Word: kalitta
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Thus when Connie Kalitta wrinkles one of the main struts supporting his wing in a qualifying run at 3 p.m. Friday, he takes only a moment to study the damage. He props a two-by-eight board under the wing, lifting the dragster a couple of inches off the ground. A crew member goes to work on the wrinkle with a welding torch...
Suddenly the dragster sags, except for the propped-up side of the wing; the wrinkled strut has heated up and stretched out. Kalitta jams another two- by-eight between the struts and throws his weight against this lever to fine tune the straightening. After considerable additional work, he steps back to examine the results, which aren't wholly successful. But then, a normal start tends to lift the opposite side of the car anyway. Maybe a crooked wing will counteract that. He raises his hands in a papal blessing and grins. "The torque'll lean it just right," he declares...
...Raceway Park, Shirley tries to collect signatures from fellow drivers to qualify for the race, while many drivers respond to Shirley with remarks like, "make me some bacon and eggs," Connie Kalitta (Beau Bridges) "the bounty hunter," not only signs her petition but helps her to enter the race, in which she is the first woman ever. Of course, she sets a track record. The race initiates Shirley's close relationship with Kalitta, who becomes her friend, lover, mechanic and eventual competitor. She eventually leaves her husband, takes her son and goes West with Connie to make...
...respect for all its characters. Shirley's husband (Leo Rossi) may have a streak of envy that festers into malice, but he is portrayed sympathetically as a man incapable of understanding that his no-nonsense housewife could beat him at a man's game. Connie Kalitta, Shirley's lover once she hits the circuit, is a hell-raising womanizer, but in Beau Bridges' engaging performance one can see Connie as an endangered species in a game that TV is trying to streamline into respectability. "This used to be a rowdy sport," Connie recalls. "Now they want...
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