For Casey Pekarek of Chesterland, Ohio, her dream of giving her husband, Dale, the ultimate wedding anniversary gift began when she read in the newspaper about the special “ROCKY Rocks!” poster contest being held by Kalitta Motorsports and ROCKY Boots at this past weekend’s running of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Team Kalitta fans who attended the event in Norwalk were asked to create a poster that contained the phrase “ROCKY Rocks!” in commemoration of ROCKY Boots’ primary sponsorship of Doug Kalitta’s 8,000-horsepower No. 50 Top Fuel dragster at the event. All contest participants were given a special edition ROCKY/Team Kalitta hat, but the Pekareks also won the Grand Prize, to be honorary pit crew members for Team Kalitta during Sunday’s final eliminations at Summit Motorsports Park, after their design was deemed to be the most creative by Team Kalitta/ROCKY Boots dragster crew members.

For Casey Pekarek of Chesterland, Ohio, her dream of giving her husband, Dale, the ultimate wedding anniversary gift began when she read in the newspaper about the special “ROCKY Rocks!” poster contest being held by Kalitta Motorsports and ROCKY Boots at this past weekend’s running of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Team Kalitta fans who attended the event in Norwalk were asked to create a poster that contained the phrase “ROCKY Rocks!” in commemoration of ROCKY Boots’ primary sponsorship of Doug Kalitta’s 8,000-horsepower No. 50 Top Fuel dragster at the event. All contest participants were given a special edition ROCKY/Team Kalitta hat, but the Pekareks also won the Grand Prize, to be honorary pit crew members for Team Kalitta during Sunday’s final eliminations at Summit Motorsports Park, after their design was deemed to be the most creative by Team Kalitta/ROCKY Boots dragster crew members.

“I read an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer last Friday about the contest,” Casey said. “I immediately accepted the challenge; however, my motivation for creating a poster for the contest came from my heart. I wanted to create a poster that would hopefully give my husband the chance of a lifetime as a pre-anniversary gift. We will be celebrating our third wedding anniversary July 29.

“I started working on the poster at 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon and I didn’t finish until well after midnight. Our first stop Saturday morning at the race track was at the Team Kalitta hospitality area to turn in the poster. We were so excited about the opportunity to enter and possibly win the poster contest, but we were also excited just to be at the races as our trip to the Norwalk event is always one of the highlights of our year. Then as we were getting ready to leave the track Saturday, Dale got the call that our poster had won the contest and we were both thrilled!”

Sunday morning, the Pekareks arrived at the Team Kalitta pit area to receive their bounty of exclusive gifts. Dale and Casey were both given a ROCKY/Team Kalitta crew shirt, a special edition ROCKY engraved race car piston, a gift certificate for a free pair of ROCKY Boots, and unlimited access to the Team Kalitta pit and hospitality areas, but a one-on-one chat with a drag racing icon during an unexpected delay in racing before the first round of eliminations became the highlight of the day and a lifetime for Dale.

“I can’t even begin to tell you what an honor and thrill it was to share a long conversation during the rain delay with Mr. [Connie] Kalitta (team owner and drag racing legend),” Dale said. “What a humble and real man he is. Let’s face it, no one at the race track has raced as long, as hard, or as successfully as he has, and he is still going strong and is more committed than ever. His commitment to continue his hard work in racing, business, and family is over the top by today’s standard.

“We talked about racing, life, business, politics, employees, and friends. From the bottom of my heart, I will never forget talking with him and sharing that time with him. I will tell the story of that talk with Mr. Kalitta for the rest of my life. Casey and I can’t thank Mr. Kalitta, Kalitta Motorsports and ROCKY Boots enough for the lifetime memories you provided us.”

 

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