Viva Las Vegas! Kalivoda
Qualifies #2 in Coghlan Motorsports Top Fueler
April 15, 2007 – Brady Kalivoda and Coghlan
Motorsports stunned everyone in attendance last weekend at
the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas by racing
to the number two qualifying position in just their first
event together.
Kalivoda ran a career best 4.490 elapsed
time at 329.42 mph under the lights at the Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night, just a tick behind the
4.479 of four-time and defending Top Fuel Champion Tony
Schumacher.
“Man, that was fun,” exclaimed Kalivoda.
“The car picked the front wheels up, set ‘em down and I knew
we were hauling the mail at that point! I knew it was quick,
I just didn’t know how quick. When they told me at the
top-end what we ran, I could hardly contain myself. I was
running around hugging anyone and everyone I could find.”
“I’m sure we surprised some folks by just
showing up here and running 4.49 right away and qualifying
number two. But the car’s performance really isn’t a
surprise to (team owners) Tim and Renee′ Coghlan, myself, or
anyone else on this team,” said Kalivoda. “Crew Chief Keith
Adams, and this whole crew … Ron, John, George, Brian,
Jason, and Lee are all veterans. They know what they’re
doing and have been chomping at the bit all season just to
get out here and make some noise. We made some noise this
weekend, that’s for sure.”
Unfortunately the team came up short in
their bid to parlay their qualifying effort into a victory
on Sunday. The Coghlan Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster spun
the tires in the first round against eventual runner-up Bob
Vandergriff, ending the team’s day prematurely.
“That was a bit disappointing, especially
after having the second quickest car on the property,” said
Kalivoda. “But you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in our
pit area who isn’t smiling. We’re just so pleased to be out
here, and I can’t thank all of the folks who made this
possible enough for their support. Everyone at Marnell
Masonry, Moorefield Construction, Renewal by Andersen of Las
Vegas, Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, and Valvoline … the
list goes on. We’re happy to have represented them well and
we hope they had half as much fun as we did.”
It’s no doubt former Pro Stock standout
George Marnell had fun. In fact, he almost felt as if he was
competing again. “It really was exciting and I had a blast,”
said Marnell. “It was very similar to when I was racing.
I’ve never been on that side of it before. I was always the
one who was involved first hand. But I’ve never sat back and
looked at it from that perspective before. I thought it was
great. It was a lot of fun. It put a lot more interest in
the game for us. It was almost like getting back in the
game.”
Kalivoda and the team are already looking
forward to their next stop on the NHRA POWERade Tour, as
they roll into Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA April 27-29
for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.
“My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and
my Dad who was in attendance in Las Vegas has lost his voice
from hooting and hollering so much after we ran the 4.49,
that we will need the weekend off just to recover,” said
Kalivoda. “I think I speak for Tim, Renee′, Keith and
everyone on this team when I say that we hope to go and do
it all again, and maybe even one better, in Atlanta.”
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