This weekend, Oct. 9-11, Team Kalitta returns to Virginia Motorsports Park for the annual running of the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Petersburg, Va., just a few miles from downtown Richmond, with a renewed vigor in each member of the team and in their 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled, 300+mph racing machines.

The trip to the winner's circle in Memphis was the first for Arend as a driver for Kalitta Motorsports. He took over the driving duties of the DHL Funny Car after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta in a racing accident in New Jersey last June.

Performance problems have plagued the DHL team all season, but Arend's 4.091-second, 310.41-mph posting in his final-round victory over Tony Pedregon in Memphis equates to season bests for the team, and the booming speed is the fourth fastest in NHRA's 1,000-ft. (track length) era.

"We definitely got our race car to perform like we always knew it could in Memphis," Arend, a 46-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. "We've been so close all season to getting our DHL Toyota to do what it did in Memphis, and it's really gratifying to see everyone's hard work pay off. It's like a new beginning for us."

"I see no reason why we won't be able to keep things going in Richmond this weekend. Sure, we want to go out there and prove to everyone that our performance in Memphis was not just a shot in the dark. We're all very confident we can keep up this momentum and maybe get a couple more trophies before the season ends."

Arend, a native Canadian, now has two NHRA career Funny Car victories (Reading, Pa., 1996). He is married to Windy, and they have a daughter, Jenna, 9.

Kalitta's run to the semifinals in Memphis was his first semi-final appearance since his final-round showing in Denver in July and his first trip out of the first round since the same.

"We ran some of the best and most consistent laps we've ran all year last weekend," Kalitta said. "We've just been tweaking on our Technicoat dragster all year and now we're starting to get some much better numbers out of it. There are only a few more races left this season, but everyone on our team is confident we'll get back to the winner's circle before the season is done."

Kalitta won the season-opening NHRA national event in Pomona, Calif., in February. He won the Top Fuel title trophy in Richmond in 2007.

The Richmond event is the fourth in NHRA's six-event, season-finalizing "playoffs", the Countdown to 1. Kalitta is currently in the No. 9 points position, 223 points off of the lead. By making this season's Countdown to 1, Kalitta guarantees himself another top-ten finish in championship points, a fete he has incredibly accomplished in every season of his Top Fuel driving career which began with his Rookie of the Year award-winning season in 1998.

Kalitta, a 45-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., has 31 NHRA Top Fuel event victories in his career in 58 final-round appearances. He is married to Josie, and they have a son, Mitchell, 8, and a daughter, Avery, 6.

Event Schedule
The Virginia NHRA Nationals begin Friday for the nitro-fueled classes with two qualifying sessions at 2:00 p.m. (ET) and 4:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. 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 Virginia NHRA Nationals is the 22nd of 24 national events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

ESPN2 TV Schedule

10/10/2009 - Qualifying - 11:00:00 PM - 1:00:00 AM ET
10/11/2009 - Eliminations - 7:00:00 PM - 10:00:00 PM ET
10/15/2009 - Repeat Eliminations - 2:00:00 AM - 4:00:00 AM ET

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

Courtesy of Todd Myers