Kalivoda Claims Wild First-Round Victory

July 29, 2002 – After a 90 minute rain delay, Top Fuel action at the 15th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals kicked off in wild fashion Sunday as Brady Kalivoda took the first win light of eliminations in dramatic style over Ken Zeal. After smoking the tires early in the run, Kalivoda's on-and-off the throttle 6.935 at 190.06 mph narrowly defeated the troubled 7.092 of Zeal.

Kalivoda and Zeal, the respective No. 8 and 9 qualifiers, had to wait through more than an hour and a half of persistent drizzle, during which time both drivers suited up and were in and out of their racecars twice. Kalivoda held lane choice by virtue of qualifying performance, but when the word finally came from NHRA Chief Starter Rick Stewart to fire up the first pair, lane choice for the hometown favorite went up in smoke - literally - not far off the starting line. The race appeared to be over but as Zeal passed half-track, his BME sponsored dragster fell silent, the result of an apparent failure in the driveline.

Kalivoda, witnessing that Zeal was dead in the water, pedaled the Freddie's Club Casino Top Fuel Dragster three times in attempts to recover, taking the finish line by half a car length. "That was exciting. Almost a little too exciting, actually," said Kalivoda. "Smoking the tires was the last thing we expected to happen after having such a good handle on things during qualifying. But we were the first pair out and the weather changed dramatically since yesterday; we didn't take enough out of our tune-up and simply overpowered the track."

"It smoked the tires and I pedaled it once but it didn't recover. I actually figured that was it," said Kalivoda. "Zeal was gone, way out there, and I didn't want to hurt the parts; these aren't my parts to hurt. But then his (header) pipes went wet. That usually means the (blower) belt has come off. Whatever the case, his car quit, and I got back on it, but it still wasn't recovering. Fortunately, though, luck was on our side and we had just enough racetrack to get around him."

The rain set in once again after completion of the first round of professional eliminations, postponing further action at Pacific Raceways until Monday. The second round of Top Fuel paired Kalivoda with No. 1 qualifier and reigning World Champion Kenny Bernstein. Perhaps even more spectacular than his wild round-one win over Zeal, was Kalivoda's wheelstand against the Budweiser King. Bernstein picked up the win with a tire-smoking, cylinder-dropping 5.602 at 249.39 mph. After the front-end of the Freddie's Club Casino Top Fueler came back down, Kalivoda trailed across the stripe with a 7.710 at only 90.08 mph.

"The car shuddered, I pedaled it, and the front-end just went sky high," said Kalivoda. "It was almost like having the first round all over again. It's a new day, the weather changed drastically yet again, and we probably missed the call just a bit. The car fell way off the tire, it shook, and when I pedaled it, the clutch locked up and it climbed the ring gear. It happened in a hurry, I can tell you that."

"To say we're disappointed that we let that one get away would be an understatement. That big red car was there for the taking. That's a tremendous team over there, and it's not often that they make a mistake. They made one there and we weren't able to capitalize on it," said Kalivoda. "Nonetheless, it was still a great weekend for myself, Freddie's Club Casino of Renton, and the entire Peek Bros. Racing Team. This team deserves all of the credit, by the way, for our success here. They worked their tails off and I only hope they're as happy about our performance as I am."

ESPN2 will air final round coverage of the 15th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals from 3 to 5 p.m. (ET) on Friday, August 2.
 

July 27, 2002 – The Peek Bros. Racing Team gave Brady Kalivoda a great ride in his Freddie's Club Casino Top Fuel Dragster during Saturday qualifying when he powered his way through the quarter-mile in a time of 4.693 seconds at 308.71 mph placing him in the No. 8 starting position for Sunday's 15th annual running of the Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

After rain limited yesterday's Top Fuel qualifying to only one session, Kalivoda opened the action today with a 4.773 at 294.31 mph. "We were fairly confident we were going to run a number last night, and then the session got called. Temperatures warmed up today, so we took some out of the tune-up down track to assure we'd get through there," said Kalivoda. "Again, it put a couple of holes out, but we'd rather chase dropped cylinders around than blow the tires off and lose a qualifying run completely. We already lost one run to the rain, and that just makes the other three that much more important in dialing in our car for raceday."

