BradyKalivoda.com

Kalivoda Returns to the States with NitrOlympics ‘Gold’

August 28, 2005 – The third time proved to be the charm as American Brady Kalivoda charged to Top Fuel victory lane last weekend at the 20th annual NitrOlympics in Hockenheim, Germany. Driving Rico Anthes’ Dakota Industries Top Fuel Dragster, Kalivoda also powered to a new Hockenheim track ET record in the process, eclipsing the previous mark of 4.92 set by Anthes in 2001.

It was Kalivoda’s third trip to Hockenheim to compete, as he drove another Top Fueler for Anthes – the Müller’s American Motorhomes-sponsored dragster – at the 2002 NitrOlympics, and pulled double duty in 2003, driving two dragsters belonging to the German businessman. Previous to this year’s victory, Kalivoda’s best showing at the event came in 2002, where he posted a semi-final finish.

The 32 year-old from Seattle was quick to compliment the track preparation staff for providing a great racing surface, something lacking in Hockenheim ever since the facility was renovated in early 2002. Of interesting note was the involvement of NHRA Division 6 officials Louie Murray and Ray Rice, both of whom flew in early to oversee the track prep process. “Louie and Ray did an outstanding job of directing and educating the Hockenheim staff on what to do,” said Kalivoda. “And Louie conveyed nothing but great things to me about the crew; how receptive they were and how hard they all worked to get the track ready for the race.”

Aside from spectacular racing action in several sportsman classes, the packed house was also treated to outstanding performances by Fuel Bikes, Pro Stock Bikes, Pro Mods, and Fuel Funny Cars. This year’s version of the NitrOlympics Top Fuel Challenge boasted five entries competing in a Chicago-Style eliminator. Kalivoda, although driving a German entry, represented the U.S., while current FIA Top Fuel points leader Lex Joon was in attendance from Holland, FIA standout Thomas Nataas represented Norway, and both Gary Page and defending FIA Top Fuel Champion Andy Carter represented England.

One of the highlights of the round-robin format was Kalivoda’s 4.95 to 4.97 defeat of Carter, the first side-by-side four-second race in Germany. After a somewhat lengthy rain delay, the battle for NitrOlympics gold came down to Kalivoda and Joon. In a fitting end to a great weekend of racing, fans persevering the elements were treated to record times as Kalivoda motored to a 4.87 at 450 km/h, just a tick ahead of the 4.88 at 446 km/h by Joon, both drivers eclipsing the long-standing previous mark.

“What a blast,” said Kalivoda. “I always have fun racing over there; I love the people, and I love seeing the country. But to win the race and break the track record is extra special. My job was easy; the real credit goes to crew chief Rune Fjeld, David Lindsey, and the rest of the Dakota Racing team for the job they did on the racecar. All I did was stand on the loud pedal a few times and make a bunch of noise.

“I have to thank Red Line Oil, RaceGirl, and Nitro Fish Wear for their support this year,” said Kalivoda. “And of course I’m extremely appreciative of the opportunity Rico Anthes has given me over the years to drive his racecars.

“I’d love to think that maybe next season I’ll have to miss the NitrOlympics because I’m racing here in the States, but if not, they won’t have to ask me twice if I’d like to go back!”

NitrOlympics race results and information can be found at www.dragster.de.

Miller and Kalivoda Part Ways

by Rob Geiger, NHRA.com

February 24, 2005 – After 15 races together, team owner Bill Miller and Top Fuel driver Brady Kalivoda have amicably parted ways. Miller will replace Kalivoda on an interim basis with second-generation racer Bobby Lagana Jr.

"It's a sad deal and a genuinely feel bad, but this was a move I felt I had to make," Miller said. "I want to be perfectly clear; this had nothing whatsoever to do with the accident we had in Pomona. In fact, my decision had nothing to do with him driving the car, period. The young man's a helluva racecar driver. I'll tell anyone that. He's done a remarkable job for me. I have zero complaints about his driving ability. He's probably the single best driver I've had in this racecar.

"The direction he wanted to go and the direction I wanted to go didn't quite match-up. Ultimately, it's my toys and my sandbox so we decided to go our separate ways. I wish Brady nothing but the best."

Kalivoda, a 31-year-old from Seattle, was understandably upset after receiving the news in a four-page letter that was overnighted to him Wednesday morning. But he was quick to put things in perspective.

"Bill gave me a great opportunity to drive and I'm very thankful for that," he said. "The main differences between us is that he's a hobby racer and I'm intent on making this my life's work. We didn't see eye-to-eye on a few things and so we pulled the chutes, so to speak.

"I'm anxious to find another team and continue my career. I'm glad everyone got to see me drive last year at the races we attended and I hope I've proven myself enough to get another chance."

Kalivoda and Miller successfully qualified for all 15 races they shared, including the 45th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals two weeks ago where Kalivoda ran a career-best 4.573 in qualifying. Although they never won an elimination round together, the Bill Miller Engineering dragster has been showing lots of promise over the last five races as the team's E.T.'s have steadily dropped.

