will also
participate in the event following the event in Reading in Indianapolis.
Event Schedule
The Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals begin Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying
sessions at 4:00 p.m. (ET) and 7:00 p.m. and again on Saturday at noon and 3:00 p.m. The top 16
qualified cars in each pro class will race Sunday in final eliminations beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Times and dates subject to change.
The Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals is the 17th of 24 national events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series.
ESPN2 TV Schedule
8/23 - Qualifying: 1:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m. (ET)
8/23 - Repeat Qualifying: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
8/23 - Eliminations: 10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
8/26 - Repeat Eliminations: 3:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.
Times and dates subject to change.
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. In 2009, Kalitta Motorsports
is celebrating 50 years of drag racing by team owner and drag racing legend Connie "the Bounty
Hunter" Kalitta. Over the past 50 years, Connie, who has been involved in the sport as a driver,
tuner, and as an owner, has dedicated unequalled amounts of time and resources to building one of
the most successful teams in the history of auto racing. Kalitta Motorsports has won five world
championships and over 50 national event titles in five different drag racing sanctioning bodies
since it was established by Connie in 1959.
Jeff Arend drives the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car for the team while Connie's nephew, Doug Kalitta,
drives the No. 50 Top Fuel dragster entry. Connie serves as head tuner for both Team Kalitta
entries. He is assisted by crew chief Jim Oberhofer and assistant crew chief Troy Fasching on
Doug's Top Fueler and by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Funny Car.
Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports' race cars include Red Line Oil, Summit Racing Equipment,
Technicoat Companies, Rocky Boots, Toyota, and Mac Tools.
For more info about Kalitta Motorsports, please visit http://www.teamkalitta.com
Follow Team Kalitta on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TeamKalitta
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kalitta
