[coverattach=2]Hillary Will has achieved what she and team Kalitta set out to do as Fuchs presented the Shannons USA Top Fuel Showdown – and that was to bring the Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy back home to the USA with them.
After an event filled with scorching heat producing a pea-soup racetrack (particularly past the half-track transition), a dreadful crash involving former ANDRA Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan and rain delays due to those infamous Sydney Summer storms, the inaugural Scott Kalitta Trophy tilt has finally been completed, albeit a day late as Will drove all the way to victory in the final against Aussie Battler Terry Sainty in his Skips Fire Service entry.
"This means so much to me and this team," Will, who has now claimed Top Fuel titles in three different sanctioning bodies (ANDRA, NHRA, and IHRA), said. "To get this trophy and take it back to the States is such an honour for us after such a difficult weekend, but I always had faith in my team with Jim Oberhofer making the changes we needed to get down the track for the win.”
With the track temperatures often exceeding 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees C) – getting 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragsters to run all the way down ‘broadway’, was always going to be a tough task!
“No doubt the track conditions were tough because it was very hot out there, but Jim Read and his track staff do a great job and this Western Sydney track is great and the fans have been amazing.”
The main drive for Will and the entire Kalitta team however, was always snaring that SK Trophy and cuddling it all the way back across the Pacific to show the rest of the Kalitta clan stateside.
“Scott was my mentor, and he was like a brother to me and I did my first test laps in Top Fuel driving one of his cars. We miss him so much, but we are so happy to win this trophy for Connie, Doug, Scott's wife Kathy, and his boys, Corey and Colin and the entire Kalitta family."
Team Kalitta Crew Chief Jim Oberhofer was also relieved in finally being able to secure that win in the final.
“We have had problems all weekend, but Hillary Will drove a great race, we all see a lot of Scott Kalitta in the way she drives and Scott was a bad-ass driver,” Oberhofer beamed. “To be able to take this trophy back to the Kalitta family is what it is all about.”
Looking back at the issues and curve-balls flung at the Kalitta team at this event, it was almost as if ‘SK’ was having the last say in proceedings!
From losing their data and tune-up logging computer systems on arrival, to massive backfiring of the engine during first engine warmups due to a magneto misalignment, then to struggling to a get a grip on a very greasy racetrack before the delayed saga of yet another rain delay before the Top Fuel final, all seemed to show Scott Kalitta was somehow, someway having his say in all the festivities!
However SK would have been proud of Will in the final, after a brilliant driving effort against Sainty where she struck through for a tough-earned 4.743 second pass in the final, using a fair width of the racetrack in the process in a steely, determined effort.
Amazingly, Terry Sainty had almost entered the final match-up against the NHRA star as favorite, with his machine regularly running bang-on five second passes, against his more high horsepower rivals who were frequently hazing the tyres early on a greasy, hot racetrack.
Another low ‘5’ was not enough for Sainty, and Will parcelled the ANDRA Championship round and most importantly of all – the Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy.
In ANDRA Top Alcohol, Debbie Reed has laid genuine claim for the Championship chase with a dominant performance in her Reed Transport Dragster, in dispatching newcomer Rick Gauci in his impressive Funny Car in the final.
Reed was a bracket car at this event, consistently running high 5.6 second passes en route to her second ANDRA Top Alcohol round win – both achieved in Sydney.
“We have been discussing a transition to a new Funny Car,” explained Reed, “however the Dragster is running so nicely right now, we might just stick with it for a while yet.”
In the high-tech antics of Super Compact it was an all-in PAC Performance showdown – with George Marcevski defeating Robert Stanbury, despite having the smaller 13B Rotary, compared to Stanbury’s 20B.
Andrew ‘Rocky’ Hodgson showed awesome form in Supercharged Outlaws, with an incredible vein of consistency around the 6.66 mark all weekend before beating current Rocket Allstars Champion John Ward who once again, caught a red-light in a final.
Brooke Chin defeated Simone Paine in an all-girl final of Junior Dragster – a bracket that amazingly presented with 14 lady racers who accepted the starter for first round of eliminations!
Richard Welch delivered a killer run, right on his nominated handicap in the Jayco entry producing a popular win in defeating the Harley of Darren Shepherd.
Michael Van Ryn beat Joe Zammit in a tight Super Street final.
Brett McNiff nipped past Steve Fowler in the final of Super Sedan, after Fowler handed it away after breaking out in the matchup.
Greg Smith and Andrew Musgrave went at it in Modified – with Smith the victor.
Eric Goudswaard from Victoria overcame fellow Victorian and regular category standout Chris Soldatos in his naturally aspirated Altered in the final of Super Comp, helped in no small part by a far superior reaction time off the startline by the eventual winner.
Super Gas was tight and tough all weekend, and Rocket Allstars Champ Joe Catanzariti was able to put away veteran John Somoracz in an extremely tight final race.
The next major ANDRA Championship Drag Racing event at Western Sydney Dragway is the Wynns Spitfire Summernationals featuring all Group 1 categories and a round of the Rocket Allstars Series on February 13-15.
