Thu, 03 Nov 2011, 20:48 PM Chris and Karen's Excellent Vacation

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Chris and the family.

There have been a lot of great "vacation" movies over the years. Of course the most famous are the five movies from the National Lampoon folks, the ones that included trips to Las Vegas, Europe and other exotic locations. Anyone who saw those movies knows that not everything went according to plan, but then when you have Chevy Chase in the lead role what would you expect? When racers plan their year they usually map everything in detail, from their first race to their last, and the word "vacation" is rarely included. For most racers racing is a job, a way of life, and drag racers take it very seriously. Occasionally a racer will plan to take his family on a trip that includes a stop at a camp ground or an amusement park but the racing is always first and foremost on the agenda. That's normally the way it is with Chris DePascale, the Super Street winner at the recent Arizona Nationals. Chris lives in Parlin, New Jersey so it's unusual to see him racing in the desert at a track that's located in Division 7. "It's a long story how I ended up racing there," he said. Yes, but it's a story with a very happy ending.

Chris's story, like so many others, began by watching his father race. "Dad had a Pro Street car that he used to run. Since we own a paint shop you can imagine that his car was always very nice looking." But all the frequent trips to the track started taking their toll on the Chevy Nova, so Chris's father went out and got himself a real race car. That car, a Chevrolet Vega wagon, proved to be a very good investment since the senior DePascale had a lot of success with it. "Dad went to half a dozen national finals," Chris said. "He won his first race in Atlanta in 2002, went to the final there the next year and added a win and a runner-up at both Columbus and at our home track, Englishtown. That Vega was very good to him."

Tommy won his first race in Atlanta in 2002.

While dad was racing Chris began his driving career behind the wheel of a Jr. Dragster, and to say that he was successful would be a huge understatement. "I always told mom and dad that I wanted to get a Jr. Dragster," he said. If the truth be told, Chris was actually saving his money to get either a Jr. Dragster or a jet ski. Really! "One Christmas I gave them the money that I had saved up for the car and they went out in the garage and brought the car in." Chris took it from there, and over one hundred wins later he retired from the Jr. ranks and joined his dad with a big car of his own. "I have to say that I had an advantage in the Jr. car since I was fifteen when I started and they ran all the age groups together at that time," Chris said. "It gave some of us, like me and my friend James Antonette, a real edge." Be that as it may Chris still had one of the more successful careers in the Jr. Dragster class.

After taking to the track in a variety of street vehicles, like the family's Chevy Suburban, Chris got serious about racing and he hopped into dad's 1966 Nova. "I wanted to get used to going fast before I got into my own 1969 Nova since that car ran in the low 10s. After a few years of foot-brake racing and a few Super Street races with my Nova I sold it and bought the Mullis-built dragster that I still race." Chris got off to a good start in 2005 when he went to the final round at a couple of divisional races and he almost won the division championship. When I say "almost won the championship" I mean that Chris lost the title by one round. The following year, 2006, wasn't so good for Chris on the track but it was very good off the track. "I couldn't seem to get any breaks at the races and I didn't win anything, but I did get married so that made it a very good year."

DePascale vs. Ronnie Siani in 2007 Englishtown final.

2007 was his best year on the national level and he made it to a pair of final rounds, winning at his home track in Englishtown and finishing in the runner-up spot in Virginia. That E'town win showed just how good he was because he had a .007 reaction time and ran right on the 8.90 dial in the final round. And that brings us to the Arizona race. "Pete Biondo called me and asked if I was going to race the car in Phoenix and I told him that I would if I locked up the divisional championship at the Englishtown points race. If I didn't, I told him that he could race it because I would have to go to Reynolds (GA) for the points race there." Since Chris was in Arizona you know how that story ended.

The car that Chris raced in Arizona, and the reason that he wanted to go there in the first place, is family related. "Don Rudolph owns the car and he's my father-in-law. He's had the car for over thirty years and he told me that if I came to town I could race it." The car, a 1962 Nova with a 396 cubic inch small block Chevy engine, was originally painted at the family's shop and has been basically the same for about fifteen years. "I've taken the family on vacations before and we've stopped by and visited various tracks while we were on vacation," Chris said. "But this was the first time we took a vacation with the expressed idea of going racing. His wife, Karen, and their two children, Tyler and Addison went with him. "It was a great time, well it was great after a few miscues getting out of town." Those miscues included a flight that had to be changed and an accident coming home from the race at Maple Grove, but that's what made it such a great adventure and it's what made the ending even more special. "We really did have a great time. We even took the kids to the Arizona state fair between time runs and eliminations and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. When I first got out there Don suggested that we go to Speed World to watch the races. I had never met Jim Hughes or Kevin Kleineweber and that was a real treat. Plus, I learned a lot about the racers, their tendencies and what their cars did." He must have been a good student since he won the race, his first since 2007. "It couldn't have ended any better," he said. "I had a great time with my family, met a lot of nice people and won a race. What more could you ask for?"

De Pascale vs. Ryan Giacone in the Phoenix final.

Now that the racing season on the East Coast is over Chris has put his car away for the year but he is already making plans for the 2012 season. "I haven't seen the (class) schedule yet for next year's national events, but if they run Super Street at Phoenix, and I have the opportunity, I intend to go out there and try to defend my championship." Why not, after all, they made sequels to those Chevy Chase movies, so why not one for Chris and Karen?

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