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Nathan Sitko - TAFC Driver
Nathan is the 23-year old driver of the Sitko Family Racing team's 2700+ horsepower Top Alcohol Funny Car.
2009 will be Nathan's 6th year behind the wheel of the flopper. Nathan started his career in the Junior Dragster ranks, where he was
a fixture for eight seasons. He won two track championships and many events in the Briggs-powered,
55 mile per hour
car before stepping into a Top Alcohol Dragster. His quickest ET and his first "5" came in this car when he ran down the
quarter mile in 5.988 seconds. Nathan switched to funny car in 2004 and has since ran his first, and many more, 230+ mile
per hour passes, a first for any Sitko Family race car. Career
Best in Top Alcohol Funny Car: 5.87 seconds at 242 mph. |
Ken Sitko - Crew Chief 
Ken has over 30 years of drag racing
experience where he has
crewed, driven, tuned and served as crew chief. Ken was raised around drag racing by his father, George. He started driving
an A Gas Dragster at the age of 16 and quickly moved up to Top Alcohol Dragster. He found an abundance of success in this
class, winning the 1981 NHRA Canadian Division Championship, the 1985 AHRA World Championship and finishing 2nd
in NHRA's Division 6 points championship in 1989. He moved to crew chief in 1990 when Bryan Davidchuk took over driver
responsibilities for the Arctic Traveller. Ken tuned Bryan to many major race victories and the team's first ever five-second
performance, a 5.873 at 233 miles per hour. In 1996, their run had ended as all parties involved needed to collect more resources.
It didn't take long. Ken helped out his younger brother Steve throughout the 1998 race season with his Top Alcohol Dragster before
teaming with Serge Dion in 1999. The team won two AHRA World Finals crowns and the 2001 NHRA Canadian National Open
title.
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Brittany Sitko
 Brittany
helps everyone on the team maintain a happy attitude, if she was
not around we would forget how to have fun!
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Carla Smith
 Funny
Car driver Nathan Sitko's fabulous girlfriend joined the team in late
2005. Carla gets Nathan dressed in his fire suit and
safety equipment before each pass, making sure he is safe and
ready to go. You'll see her on track
as well guiding the Funny Car back from the burnout. She
also helps plan meals for the weekend and cooks for the crew.
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Dawn Ettinger
Photo Coming Soon!
Dawn joined the team in 2007 with husband Greg. She
helps out with general maintenance on the team. |
George Sitko
George Sitko is the team's advisor. Located in Southern California near Los Angeles George
works for himself, building mag drives for all the pros and other racing components, and
is always busy fabricating something new or fixing various race
parts. He is a very valuable part of Sitko Family Racing, without
him we wouldn't be able to do what we love to do. George is a pioneer in drag racing in Alberta
and was part of the famous Regals Car Club. He built his first roadster in
his basement and taught all his children through hard work at the race car shop. He
has worked with Terry Capp, Yuichi Oyama, Robert Reehl, Bob Vandergriff Jr. and
many others.
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| Greg Ettinger
 2009
will be Greg's third season with the team. He joined the
Sitko's in 2007 when he came out with Troy and Nathan's Uncle to
help out and watch during Troy's licensing passes in Edmonton
and has been hooked ever since.
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Irene Sitko
Irene organizes the daily necessities that the guys often forget about while working on the
cars.
Without her everyone would starve, not know where to sleep, and
the place would be a mess. She is the team's videographer
on the starting line.
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| Lawrence Bosse
 2009 will mark
8 years that Lawrence Bosse has been with Sitko Family Racing. Lawrence has been involved in drag racing and a friend
of the Sitko Family for over 30 years. Lawrence's duties include bottom end maintenance
in between rounds and his overall mechanical
knowledge is a great help to team SFR. Lawrence befriends all the racers at the track and guards the trailer at night.
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Lenard Smith
 Lenard
started with the team in 2006 part time, and in 2007 joined the
team full time, 2009 will be his third full season. As a
heavy duty mechanic by trade, Lenard knows his way around a tool
box and is quickly gaining knowledge in the racing world.
He is involved in general maintenance and also works on the
bottom end of the Funny Car.
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| Mark Day  Mark
joined the team in the winter of 2007, helping to prepare the
cars for the season. He comes from a very mechanical
background which makes him a very helpful addition to the team.
Mark is learning quickly how much work a race car can be and is
loving every minute of it.
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Pete Gillis
Photo Coming Soon!
Pete is new to the Sitko Family Racing team for the 2009
racing season. He comes from a drag racing family and has
mostly built and raced door cars and a couple rear engine super
comp cars. He has also built a couple of altereds and is
in the process of putting together a 125” bantam
altered. Welcome aboard Pete!
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| Shelley Hambleton
 Troy Sitko's
fiancée Shelley joined the team in
2006. She helps Troy get ready before each run and guides
him back from the burnout. Shelley helps Carla and Irene
plan and prepare meals for
the crew.
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Sheryl Ogonoski
 Crew
Chief Ken Sitko's sister Sheryl has been taking photos at the
race track for several years and has developed quite an eye for
taking the perfect shot. You'll see her roaming the pit
area to find that perfect candid shot, and she's not afraid of a
little tire smoke and noise as she takes great on-track photos
as well! She takes photos for the Sitko team, and has also
become one of the sought after photographers for many other race
teams at the track.
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Troy Sitko
 Troy started his time behind the wheel with the
family junior dragster for 6 years, winning many races and finishing 2nd in the 1998 season points series at Bud Park.
He began making test passes in the team's Top Alcohol Dragster in 2003,
and in 2007 acquired his TAD license and piloted the team's TAD for the
2007 and 2008 seasons with a career best 5.936 second blast at 232 mph. Troy will be crewing on the TAFC in '09 and
also plans to attempt licensing in the Funny Car. |
Zane Sitko
We figured that there weren't enough Sitko's at the track, so Ken called up his cousin Zane and he has become a regular around the Sitko Family Racing
pit area. Zane's love for drag racing is at the natural Sitko level that all family members are born with (very high, almost volatile) and he will be seen at the track again
in 2009 in fine form.
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