Indianapolis Diary

Day Three

By Susan Wade
8/31/03

DAY THREE, ENTRY ONE

CLERMONT, Ind. -- The announcement came sooner instead of later. But it was no surprise that Rahn Tobler, who tuned wife Shirley Muldowney to three Top Fuel championships, will join Kalitta Motorsports.

He will serve as co-crew chief for the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Doug Kalitta. Jim Oberhofer, current co-crew chief for Doug Kalitta, will become co-crew chief on the newly formed Mac Tools/Jesse James Top Fuel dragster team with driver Scott Kalitta. Team owner and crew chief Connie Kalitta, Scott's father, will oversee both dragsters.

"It is a great opportunity for me to join a championship-caliber team and continue to do what I love doing," Tobler said. "Connie approached me after the race in Gainesville this season and asked if I would be interested in the job if he were to add another car to his team. When the second car became a reality, I was offered the job and gladly accepted. This is a great team, and Doug is a great driver. I am looking forward to the challenges and the possibilities of winning championships with the Mac Tools dragster team."

Tobler will continue as crew chief for Muldowney at her final three NHRA races, at Chicago, Las Vegas and Pomona this fall. She also is competing here at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

"Rahn will make a great addition to our team," Connie Kalitta said. "He has experience from all sides of drag racing. He has been a crew chief, owner and team manager for Shirley. He knows the ins and outs of this deal. He's a great tuner."

Jim Oberhofer, who has been co-crew chief for Doug and Scott Kalitta, said he sees the move as another step toward a series title. "I am excited about the future of our team," he said. "Rahn and Doug are going to work well together. I can already tell by the rapport they have and their mutual respect for one another. I have known Scott for twenty years. We get along great and work well together also. Everything is falling into place for us to get both cars to the level we want them. Ultimately, we want to win championships, and now we have the necessary ingredients to do just that."

DAY THREE, ENTRY TWO

Del Worsham has won 13 national events. But the Funny Car driver from Chino Hills, Calif., said he would give his first "Wally" statue from the U.S. Nationals special treatment in the family trophy case.

"Absolutely. If I ever win one, I'll set it on a little two-inch riser, and it will stand above the others."

DAY THREE, ENTRY THREE

Johnny Gray, Worsham's Checker-Shuck's-Kragen teammate, came up with a curious comparison of drag racing to the other forms of motorsport that compete in Indianapolis. "The funny thing is, I think these Nitro Funny Cars are the toughest of them all to drive," the

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Carlsbad, N.M., resident said. "And yet we could win the U.S. Nationals over the Labor Day weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park and not travel far enough to make one lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the IRL, NASCAR, and F1 series race."

"It's just so different, running ovals and drag racing," Gray said. "Out there, you take your car out and it's a war of attrition while you make tiny little adjustments for a couple of hours. When you're not racing, you're working on the car but often not as hard as our guys work because a lot of the service is small tweaks and adjustments, rather than total rebuilds. And, rarely do circle track guys have to work under the time constraints our guys are under.

"On the oval, the crew gets to catch a breather and be spectators while the driver is going around the track. Here, it's the opposite. About 99 percent of the time I watch them work, and then they only get to watch me drive for less than five seconds. It's an awful lot of work for such short bursts of excitement, but it sure is a big kick in the pants while it's happening."