FEATURE- From the Tower by Bob Frey

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Thu, 19 Jun 2008, 09:34 PM

And How Do You Pronounce Your Name?

By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Malcolm Wahle

I have noticed, and even commented on this before, that there seems to be an influx of new talent in the alcohol classes this year. Specifically in the Top Alcohol Dragster class where I've noticed a lot of new names popping up over the past few months. Some of these are drivers who have stepped up in class from one of the lower sportsman categories while a few are actually new to the sport entirely. Among the drivers in those two groups I would include Kevin Wayman, Ashley Bart, Del Cox Jr. and Justin Davis just to name a few. Several of those drivers competed in the Top Comp and / or Top Dragster class on the west coast and have moved to a slightly quicker class of racing with the move to the Top Alcohol Dragster category. And then there is Malcolm Wahle, who really didn't race much, at least not on a regular basis, until recently. And in case you're wondering, his named is pronounced "Wally," just like the trophy that he wants to win.

Malcolm Wahle
I first noticed Malcolm's name on the qualifying list at the Division 5 Lucas Oil series event in Great Bend, Kansas earlier this year. It was on the same list with Scott Peterson and Eugene Tumbarello, and they're not exactly household names, either. At that event Malcolm qualified and then ran the Division 5 champion, Richard Putz, in the first round where he came out on the short side of the encounter. "We're really new at this," Malcolm said. "We have an older car and a new team and we're just trying to learn a little more about it every time we go to the line." With a couple of divisional events and one national race to his credit so far this year, Malcolm has recorded a best of 5.56 at better than 250 miles per hour, but he says it's only the beginning. "I have a new car on order from Joe Monden that should be done later this summer. I'd like to be able to bring that out, make some good runs with it, get the car into the 5.40's or 5.30's and then make a more concerted effort at racing next year." That sounds like a good game plan for the fifty-three year old grandfather. "I have three children and five grandchildren," he said while preparing to make a run at the O'Reilly Summernationals in Topeka recently. "The good thing about the grandchildren is you can spoil them and then send them home." Nobody agrees with you on that philosophy more than I do, Malcolm.

When Malcolm was in the service many years ago he was stationed on the east coast and that's when he got his first taste of drag racing. "I saw my first top fuel cars at a track in Virginia. They were only going about 5.50's then but I loved it anyway." He also admits to having a Dodge Challenger that had a hemi in it and that ran about eleven seconds. "I raced that a little but I never had a serious race car until now." Well, I guess that depends on your definition of serious. Malcolm did have a ten second car that he raced for about three months and he followed that up with a Top Dragster entry. But, like his earlier cars, that didn't last very long either. "I really wanted to run in the dragster class, a heads-up class where the quicker you run the better off you

are. I wasn't crazy about any of the handicap or index classes." With his mind made up Malcolm set out to find a car that would fit his plans and his budget. "This car was available and I bought it. Bob Holley used to run it and I think it's an old David Baca car. It's about a 268-inch wheelbase car and it's a hundred and fifty pounds heavy right now. We know that we need to get the new car out if we want to be competitive but right now this is a good learning opportunity." He also admits to enjoying the tuning part of the race car almost as much as the driving part. "It's a real challenge to be able to make your car run faster than the other guys. You have to adjust to the changing track conditions and weather conditions and a lot of time how you do depends a lot on what the guy in the other lane does. I have an engineering background so I look forward to the tuning challenge." He went on to say that the driving part is fun, too. "I don't know if I would do this if I couldn't drive it. I really enjoy that and I look forward to getting better at both aspects, the tuning and the driving as I get further into this."

As he steps up in class, Malcolm does so with a very small crew. "There are just a couple of us who work on the car at the races. Chris Walker and Tim Bright come with me and they help out and I have Bob Otto helping with the tune-up." Bob, who has been involved with fuel systems for many years, hasn't been active as a crew chief for a while, but he and Malcolm seem to be working well together. "When I got this car I talked with Tippy Pierce and he had a manifold from Bob and he put me in touch with him. It's a little different now than it was the last time Bob was tuning one of these cars, especially with the nitro percentage, but he's doing a good job and he's been a big help." Malcolm added that he would like to see some continual improvement in the performance of the car at each event for the rest of the year. "I'm excited and I'm looking forward to getting the new car. We'll probably run at the Topeka points race later this year and then Red River and Noble, Oklahoma. And, if all goes well, we'd like to make the national event in Dallas and then get set for next year." And when he's not racing, he'll spend time with his business, a company that makes control panels for gas compressors and big turbine engines. "We ship things all over the world and I do some traveling with that, but I can't be away for too long. I've got some good people working with me and they make a lot of the trips now. We go to some out of the way places, like Bakersfield, California." Hey, Malcolm, do you know there's drag strip in Bakersfield?

As the season goes on I fully expect to see a lot of these new drivers attending more of the races, both on the divisional and the national level. And if history is any indication they'll be visiting the winner's circle before too long, and that's when someone will have to hand a "Wally" to Wahle. Malcolm Wahle.