Championship Drag Racing

Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals
Sonoma, Calif.
(July 30-Aug. 1)

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David Baca The Spoiler Top Fueler

Reports: Saturday Pre-race

Sonoma, Sunday: Final eliminations for the NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals got underway today at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

In the opening round, David Baca, driver of the independent D. Baca & Family dragster, squared off against Brady Kalivoda. It was the first career meeting between the two drivers.

Baca overcame Kalivoda's starting line advantage and won the first round going away. It was a 4.613-second pass for Baca and a 4.841 for Kalivoda.

With the sun making its first appearance of the day, in the quarterfinals Baca was in the lane opposite David Grubnic. It was a side-by-side race until problems beset Baca. After Baca's dragster gave up the ghost with a flash of fire and tire smoke, Grubnic streaked to the finish line in 4.578 seconds. Baca could only watch and coasted to the end in 6.096 seconds.

It marked the second consecutive week that Baca has advanced to the quarterfinals. After sitting out four races to attend to business commitments and regroup his racing operation, David Baca, from Brentwood, Calif., rejoined the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series at last weekend's NHRA CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals in Seattle.

"We're just finding our way here," said Baca. "We've made great progress the last couple of week since returning. We need to get some more volume (fuel) in this D. Baca & Family dragster. If we can make more power we can pull the clutch. Bottom line, we didn't have enough beans (power) in that last round."

Sonoma, Saturday: David Baca's home track of Infineon Raceway, the site of this weekend's NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals, is also the site of several first for the Brentwood, Calif., driver.

Driving a Top Alcohol Funny Car, Baca advanced to his first final round in 1988 at Infineon. One year later, again at the Sonoma track, he took that one additional step winning the TAFC title. Infineon was becoming a special place to race for Baca, who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After turning professional in 2002, Baca returned to Infineon in 2003 with his Top Fuel dragster and, as if scripted, advanced to the final round before being denied the top spot by Larry Dixon. The "Hollywood" script would now call for him and the D. Baca & Family Dragster to take all the marbles this year.

"Infineon Raceway is a special place for me. I would love to go all the way this year," said Baca. "We always have so many friends, family, company clients and fans here; it makes me want to do well. But Top Fuel is not easy. There are so many teams out here that are well financed that it is difficult to advanced for an independent team like D. Baca & Family.

"That doesn't mean that we aren't going to try and that doesn't mean that we can't win. If we are to win, we must do everything right each and every time down the track. And, oh yes, we must have a lot of luck."

In the fourth and final qualifying session, Baca clicked the Infineon Raceway finish line clocks in 4.669 seconds, the second quickest run of the final session, which places the D. Baca & Family Dragster No. 7 on the qualifying sheet for tomorrow's eliminations. Baca will square off against Brady Kalivoda in the opening round. Kalivoda qualified No. 10 with a run of 4.719 seconds at 312.13.

"I knew yesterday we had a good hot rod," said Baca following qualifying. "That last pass was especially satisfying since the sun was out and the track was hot. Crew chief Rick Henkelman had this hot rod ready to run. I think we're ready for tomorrow and would like nothing more than to take my first win right here at Infineon Raceway."

Sonoma, pre-race: It's back to business as usual for David Baca, who drives the independent family dragster known as the D. Baca & Family Dragster, as he gets ready for this weekend's NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals at his home track, Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, Calif.

After sitting out four races to attend to business commitments and regroup his racing operation, David Baca, from Brentwood, Calif., rejoined the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series at last weekend's NHRA CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals in Seattle.

The team qualified No. 10 and advanced to the second round at that event. Living up to his new moniker, "the Spoiler", Baca turned back Brandon Bernstein in the opening round.

All-in-all the race was a successful outing for the Northern California business and drag racer. As a result of his showing in Seattle, Baca has already jumped one position in the NHRA POWERade point standings and enters the FRAM Autolite Nationals in 12th position. He has 424 points, only 14 points behind 11th and 119 out of the top ten.

Baca, runner-up at last year's FRAM Autolite Nationals, will compete in four of the remaining nine events left on this year's NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. In addition to Sonoma, the D. Baca & Family team will also compete at Indy, Las Vegas and the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, Calif.