NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster drivers and Australian twin sisters, Kate and Diana Harker are focused on putting their competitive attitudes forward at the upcoming MAC Tools US Nationals. The prestigious event is to be held this coming Labor Day weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park just minutes from downtown Indianapolis.

What makes this event special is the twins will be competing together in the Top Alcohol Dragster class but will be driving very different race vehicles. The Top Alcohol Dragster class allows for two types of engine combinations. Teams have a choice of a Supercharged, alcohol fueled dragster or the Fuel Injected combination powered by 96% Nitro.

Diana will be taking the wheel of the Harker Family Blown Top Alcohol Dragster that will be tuned by the twin's father, Steve and overseen by Grant Storms, a familiar crew chief of the Injected Nitro Dragster breed. Diana has been making very successful passes in the family's race vehicle and looks forward to a potential match-up with sister, Kate.

"The US Nationals is a fun race to be apart of" comments Diana "Having the opportunity to compete against Kate will be awesome. We raced each other once before in qualifying and it was a pretty even match when you start comparing reaction times to elapse times." "Kate has a lot of experience in the Injected Nitro dragster, showing that she can go rounds and drives the car to its best performance. If we get to race each other this weekend I think it will be a close race if conditions are right."

Kate on the other hand is keeping her feet planted in the Injected Nitro Dragster owned and tuned by Randy Meyer. Diana was the driver for Randy Meyer Racing in 2008, which did see Kate jump behind the wheel of the Meyer family dragster for the Dallas NHRA National event last season in which the team went to the final round of competition.

Randy Meyer Racing Injected Nitro Dragster "Should Diana and I get to compete against each other, either in qualifying or eliminations, we both know that it will be a fun race" says Kate "We both are very competitive by nature and very supportive at the same time. Diana is super consistent with her reaction times and has been showing great driving ability in her transition to the blown Alcohol Dragster, which requires more procedures in the cockpit to get the car down track. Either way I think it will be a close race if we get to compete against each other.

Another factor in play at the US Nationals is the Harker family will also contend their Top Alcohol Funny Car driven by the twin's father Steve. As you can imagine there will be a hive of activity surrounding the Harker family pits this coming weekend. Steve is the reigning Division Four Champion and finished number two in the world in the 2008 National Championship. If good strategy is in place there could be the chance for two Harker family members in the winners circle this weekend.

Steve and his twin daughters, Kate and Diana will begin qualifying for the US Nationals starting this Friday. Eliminations are scheduled to start Sunday and conclude on Monday.

http://www.harkertwins.com

NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Top Alcohol Dragster Category
Kate career best time: 5.22 seconds at 272 mph Diana career best time: 5.29 seconds at 270 mph

These Australian born twins, Kate and Diana Harker are no strangers to fast cars and reaching speeds in excess of 270mph. These Aussie beauties followed in the footsteps of their famous father, International Top Alcohol Funny Car driver, Steve Harker and joined the NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster ranks in 2007 and 2008. In their rookie seasons, both young ladies adapted well to their driving duties and have won various events at both the National and Divisional levels. The twins are the first Australian and non-resident Women to win on the NHRA series. Together they have accomplished many goals both on and off the track and have their sights set on reaching the professional ranks of the NHRA.

Kate and Diana Harker have both successfully campaigned their own business ventures in Australia having applied their education in Marketing, Management and Photography. The twins are currently on board for the 1in8 Foundation, a non-profit organization raising awareness for breast cancer.

Courtesy of KDH Racing