NHRA News: Grubnic to drive third Kalitta dragster (1/6/2004)

Grubnic to drive third Kalitta dragster

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
1/6/2004

"My No. 1 goal will be to help this team win back the championship."
– Dave Grubnic

Drag racing icon Connie "the Bounty Hunter" Kalitta has upped the ante for the 2004 Top Fuel championship chase by adding a third dragster to his already formidable race team. The third car will be driven by nine-year veteran Dave Grubnic of Brisbane, Australia, and will be tuned by Kalitta with assistance from Jon Oberhofer, the brother of fellow Kalitta Motorsports crew chief Jim Oberhofer.

Initial funding for the third car, which is being described as a test vehicle, will come primarily from Kalitta himself while the group continues its search for a primary backer. Longtime Kalitta Motorsports sponsors Mac Tools, Red Line Oil, Fischer Honda, Champion, and Technicoat will appear on Grubnic's car as associates.

"To say I'm extremely happy would be an understatement," the 41-year-old Grubnic said. "I am fully stoked. I've been at this drag racing game 13 years at this point. I've been in the states a long time chasing this dream. To finally land with a team I have such enormous respect for and to be getting the seat in a car that should be as good as any car out there is a fantastic opportunity no matter my role with the team."

Grubnic performed well for Bill Miller in 2003,
racing at 15 national events.
Racers Edge Photography

Kalitta, who will oversee and help tune all three of his dragsters in 2004, had both his nephew Doug and his son Scott running at the top of the charts towards the end of the 2003 campaign. Doug owns the quickest pass in history with a 4.428-second clocking and Scott has the fastest dragster in the world with a top speed of 333.95 mph.

"This is a really exciting time for our race team," said Jim Oberhofer, who tunes Scott's car and wears the hat of team manager. "The addition of a third Top Fuel team will benefit all of our racecars. David Grubnic is a great driver and a fan favorite. His skills and experience will be invaluable to our entire organization.

"This will provide us with a great opportunity to try different things in race conditions that can be shared with our Mac Tools and Jesse James/Mac Tools teams. All three dragsters will be capable of winning NHRA national events. Obviously, that gives Kalitta Motorsports better odds at every race."

Grubnic, who has piloted the cars of Phil and Chris McGee, Bill Blomgren, John Mitchell, and Bill Miller, knows his past experience helped him get this job. "I want to be very clear – I am not taking away a thing from the teams I've driven for in the past," he said. "If not for each and every one of those people I never would have had this chance in the first place so I'll always be in debt to them. But to be moving to a car that will instantly be a player in the class is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

"I've always raced with teams that did the absolute best they could given the resources they had and I'm appreciative and proud of what we've accomplished in the past. Now it's time to step up to the big-time.

Grubnic's new teammate Scott Kalitta recorded a 333.95-mph blast in October at the Texas Motorplex.
Racers Edge Photography

"It's up to the team how they use me. I'm certainly game for anything. I already know in my mind that my No. 1 goal will be to help this team and all their sponsors win back the championship. Connie is a great bud and he's given me this unbelievable chance and the best way I can think of to pay him back is to work as hard as I ever have before to help them achieve their goals of a POWERade championship."

Grubnic has raced in 120 national events over the years. He has two runner-up finishes to his credit, both with John Mitchell Racing, and was the No. 1 qualifier at the 1999 Memphis event. Perhaps his most remarkable statistic thus far is the low number of times he has failed to qualify, 14, despite the fact he's only run the full tour one time.

"You spend your time out here and you learn so much over the years," Grubnic said. "That's why I say I'm so grateful to the teams and owners I've driven for in the past. It's funny because fans always ask you about the adrenaline rush or what it's like to go so fast, and when you're first out here it's definitely all about that. But over time things start to slow down for you and the pressure shifts to performance.

"I have always tried to do my best and conduct myself like a professional. There's a lot to do in these cars and you don't learn it overnight. You have to experience the car almost tipping over to know what it feels like. You have to learn how to pedal or how to keep it from over-revving. I've certainly had my share of screw-ups but I think it's the 100-percent effort I put into driving that ultimately got Connie's attention. It's an honor, a big honor, that he thought of me for this ride."

Grubnic's other teammate, Doug Kalitta, has the quickest dragster of all-time after a 4.428-second pass.
Racers Edge Photography

A pioneer in the sport, Connie Kalitta has been racing since the NHRA's inception in 1951. As a driver, he raced to 10 wins in 22 final-round appearances in the days when there were only a handful of national events per year. As a crew chief, Kalitta has five championships to his credit, including fellow legend Shirley Muldowney's first title in 1977, his son Scott's back-to-back championships in 1994-95, and a pair of IHRA crowns won in 1979 and 1982.

"We have wanted to do this for awhile but the timing was right for 2004 so we did it," Connie said of his decision to hire Grubnic and add a third car. "I have watched David for quite some time and knew he was the driver I wanted for this deal. I'm happy he decided to do it. He will be a great fit on our new team."

As for Grubnic, he simply can't wait to get started. Over the past few weeks, which included a trip back to Australia, he's been nervously waiting the final word from the Kalitta camp. Now that it's arrived, he is "over the moon" with excitement.

"The word has leaked out a bit amongst my friends and even to some of the guys I've worked with in the past," Grubnic said. "And back home everyone is still doing cartwheels. I would imagine I have a couple of mates in Australia that still haven't sobered up since they heard the news. It's an exciting time."

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