A year after being the first Caterpillar dealer to support the NHRA dealer recruitment program, Houston-based Mustang Cat has again partnered with David Powers Motorsports. (Roger Richards)

A year after being the first Caterpillar dealer to support the NHRA dealer recruitment program, Houston-based Mustang Cat has again partnered with David Powers Motorsports. Hot Rod Fuller will race the Mustang Cat dragster during the 21st annual O’Reilly Spring Nationals, March 28-30, at Houston Raceway Park. Texas State Technical College Waco, Mustang Cat’s Think Big partner, and Cat Global Petroleum also are involved at the Houston NHRA event.

The relationship between David Powers Motorsports, Caterpillar and the Cat Dealer Groups was designed as a pilot program to increase technician recruiting. Many Caterpillar dealers are experiencing a shortage of technicians. After successful events in several NHRA markets during the 2007 season, DPM and Caterpillar inked a multiyear agreement last August to participate in the NHRA dealer recruitment program. Mustang Cat is the southeast Texas authorized sales, parts and service dealer for Caterpillar construction equipment and engines.

“We’re excited to have Mustang back on the car this year,” Fuller said. “They helped get things started last spring, so we’re forever indebted to everyone at Mustang for making this program work. Our goal is to go some rounds this year and redeem ourselves after going out early last year. I’m looking forward to visiting everyone at the dealership on Thursday afternoon.”

The Mustang Cat dealer lockup logo will be positioned in the primary sponsor position on Fuller’s rail during the Houston event. The dealer also will have a location on the popular Manufacturer’s Midway at Houston Raceway Park with employees on site to answer questions and speak to people interested in a career as a Caterpillar dealer technician. Fuller also will visit the Mustang Cat headquarters located at 12800 Northwest Freeway in Houston from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday. Mustang Cat also will entertain more than 200 guests at the team’s Iron Eagle Club hospitality area during the race weekend.

“Mustang Cat is proud to sponsor the David Powers dragster again this year,” said Dave Edwards, Mustang Cat’s Assistant HR Manager. “The NHRA venue is an important component to our Technician recruitment strategy because it provides a great platform to share about both our exciting educational and career opportunities with an audience of Technicians that may have never considered a career in heavy equipment or diesel. Rod Fuller and his team are very accommodating to our recruiting efforts and are great champions for our cause. The exposure that we get to technically-minded people at this event is off the charts.”

Fuller enters the fourth race on the 2008 NHRA schedule ranked fourth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings. The Las Vegas racer has six career Top Fuel victories and last season narrowly missed earning his first championship. Fuller recorded low elapsed time of the meet at the first two races this season, at 4.494 and 4.491 seconds. Last year, he qualified the Mustang Cat dragster third at Houston Raceway Park. ESPN2 will feature qualifying highlights from the O’Reilly Spring Nationals at 4:30-5 p.m. and 10-11 p.m. (ET) on March 29 and final eliminations coverage from 4:30-7 p.m. on March 30.