Thu, 1 Jan 2009, 02:26 PM
Everybody Got What They Wanted!!
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By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc.
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Alan Johnson
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It's no surprise right now that two of the biggest stories
in the sport are the upcoming debut of the new
Alan Johnson teams and the concern over the number of fuel cars
that we will see at the first race (and subsequent races) in 2009. I have been
involved with this sport for a long time and I can't remember seeing a season
that, apparently, will start with such pessimism. Of course, the financial
situation that is affecting the drag racing teams isn't limited to our sport, but
it is being felt in all forms of sports and business in general. Just today
there were several announcements of companies in this country who will be
laying off employees who have never done that before. Even major franchises in
other professional sports are having problems, so for those who think it is
something that is unique to drag racing, it isn't. From a wider perspective, it
might be better for everyone in the country if it were just drag racing that
was having problems, but it's not. It will be an interesting year and everyone,
sanctioning bodies, teams, sponsors and even fans will have to take a look at
how they do business and how they spend their money. Stay tuned..
Larry Dixon
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The long-awaited announcement of the driver for Alan
Johnson's Top Fuel team came a few days ago and it is, to almost no one's
surprise,
Larry Dixon. There were a
lot of rumors going around about who may get the job and some, and I have no
idea where they got this information, even reported that Alan, himself, would
drive the car. All anyone had to do was ask Alan about that to know that it was
never going to happen. I told Alan the other day that I had a better chance of
driving the car than he did, to which he responded, "Well, you've got the right
build for a driver." I reminded him that what I didn't have was skill,
experience, ability, aptitude and courage, and I believe all of those things
are needed in a driver. Still, after reviewing Alan's stint as a driver in the
family's alky car years ago (many years ago), maybe those things aren't as
necessary as I thought. Oh well, let's move on....Coming off a season when he
just led the
Army team to another
POWERade World Championship and a
record setting season, it will be interesting to see how Alan's new team does
right from the beginning. We could get an indication early in the year because
they will, like several other fuel teams, be in
Florida in a few days to test at the all new
Palm Beach International Raceway.
With its all-concrete surface (it's actually concrete from the burnout area to
the last turn off), the track has already earned rave reviews from those who
have been there. Granted, the test sessions have been done mostly by Pro Stock
teams but they all praised the facility. It's flat, smooth, even on both sides
and one of the nicer racing surfaces in the country, according to those to whom
I have spoken. Plus it's warm down there and that's a real plus, especially if
you want to be able to make as many runs as you want. I met several of the
people from the track at the recent PRI show in
Orlando and they said that, in addition to
the weather, they have another thing in their favor and that is they don't have
any noise restrictions or curfews. I guess when you're right near a jet engine
plant, noise isn't really a consideration.
Jason McCulloch
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Getting back to Alan and his team, I saw a quote from Larry
Dixon on NHRA.com where he talked about his new gig and his new crew chief,
Jason McCulloch. Larry said, "To think
that I started my career at the same place and time as Jason, and now we're
working together as driver and crew chief is really amazing." That got me
thinking.just where did they work together many years ago? Well, the answer is that
in 1986, when
Larry Minor was
campaigning a Top Fuel and a Funny Car, Larry was on the team and so was Jason.
Well, they were both just barely on the team. "I was beyond the lowest man on
the team," Larry said with a laugh. "I didn't even get to work on the race car
much, but I was still part of the team." By way of a little background, Larry
initially got involved with the Minor team after his dad drove for Larry in the
late 1970's. "He raced with Larry for a while and that included running
national and divisional races," Larry said. And Jason's dad, Ed, was driving
the Funny Car for Mr. Minor, so he would often be at the races, too. "Jason was
still in high school at the time but he would get to come to the races on the
weekends and that's when we worked together," Larry said. And the times when
Larry Minor didn't race his car, both Larry and Jason would get to hang out and
work in the Funny Car pit area. "Now it's Jason's turn to be a crew chief, a
position he has definitely earned and I'm looking forward to being on the same
team with him," Larry said..Between working on the Larry Minor team and driving
for
Don Prudhomme, Larry also spent
some time driving for
Jack Mitchell's
Top Alcohol Dragster. "We raced at a few national events and some of the
divisional races and I had a good time doing that." He joined Don's team in
1988 and, if you're really good, you can catch a glimpse of a young Larry Dixon
in the winner's circle with "Snake,"
Mike
Kloeber and the rest of the
Skoal
team at the 1988 Sanair race, Larry's first winning race as part of Don's team...Larry
added that he is looking forward to the 2009 season and hasn't really set any
expectations or goals for the year. "This season is so unusual because I think
every one of the top ten teams from 2008 has had some movement, whether it's
sponsors, drivers, crew chiefs or crew members, and that should make for a very
interesting season." Yes it should.
