This will be Fuller's third appearance driving for a Cat dealer on the NHRA tour this season. Fuller previously drove the Patten Cat dragster at the NHRA national event in Joliet, IL, and the Michigan Cat dragster in Norwalk, OH. Fuller's thoughts on returning to the U.S. Nationals exude confidence. "Those yellow and black Cat dealer colors just seem to make a race car fast. We've qualified in the top half of the field at our other races this year, and in each case also recorded either the second or third highest mile-per-hour in Top Fuel. There is no question that we can make the speed and elapsed times necessary to win the biggest race of the year. I would like nothing more than to bring home the trophy for MacAllister Cat, its employees, and customers, as well as all of the Caterpillar employees from surrounding production plants and offices in Indiana and Illinois."

MacAllister Machinery Co., the Indiana Cat dealer, will have a display in the Nitro Alley fan midway for customers to come by and see Cat equipment as well as Exmark mowers and Kubota tractors. Vice President of Operations for MacAllister Machinery, Doug Clark said "We've really enjoyed our association with Hot Rod Fuller the past several years and look forward to another exciting U.S. Nationals. The NHRA presents such a great environment for our existing customers as well as new prospects that we can reach through all of our product lines. We are proud to be one of the Cat dealers that continues to support the team, and we wish them great success in Indy."

Vandergriff Motorsports team owner and manager, Bob Vandergriff Jr., added "MacAllister Cat's participation with our team at Indy is a great fit all of the way around. As a perfect example, one of our associate sponsors, Speedco, purchases a large quantity of Cat Filters from MacAllister Cat for thousands of over the road trucks they service with Cat engines. Anytime we have an event that brings two sponsors and business partners together it adds great value to the experience."

Fuller will have a busy week leading up to the U.S. Nationals, including a popular visit to the MacAllister dealership headquarters a few days before the race to sign autographs for employees and customers. Following that, he will be making qualifying runs in the MacAllister Cat Top Fuel dragster on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Labor Day weekend, with race day eliminations on Monday.

Courtesy of Ryan Haas