"I've worked hard on the clutch program and it's finally showing us some numbers," Miller said. "We had a 4.57 in qualifying and the first-round pass would have been a 4.51 if the accident hadn't occurred. Once you're there, a 4.40 is just a step away."

Now it will be Lagana how gets the next shot at joining that exclusive 4.4-second club, possibly as early as the Houston race. The team car has been at chassis builder Don Long's shop since the wreck in Pomona and Miller says there are plenty of salvageable pieces.

"The back half is off and the front half from in front of the foot box forward is off and being repaired," Miller said. "They seem to think they can have it back to us in two to three weeks.

"I've talked to Bobby and he'll get a chance to prove himself. We haven't signed him on yet fulltime so we'll see how he does and go from there.

"There's more to being a driver than driving the racecar. There are politics that need to be played and sponsor obligations that never end. Brady did his part. Now it's Bobby's turn."

Kalivoda Doing Fine After Chilling First-Round Accident

by Rob Geiger, NHRA.com

February 17, 2005 – Brady Kalivoda was on another career-best run Sunday morning; he could just feel it in his bones. After posting a personal-best E.T. of 4.573 seconds to qualify for the quickest Top Fuel field ever, he knew deep down this run was even better. With taped-up blinders on his helmet, he couldn't see his opponent Brandon Bernstein in the other lane but he could sure hear him. The race was definitely on.

Then it all came apart, literally. In a thousandth of a second, Kalivoda's dreams of pulling out a Round 1 upset went black. His Bill Miller Engineering dragster had dropped a part, which in turn punctured the right rear tire. By the time he regained consciousness, the scene had changed dramatically.

"I went from thinking, 'whoa, we have a drag race on our hands,' to 'why is Clay [Millican] talking to me,' " Kalivoda said. "I remember the launch. I remember getting through the trouble spot, which is about one second into the run. Then I got to half-track and reached for the parachute handle, which is what I always do. After that, it's gone. I have no recollection of the accident at all. In fact, I really didn't know what had happened until I got released and watched the whole thing on ESPN2. Then my first thought was, 'man, I'm gonna be sore.' But surprisingly, aside from a headache that night and Monday, I've been fine."

Showing the racer within, the first question Kalivoda had for the Safety Safari and his friend Millican, who had sprinted over from the return road when he saw the wreck, was wondering if he had won or not. He hadn't. The next question was, "Did I leave on him?" He had, with a .097-second start to Bernstein's .108.

"Brandon ran a 4.500 so I don't know if we would have won regardless of what happened," Kalivoda said. "But our numbers show we would have run a 4.510 so it would have been interesting at the very least. I don't even remember asking those questions but it tells you where my head was at."

Kalivoda credits his safety equipment, specifically his helmet and his ISP head pads inside the roll cage, as well as his ISP molded seat, which helps disperse the impact of a blow, as the main reasons he escaped the wreck unscathed. Team owner Miller is quick to add chassis builder Don Long to the list of people to thank.

"Kudos to Don Long Chassis," said Miller, an engineer by trade who supplies numerous parts to many nitro teams. "The car stayed upright despite a rear tire coming apart at a pretty good rate of speed. His design, the way he anchors the rear wing stand to the chassis with three bolts on each side instead of one, like everyone else, was definitely the difference between the car crashing the way it did and something much worse happening. In my opinion, the three-bolt anchoring system should be mandatory."

Miller is referring to the point where the two rear struts of the wing assembly attach to the car. Most chassis builders use a single bolt at the bottom of the strut that acts as a pivot point. Originally, this was done to help crew chiefs adjust the angle and attitude of the wing by manipulating the forward stay rods. However, current rules call for a fairly uniform wing set-up, making the single pivot point mostly useless. Without question, Kalivoda and Miller's three-bolt anchoring point made the rear wing struts more rigid.

"I'm switching to at least two bolts on each side as soon as the car gets back to the shop," Snap-on Tools Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert said. "It just makes sense and all it requires is new rear-end plates. Rob [Flynn, Herbert's crew chief] agreed with me. We all saw what happened. It obviously helped Brady's wreck from being worse than it was."

After investigating the cause of the accident as much as he could, Miller also reached the conclusion that a piece of his car fell off and punctured the tire in the first place. He spent the last two days contacting as many team owners as possible to let them know it wasn't tire failure.

"I'm 90-percent sure of what happened," Miller said. "There are two support brackets that hold up each header. We know they're under a lot of stress and we Magnaflux them to check for cracks after each race. This time we looked and one of the brackets was gone. One can only assume it got loose and took out the tire."

The accident will sideline the team for the Phoenix race at least as they work to repair the car.

"The main thing is that Brady is okay," Miller said. "That's really all that matters. Everything else is just parts that can be replaced. At the same time, if we can learn anything from this, we'll be happy. For this team, we're excited that the car was on such a great run. I struggled with the clutch program last year but it seems we've figured it out. When we get back out there, we'll have a competitive car."

"I'm excited about the potential of the car," Kalivoda said. "I'm also humbled by the support I've received since this incident. The fans and my fellow racers have been awesome. I can't thank everyone enough. We'll be back soon."