After an event filled with scorching heat producing a pea-soup racetrack (particularly past the half-track transition), a dreadful crash involving former ANDRA Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan and rain delays due to those infamous Sydney Summer storms, the inaugural Scott Kalitta Trophy tilt has finally been completed, albeit a day late as Will drove all the way to victory in the final against Aussie Battler Terry Sainty in his Skips Fire Service entry.
"This means so much to me and this team," Will, who has now claimed Top Fuel titles in three different sanctioning bodies (ANDRA, NHRA, and IHRA), said. "To get this trophy and take it back to the States is such an honour for us after such a difficult weekend, but I always had faith in my team with Jim Oberhofer making the changes we needed to get down the track for the win.”
With the track temperatures often exceeding 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees C) – getting 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragsters to run all the way down ‘broadway’, was always going to be a tough task!
“No doubt the track conditions were tough because it was very hot out there, but Jim Read and his track staff do a great job and this Western Sydney track is great and the fans have been amazing.”
The main drive for Will and the entire Kalitta team however, was always snaring that SK Trophy and cuddling it all the way back across the Pacific to show the rest of the Kalitta clan stateside.
“Scott was my mentor, and he was like a brother to me and I did my first test laps in Top Fuel driving one of his cars. We miss him so much, but we are so happy to win this trophy for Connie, Doug, Scott's wife Kathy, and his boys, Corey and Colin and the entire Kalitta family."
Team Kalitta Crew Chief Jim Oberhofer was also relieved in finally being able to secure that win in the final.
“We have had problems all weekend, but Hillary Will drove a great race, we all see a lot of Scott Kalitta in the way she drives and Scott was a bad-ass driver,” Oberhofer beamed. “To be able to take this trophy back to the Kalitta family is what it is all about.”
Looking back at the issues and curve-balls flung at the Kalitta team at this event, it was almost as if ‘SK’ was having the last say in proceedings!
From losing their data and tune-up logging computer systems on arrival, to massive backfiring of the engine during first engine warmups due to a magneto misalignment, then to struggling to a get a grip on a very greasy racetrack before the delayed saga of yet another rain delay before the Top Fuel final, all seemed to show Scott Kalitta was somehow, someway having his say in all the festivities!
However SK would have been proud of Will in the final, after a brilliant driving effort against Sainty where she struck through for a tough-earned 4.743 second pass in the final, using a fair width of the racetrack in the process in a steely, determined effort.
Amazingly, Terry Sainty had almost entered the final match-up against the NHRA star as favorite, with his machine regularly running bang-on five second passes, against his more high horsepower rivals who were frequently hazing the tyres early on a greasy, hot racetrack.
Another low ‘5’ was not enough for Sainty, and Will parcelled the ANDRA Championship round and most importantly of all – the Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy.
In ANDRA Top Alcohol, Debbie Reed has laid genuine claim for the Championship chase with a dominant performance in her Reed Transport Dragster, in dispatching newcomer Rick Gauci in his impressive Funny Car in the final.
Reed was a bracket car at this event, consistently running high 5.6 second passes en route to her second ANDRA Top Alcohol round win – both achieved in Sydney.
“We have been discussing a transition to a new Funny Car,” explained Reed, “however the Dragster is running so nicely right now, we might just stick with it for a while yet.”
In the high-tech antics of Super Compact it was an all-in PAC Performance showdown – with George Marcevski defeating Robert Stanbury, despite having the smaller 13B Rotary, compared to Stanbury’s 20B.
Andrew ‘Rocky’ Hodgson showed awesome form in Supercharged Outlaws, with an incredible vein of consistency around the 6.66 mark all weekend before beating current Rocket Allstars Champion John Ward who once again, caught a red-light in a final.
Brooke Chin defeated Simone Paine in an all-girl final of Junior Dragster – a bracket that amazingly presented with 14 lady racers who accepted the starter for first round of eliminations!
Richard Welch delivered a killer run, right on his nominated handicap in the Jayco entry producing a popular win in defeating the Harley of Darren Shepherd.
Michael Van Ryn beat Joe Zammit in a tight Super Street final.
Brett McNiff nipped past Steve Fowler in the final of Super Sedan, after Fowler handed it away after breaking out in the matchup.
Greg Smith and Andrew Musgrave went at it in Modified – with Smith the victor.
Eric Goudswaard from Victoria overcame fellow Victorian and regular category standout Chris Soldatos in his naturally aspirated Altered in the final of Super Comp, helped in no small part by a far superior reaction time off the startline by the eventual winner.
Super Gas was tight and tough all weekend, and Rocket Allstars Champ Joe Catanzariti was able to put away veteran John Somoracz in an extremely tight final race.
The next major ANDRA Championship Drag Racing event at Western Sydney Dragway is the Wynns Spitfire Summernationals featuring all Group 1 categories and a round of the Rocket Allstars Series on February 13-15.
