"To say I'm excited about the opportunity to compete again would be an understatement," said Kalivoda. "I can't thank Forrest Lucas and everyone at Lucas Oil enough for making this possible."

"We are excited to have Brady as part of our team," said Shaunna Gilmore, Director of Marketing for Lucas Oil Products. "He is a hometown favorite in Seattle and we know he will represent Lucas Oil well. We are trying to increase awareness of our product in the Northwest and with our partnership with Brady and NHRA we will be able to accomplish that."

The newest addition to the Lucas racing family and pilot of the Lucas Oil / NitroFish.com Top Fuel Dragster, Kalivoda has an extensive history with NHRA drag racing. At the age of 21, Kalivoda won the first event he ever competed in on the Northwest Nostalgia Top Eliminator Circuit. Kalivoda continued competing for three years before focusing his energy on school. After graduating magna cum laude from Central Washington University, Kalivoda joined the NHRA circuit full-time by becoming a crew member.

In July of 2001, Kalivoda made his professional driving debut in front of his hometown crowd at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle. By the end of the season, Kalivoda had competed in seven NHRA National events and improved his career elapsed time to 4.67-seconds and top speed to 316 miles per hour.

Kalivoda returned in 2002 to Pacific Raceways for the Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals and posted a quarter-final finish and his first professional national event round win. Kalivoda was then invited to compete as the American representative at the 17th annual NitrOlympics in Hockenheim, Germany. Racing against other Top Fuel drivers from Great Britain, Norway and Germany, Kalivoda posted a semi-final finish and earned the bronze medal.

"Lucas Oil have been great supporters of mine for a while and I had the chance to meet and really get to know a lot of the Lucas Oil staff at last year's Seattle event, which they sponsored" said Kalivoda. "I was hoping it was just the beginning of a great relationship and it was. By helping me put this program together for this year's race, Lucas has gone above and beyond in demonstrating their belief in my efforts. The best way for me to show my appreciation is to go out there and do the best job I can for them and I'm looking forward to making them, and all of my sponsors, proud."

Kalivoda will have additional support from NitroFish.com, Mac Tools, Cruzin' Magazine, and 1320 Diecast for the event.

For more information on Lucas Oil Products, logon to www.LucasOil.com.

Courtesy of Shaunna Gilmore