OPTIMA Batteries-Backed Kalitta Team Shows Strength In Pomona

It was quite an opening weekend to begin the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season for the OPTIMA Batteries-sponsored Kalitta Motorsports team of Top Fuel drivers Doug Kalitta and David Grubnic and Funny Car car pilots Alexis DeJoria and Del Worsham at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

Kalitta, the nephew of team owner Connie Kalitta, rocketed to the head of the Top Fuel qualifying sheet in the final session on Saturday afternoon, improving on his third-best 3.73 from earlier in qualifying to a 3.713 at 327.98 MPH to lead the field into eliminations and begin his season a high note. Meanwhile, Grubnic, in the OPTIMA-backed dragster, made the ultra-quick field in the No. 13 spot with a 3.830 best.

Both drivers advanced out of the first round, but while Grubnic dropped his second round matchup, Kalitta marched all the way to the final, parlaying his top-qualifying effort into low elapsed time of every round but the final, when his dragster smoked the tires and he could only watch Khalid alBalooshi streak to victory.

On the Funny Car side, it was Alexis DeJoria making some big waves to open the new year, as she made history by becoming the first and only woman to ever record a three-second pass over 1,000 feet in a flopper when she blasted to a career best 3.997 at 318.32 MPH in the third of four qualifying sessions to position herself third in the race day field. Worsham also made the top half of the field just a few ticks behind his teammate, dropping a 4.04 to qualify sixth in the tough field of cars.

While DeJoria fell in the opening round match in a big upset when her Toyota Camry Funny Car spun the tires, Worsham got his season off on a positive note, advancing to the semifinals with some very tough company, coming up on the losing end of a tight race with Matt Hagan and just missing a trip to the final round to start the season.

The entire OPTIMA Batteries-backed Kalitta Motorsports team will be back in action next weekend in Phoenix, where they’ll have a tough act to improve upon after their stellar performances right out of the gate in Pomona.

For more information on OPTIMA Batteries and the racers who use them, log on to optimabatteries.com.