Hi all you Kalitta Motorsports fans! Jeff Arend here. Todd Myers asked me to join the “blog team”, so here we go.

I am very honored to have been chosen to drive the DHL Funny Car, but let me make one thing perfectly clear - If it were possible to turn back time to that fateful day and we could reverse what happened to Scott, I would have been quite content to keep playing golf every weekend and the old firesuit could have stayed hung up in the closet. That being said, we are all going to do our best to carry on in Scott’s honor.

Back in the late ‘80s when I was just bracket racing at my two local tracks, I always dreamt about driving a Nitro Funny Car. I had ordered one of those Diamond P videos called Fabulous Floppers and in it was a short clip of Scott warming up his car. I still clearly remember him whacking the throttle a couple of times and the car nearly jumping off the jack stands! Both Scott and the car looked so “bad ass,” like they were meant for each other. I am sure that if they ever start to put pictures in a dictionary and you could look up “Nitro Funny Car driver”, a picture of Scott Kalitta would be right next to it. Scott and John Force were probably the two drivers that I looked up to most when I was younger and to think that I will now be driving for the Kalitta family is kind of unbelievable.

Over the past weekend I flew back to the shop in Michigan to get fitted for the car. Let me tell you that I have been to quite a few racecar shops in my life and the Kalitta organization is first rate. I don’t know if I have ever seen so many racecars, parts and machinery all in one place and it’s all spotless. I got to meet and talk to quite a few of the guys and girls over the last week or so and everybody involved with Team Kalitta has been very nice and accommodating. My new crew chief, Glenn Mikres and I, even got to spend a little bonding time Saturday night. I have known Glenn for over 13 years and the first time I met him, we ended up playing pool. Low and behold that’s what we ended up doing until the early hours Saturday night. We both had a great time and some very close games. Don’t ask him who won the majority of them though, as I want him in a good mood come Indy!

It’s also going to be great to have three new teammates to root for. I don’t know any of them really well, but my daughter is a HUGE Hillary Will fan! (BTW…thanks for the kind mention in your last blog). I actually worked for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School back when Doug came through to get his Alcohol Dragster license. Even though he had never driven a drag car, you could tell he was a natural and he has gone on to have a very accomplished career as a Top Fuel driver. Dave, like me, has had more of a “journeyman” career. He has driven for many different teams, worked on the cars himself and put in the endless time and effort that it seems to take to get to the level that he is at today.

I probably have not spoken more than a handful of words to Connie in my life. He is truly a legend in the sport and I look forward to working along side with him, Glenn and everyone else on the team. I also look forward to hearing some of those famous “Kalitta stories” firsthand!

It seems that the emotions of everybody I have talked to with this team are changing. There was a definite sense of sadness when we first began to communicate a few weeks ago. Now, even though the sadness is still there, the anticipation of getting back out there to race and carry on Scott’s legacy is getting stronger. I am sure that from our first pass at Indy, to the first time that we qualify, to the first time that we win a round, will bring us all closer emotionally to where we want to be, and to where Scott expects us to be.

Godspeed Scott, we all miss you.