Team owner Mike Peek, along with Mike Cavalieri and the tuning assistance of Jim and John Oberhoffer, turned all the right knobs preparing for this afternoon's even warmer conditions as Kalivoda's 4.69 netted him the eighth qualifying spot and lane choice over Ken Zeal in tomorrow's first round. "That one felt good," exclaimed Kalivoda. "That's the run we've been looking for. That it came in the heat of the day surprised everyone, I think, but this team; all of the credit for the performance of this car goes to them."

"Looking at things comparatively, we were fourth quickest of the session behind (Larry) Dixon, (Kenny) Bernstein, and (Doug) Kalitta. That's pretty good company," said Kalivoda. "We're not looking past the first round by any means, but our performance today in the heat, along with three trips out of three to the finish line, makes us feel pretty good going into Sunday."

"It feels great to be running this well in front of my family and friends here in Seattle. We've also got a lot of people here from Freddie's Club Casino of Renton, and to be able to put on a good show for all of them, as well as everyone in attendance from Mac Tools and Lucas Oil, makes us feel really good," said Kalivoda. "We would like nothing more than to show our thanks for their support, and the support of everyone who helped make this possible, by turning on some win lights tomorrow."
 

July 26, 2002 – Seattle native Brady Kalivoda finds himself positioned in the provisional No. 9 spot after carding a 4.979 elapsed time at a speed of 290.19 mph at the 15th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals. Rain limited Top Fuel qualifying action to one session Friday at Pacific Raceways.

"It was a great starting point for the Freddie's Club Casino Top Fuel Dragster," said Kalivoda. "It might seem like a 4.97 is not much to write home about these days, but we were aiming to be conservative. We were the first pair down the track and wanted to throw a number up there that we could use as a baseline rather than smoke the tires. It dropped a couple of cylinders along the way, which never picked back up, so we'll take the 4.97 and come back and try to improve."

Due to curfew restrictions, the second Top Fuel qualifying session was canceled. Intermittent drizzle delayed qualifying of the other class categories, which eventually led to time running out prior to the completion of the entire professional session.

"It's extremely disappointing that we didn't get the chance to run again tonight," said Kalivoda. "With the cooler air and tighter racetrack that the night sessions usually bring, (team owner) Mike Peek feels like we could have put our hot rod into the 4.60's. It's unfortunate, but these are circumstances beyond our control. Believe me, I'm probably the most disappointed person in the pits. Not only was I anxious to improve on our qualifying effort, but I was looking forward to hitting the loud pedal one more time. I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow."
 

 
Kalivoda Will Return to Competition in Seattle

July 25, 2002 – After sitting out the first half of the season, Top Fuel racer Brady Kalivoda will return to competition July 26-28 at the 15th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle. Kalivoda, who last competed at the 2001 Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, will take the wheel of the Peek Bros./Jim Cavalieri-owned Top Fuel Dragster with the support of Freddie's Club Casino of Renton, WA.

It was at the same event exactly one year ago in which Kalivoda, the second-generation racer from Seattle, made his professional driving debut, qualifying 13th before bowing out to Mike Dunn in the first round. Filling in for John Smith, injured during an accident in Brainerd, Kalivoda competed in a total of seven NHRA National Events in 2001, posting career best elapsed time and speed marks of 4.67 and 316mph, respectively.

Kalivoda, who will have additional backing from Moto1, Mac Tools, Lucas Oil, and 1320 Diecast for the event, is looking forward to being able to race in front of friends and family at his home track. "I owe a tremendous amount of thanks to Mike Peek, Jim Cavalieri, and the entire team for this opportunity," said Kalivoda. "Let me make clear that this is Jimmy's hot rod; it's just that he and Mike know how much it means to me to be able to do this. With their help and the support of Freddie's Club, Mac Tools, Lucas Oil, and everyone else involved, we were able to put a program together that will serve as a foundation in allowing me to continue pursuit of a fulltime ride."

Of interesting note is that the 15th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Northwest Nationals will be the first held at the Kent, WA facility since being renamed Pacific Raceways. Formerly Seattle International Raceway, Pacific Raceways, as it was known when it opened some 42 years ago, has been the site of many of the driving accolades of Kalivoda's father, Dick, over the years. The first of which came on July 4, 1960 when he became the first driver to set an NHRA National Record at the track, running an elapsed time of 11.78 in the B/Modified Roadster class. That car, the Kalivoda & Hamlin B/MR, is currently housed in the NHRA Motorsports Museum in California.