Spencer Massey
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The entire process of Larry going from the Don Prudhomme
team to Alan Johnson's was something that we haven't seen in our sport before,
that is, a driver actually buying out his contract so that he could go with
another team. I guess "free agent" might be the phrase that comes to mind. "I
worked real hard on getting this done," Larry said. "In the end I think it
worked out well for everyone. I'm where I want to be and I'm sure that Spencer
(Massey) is where he wants to be. I guess it worked out great for everyone."
Time will tell how it really worked out, but I'm sure Larry is right. He is now
with a team that will enter the season with extremely high expectations while Spencer
will begin his NHRA Top Fuel career driving for one of the real legends in the
sport, Don Prudhomme. "Since I was four years old all I wanted to do was drive
a Top Fuel car," Spencer said. "I guess you could say that I'm living my dream."
Not bad for a twenty-six year old, is it? Spencer said that he got to meet the
team last week at the annual office party and they even put him to work on the
CNC machines. "I felt kind of funny just walking around and hanging out," he
said. "So I was glad when they gave me something to do." Spencer is not new to
working on machines, since he did work on the clutch and he did a lot of the
Don Prudhomme and Massey
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machine work while driving for
Gene Snow
and
Mitch King this past year. "I
would mix the fuel and do the chutes and things like that at the races with the
Top Fuel car," he said. "And I did a lot of work on the A/F car with Gene."
Spencer won the IHRA Top Fuel championship this year and he has to be
considered the early favorite in the Rookie of the Year chase on the NHRA tour
in 2009. He did compete at one NHRA race in TF in 2008 when he made the field
in
Dallas
before losing to
JR Todd in the
first round.
Getting a chance to drive a Top Fuel car is one thing,
getting the chance to drive for a legend is something else. "I had never really
met Don or talked to him until the Topeka
race earlier this year. We met and talked for a little while, and then in
Brainerd we spoke again and he said there might be a chance to add another car
to his team in 2010." After that Spencer was hired by Don and he thought that
his ride would come about in 2010, but instead, it happened a year earlier.
"I've got some huge shoes to fill but I think I can do it. To have Don place
his confidence in me really means a lot. I just can't wait to stand on the
gas." He'll get a chance to do that at the first Las Vegas test session and then, again, in Phoenix before racing for
Donnie Bender and Todd Smith
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real at
Pomona
and the Winternationals. "Right now I'm looking for a place up in the
Brownsburg area so I can be near the team and the shop. In fact, I'm going up
there later this week." Spencer said that he had a chance to meet
Donnie Bender, Todd Smith and most of
the crew and they all seem really excited about the new season. "It's a great
opportunity and I thank Don for it," he said. During his time in Indy Spencer
also had an opportunity to meet some of the folks from
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, the primary sponsor on the car.
"They've been with 'Snake' for over twenty years and they're great folks and a
wonderful sponsor. I look forward to working with them and representing the
company."...It's a shame that Larry and Spencer are both such nice guys because,
with all that went on during this transition period, we could have had a pretty
good rivalry shaping up between them.
Speaking of JR Todd, he'll be joining
Morgan Lucas, Bob Vandergriff and
Jeg Coughlin at the big bobsled competition this week in
Lake Placid, New
York.
Geoff
Bodine, who runs the show up there, had asked me if I wanted to come and
drive one of the sleds but I told him I was holding out for the Alan Johnson
gig. Just my luck that Larry got that job and now it's too late to go to
New York. Oh well, maybe
next year.
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