Tue, 28 Nov 2006, 10:11 AM Phillip Truitt...He's Young And He's Good

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Truitt and team celebrate win.

Historically, father's are always proud of their sons, and that's why it was no surprise when I spoke to Jesse Truitt and he summed up his son's win at the Summit Racing E/T Series championships in Pomona by saying, "He's young and he's good." At twenty-two years old, Phillip is young, and with a national championship to his credit already, he is definitely good. But that "good" goes further than just his huge win in Pomona. Phillip is a former Jr. Dragster Division champion, and in the past four years at his home track, U.S. 13 in Delmar, Delaware, he has finished no lower that fourth place in the points. And, as I always say, in the interest of fair reporting, in those years his dad, Jesse, has finished no lower than sixth in the points. I guess when you look at it that way, Phillip came to Pomona with a pretty good gene pool from which to draw from and he made it pay off with a win, the biggest of his young career.

When I contacted Phillip this past weekend he was doing what any normal, twenty-two year old would be doing at this time of the year, he was racing. "The weather will get too cold to race soon," he said. "So I wanted to get as much racing in now as I can. My game plan is to win enough money to keep on racing." With the jackpot he hit in Pomona you can look for this talented youngster to be racing for a long time to come. "In a perfect world I'd like to turn pro," he said. "I really admire Dave Connolly and what he has done. He is some racer. I also got to spend some time with Greg (Anderson) and Jason (Line) at the Summit dinner in Pomona and they couldn't have been nicer. They offered me a lot of encouragement and that was nice to hear." Phillip, who got on an airplane for the first time in his life to go to Pomona, said that he

Phillip Truitt

thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience in California, and that he would have enjoyed it even if he hadn't won the event. "They (NHRA & Summit) really treated us well. Everything about it was nice. I even had a little issue with deep staging (which wasn't allowed) and the NHRA and Summit folks talked it out and explained it to me in a really nice way." With any such issues behind him, Phillip went out and qualified number one in the Pro eliminator and that earned him a bye in the first round. After that he went out and beat Curtis Monson from Mission Raceway in the semi-finals and Gary Schueneman from Grove Creek Raceway in the finals. All of that happened after his car almost didn't even get to the track. "We all decided to fly out, including my dad, my girlfriend Kylie, my step-mom, my brother and sister and my grandfather so we hired a car transporter to bring the car to Pomona. Well, once we had set up the date I found out that the converter in my car was bad and needed to be replaced and that would take some time. So, we called the transport company and they said that since we were changing dates that it would cost an extra $700 to get the car to California." Well, the car did get to the track, in fact it got there three days before the Truitt entourage, but it was a mess when it arrived. "They actually broke down bringing it to the track on a wrecker," Phillip said. "It was all dirty and we had to clean it up. It was kind of funny, since all the other guys had trailers and things and all we had was our car." Apparently, that's all he needed, as Phillip's trusty 1976 Nova went the distance, a quarter-mile at a time, to give the win to the east coast driver.

With a car that normally runs between 12.60 and 12.90 depending on the weather conditions, Phillip is used to getting the head start in his races. "Some guys think that's a disadvantage because you get to leave first which means you can also foul first, and if I red light the race is all over. I would say that I leave first about ninety-five percent of the time, but when you've got a really consistent car like mine, it's not usually a problem. If I get the car to perform over the first sixty feet without spinning the tires, I have a good shot at winning." Those first sixty feet offered something of a surprise to Phillip and his Nova the first time he came to the line out west. "The way they prep the track for the national events is something else. I actually bogged the car on my first run but then we made the adjustments and it went

Truitt vs. Gary Schueneman in the final.

pretty well the rest of the weekend." Leaving first and being able to "keep your foot on the gas all the way down the track," also proved to be an advantage for Phillip, both in Pomona and at the Division 1 Summit E/T Finals at Maple Grove. There, in round six he dialed a 12.91 and ran 12.91 while Lester Holtzapple, in a ten-second car, broke out trying to catch him. In the semi-finals Phillip dialed a 12.88 and ran 12.89 while his opponent, Jim Butera in a much faster car, ran 10.83 but broke out. In the next round Phillip dialed 12.86 and won when Jody Ames, who dialed 9.41, fouled out. "It makes it tough on those faster cars when they know I got a good green light and they have to run hard to catch me." In Pomona, he worked his magic again as both Monson and Schueneman eliminated themselves, one with a break-out run and one with a foul. You've got to love it when a plan comes together, don't you?

As mentioned, Phillip comes from a pretty good racing family. "My dad has raced for a long time and he's a five-time champion at out home track. And right now, I'm racing with my grandfather and he's helping me a lot." When I asked Phillip's dad if they have raced against each other he said, "Yes, and I think I'm one up on him right now." When I asked Phillip for his version of the story he said that, "I think we're about even." Whatever, suffice it to say that Phillip has been taught well. "Everyone in the family is very competitive and that makes it fun." In addition to his family, Phillip also got some advice and counseling from a fellow U.S. 13 racer who made the trip to California a year earlier. "I was kind of bummed because I finished second at our track, but then Jim Farmer came over and told me that I can win the bracket finals from the number two spot. 'You just can't slip up' is what he told me." Apparently Phillip took that advice to heart since he went to Maple Grove and outlasted the other 253 drivers in the eliminator bracket to earn the right to fly to Pomona. "Racing in Pomona was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again." With the track record that this twenty-something has, I wouldn't bet against him making his second trip to California as early as next year.

In addition to his dad, Phillip said that he would like to thank "everyone at U.S. 13 Dragway and everyone I race with there who makes me a better racer." He also would like to thank his grandfather, Sonny Holmes, his mom and his girlfriend, Kylie, for their support.