Connie Kalitta
Conrad "Connie" Kalitta is an American businessman and former drag racing driver, nicknamed "The Bounty Hunter". Kalitta is the CEO of Kalitta Air and the owner of Kalitta Motorsports.
Kalitta was born in Michigan, grew up in Mount Clemens, 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.
Kalitta teamed up with Shirley Muldowney as the Bounty Hunter and Bounty Huntress, in a pair of Ford Mustangs, hers a Buttera chassis, his a Logghe.
Kalitta was runner-up at the 1963 Winternationals in Top Gas and at the 1965 Springnationals in Top Fuel. His first major event win was the 1967 American Hot Rod Association Winternationals in Scottsdale, Arizona, in a 427ci "cammer"–powered Top Fuel dragster. Though Kalitta had qualified in the middle of the field, he turned in steadily lower elapsed times throughout each round: a 7.28 second e.t. in the first round, then a 7.24, a 7.22, a slight increase to 7.23 to reach the final, where he ran 7.17 seconds at to win the event.
Kalitta ultimately won a total of 10 NHRA national events, including the 1994 Gatornationals and U.S. Nationals - his final title.
Kalitta was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992. On the 50th Anniversary list of National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000, Kalitta was ranked #21.
Kalitta was played by Beau Bridges, in a lead role, in the Muldowney biography film Heart Like a Wheel.
He is the father of racer Scott Kalitta, killed in a drag racing crash in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, in 2008. He is the uncle of racer Doug Kalitta.
On November 14, 2016, Kalitta was honored at the season-ending Mello Yello Awards Ceremony with NHRA's first ever Lifetime Achievement Award.
