Top Fuel pilot Kalitta looks to break into top eight in Brainerd.

With the grueling Western Swing at an end and the cutoff point for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs only two races away, many racers are looking to make a push into the top eight in the points standings at the 26th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. One of them is Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster pilot Doug Kalitta.

Kalitta has earned his share of success in Brainerd. With wins there in 2003 and 2005 and a runner-up finish in 2000, Kalitta has, for the most part, enjoyed his experiences in Brainerd.

“It's definitely one of my better places to race,” Kalitta said. “It's been a pretty good track for me and my family. Connie [Kalitta, uncle and team owner] has won up there as well [in 1985]. It's a race I'm really looking forward to.”

But Kalitta's excitement about Brainerd isn't just fueled by the hopes of snatching his first win of the 2007 season. Sitting in the 11th spot in the points standings, just 64 points behind teammate Dave Grubnic and the eighth-place Countdown cutoff point, Kalitta is hoping to make up some ground and break into the top eight before the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

“I'm really looking forward to going up there, going a couple rounds, and getting into the top eight,” Kalitta said. “Obviously you go in wanting to win, but being able to go a couple rounds would really help us in the points.”

The Countdown to the Championship consists of a 17-race regular season that trims the field of championship contenders to eight, then a four-race playoff that halves the field of championship contenders to four and finally a two-race championship to determine the 2007 NHRA POWERade Series world champions. The Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd is the next-to-last race in the 17-race regular season. Then the POWERade Series heads to Reading, Pa., for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, where the eight-racer playoff fields will be set. For Kalitta, who would otherwise be a championship afterthought, the three-time bridesmaid (2003, 2004, and 2006) sees the Countdown format as a second chance to compete for the championship that has always eluded him.

“The way we've done so far this year, it's really a blessing that there is a system like this,” Kalitta said. “For us, it's just a matter of taking advantage of it and getting ourselves in.”

But getting in for Kalitta would mean his two Top Fuel teammates would not. Kalitta is tied for 11th with teammate Hillary Will and would have to pass Grubnic to take over the eighth-place spot.

“It is what it is,” Kalitta said. “We're all trying to do the same thing. What we're all hoping is we can all move up and all get in. I guess we're not trying to knock each other out, but we're definitely running out of time.”

And a win in Brainerd would not only add a third at a track where he enjoys competing but would give Kalitta some peace of mind heading to Indianapolis.

“If we go there with the mind-set to win and we can pull it off, it would be huge for us in the points,” Kalitta said. “And that's exactly what we're going to try to do in Brainerd.”