Tuffy,
I'' BET you he knows Connie Kalitta
That is how he started, Kalitta Air services
Conrad "Connie" Kalitta (born February 24, 1938, in
Michigan) is the CEO of
Kalitta Air and a retired
American drag racing driver, once known as "The Bounty Hunter". He is also the owner of
Kalitta Motorsports.
[1]
Kalitta grew up in
Mount Clemens, Michigan, and was a 1957 graduate of
Mount Clemens High School.
He raced from the 1950s through the 1990s. He was the first driver to hit 200 mph in an
NHRA sanctioned event. He also helped
Shirley Muldowney get started (in the "Bounty Huntress" car). Kalitta won 10
NHRA national events between 1967 and 1994. Kalitta has won the
U.S. Nationals in 1994 after losing in two prior finals to
Don Garlits and
Shirley Muldowney. He defeated
Eddie Hill in the final round.
Kalitta was inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992. On the 2001 National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000, Kalitta was ranked #21.
[2] He was played by
Beau Bridges in the Muldowney biography film
Heart Like a Wheel.
He is the father of racer
Scott Kalitta, killed in a fiery crash in
Old Bridge Township, N.J.
[3][4] in 2008, and uncle of racer
Doug Kalitta. His step-daughter is
Commander Shanti Sethi of the
United States Navy, former commander of the
USS Decatur (DDG-73).
[5][6]