If HOT ROD could crown a drag-race king, it would be Connie Kalitta. Why? Improbably, he’s the last man standing from the early days. He’s outlasted Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Tommy Ivo, Ed McCulloch, Tom McEwen—all of the greats of drag racing. They have all retired, but Kalitta is still racing. And winning. And fielding not one but four cars—the Top Fuel dragsters of nephew Doug Kalitta and J.R. Todd, and the nitro Funny Cars of Del Worsham and Alexis Dejoria. His income is not derived from racing, but from his Ypsilanti, Michigan, cargo air services for the U.S. government and private companies, though it originated from drag racing. He won drag racing’s version of the Triple Crown by winning the 1967 NHRA, AHRA, and NASCAR Winternationals, back when NASCAR…
