Budweiser Shootout

RESULTS

Top Fuel
Qualifiers
   #1 Doug Kalitta
   #2 Larry Dixon
   #3 Tony Schumacher
   #4 Cory McClenathan
   #5 Darrell Russell
   #6 David Baca
   #7 John Smith
   #8 Doug Herbert

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Kalitta takes $100,000 holeshot win in Budweiser Shootout

11/08/2003
By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com

Doug Kalitta scored one of drag racing's biggest paychecks by capturing the title at the 19th annual Budweiser Shootout at Pomona Saturday. Kalitta earned a thrilling holeshot win over Tony Schumacher by a mere .008-second, or about two feet, to earn the $100,000 award.

The final was the quickest side-by-side races in drag racing history. Kalitta left with a .047-second reaction time to Schumacher's .063-second launch, and then held on to win with a 4.479 at 330.88 mph to Schumacher's quicker 4.471 at 329.58 mph.

"This is an unbelievable feeling," Kalitta said. "We've been working so hard to win this race again since we won it for the first time in 1998. There's some real tough competition out here. We are just fortunate to win that one. What a race. When I saw the win light come on in my lane I couldn't believe that we had pulled it off."

The annual Budweiser Shootout showcases the eight Top Fuel drivers who accumulate the most qualifying points from the previous year's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals to the following season's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. In the future, Budweiser will add a few new wrinkles to the format, including a lottery-style placement of teams and a last-gasp wild-card entry.

Kalitta raced his Mac Tools rail to his second victory in four Budweiser Shootout finals by bettering Doug Herbert, Cory McClenathan, and Schumacher. U.S. Army pro Schumacher beat David Baca and reigning POWERade champion Larry Dixon to reach his first Shootout final in five showings.

Budweiser, the official beer of NHRA, posted an overall purse of $147,000 for Saturday's event. Aside from Kalitta's top prize of $100,000, Schumacher will earn $15,000 for being the runner-up; McClenathan and Dixon each pocket $6,000 for their semifinal showings; and the four first-round finishers – Herbert, Darrell Russell, John Smith, and Baca – earn $5,000 apiece.

A total of $239,000 is available to Top Fuel drivers during the 23-race Budweiser Shootout series. Budweiser awarded $92,000 in bonuses to quick qualifiers throughout the Shootout series; the Top Fuel low qualifier received $4,000 at each NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event leading up to Saturday's race.

Kalitta's big weekend isn't over yet as he is now in line to earn an additional $50,000 from the NHRA should he win the 39th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.