Thu, 26 Feb 2009, 10:06 PM Don't Make Me Vacuum My House

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2009 Auto Imagery, Inc.

One thing that I have discovered over the many years that I have been involved with drag racing is that this is a very giving, caring community. When a racer is in need, the rest of his "family" is more than ready and willing to chip in and help out. Some of these charitable acts are very obvious, like DRAW, drag racing's charitable organization that has been helping injured racers for a long time. The men and women who work with this group do so out of love for their fellow racers, and the entire sport is better for it. There are other examples of charitable works, too, like the Speedway Children's Charities at the Bruton Smith-owned tracks, or the B.R.A.K.E.S. foundation that Doug Herbert began last year. At Infineon Raceway they have started the Eric Medlen "Night at the Fior," an evening that raises money in memory of the late driver. And then there are individual moments, like the huge donation Connie Kalitta made to Doug Herbert last year or the annual car show that John Force puts on in order to get toys for the underprivileged children in his area. The list goes on, but you get the idea, the racing community is always there to help a racer in need. For the past two years, and going into 2009, there is another activity that touches a lot of lives, and that's the "Mail From Home" program that was started by Rodger and Karen Comstock.

Rodger and Karen Comstock

Before explaining this program, permit me to tell you a little bit about Rodger Comstock. At sixty-six years old, and admittedly "retired three times already," Rodger is as active as anyone I know regardless of age. He runs a very successful business, races a car, supports Jack Beckman's racing activities and enjoys time with his wife of thirty-seven years, Karen. "Not bad for a retired guy is it,?" he asked. Rodger began work as a special agent for the Department of Justice before moving on to manage the Services Division for international conglomerate, Borg Warner. After retiring from that job he began an executive recruiting firm that he eventually sold to Monster.com. After a stint as a consultant he was contacted by the German post office and he began the Mail Terminal Services program. "We have about fifteen terminals around the country and we process a lot of mail both domestically and internationally." When I asked what he means by "a lot" Rodger told me. "In December of last year, on one day we processed 880,000 pounds of mail on one twelve hour shift." Yep, that's a lot. After starting the MTS company Rodger began handling a lot of military mail, too. "We were servicing the bases and camps in Iraq and Afghanistan and that was a real challenge since every camp has its own zip code." Rodger said that as his employees were sorting the mail they noticed something unique about the letters and packages. "There were messages on the outside of them," he said. "Things like 'Mommy, come home soon,' or 'Daddy, be safe.' And when you looked around you saw that everyone was reading those messages and crying. It was very touching." It also slowed the sorting process down a lot but it did get Rodger thinking about what he could do. "We contacted the military and

Jack Beckman in MTS Funny Car

asked how we could help, and out of those discussions came the 'Mail from Home' program." The program is in place at every NHRA national event and fans are invited to stop by the Don Schumacher pit area where Jack Beckman's Funny Car is parked. There they can fill out cards and put a special message on the card to one of our men and women oversees. "Only about twenty-five percent of the troops get mail on a regular basis," Rodger said. "That's one of the reasons why this program has been such a success." Last year the "Mail from Home" program sent 100,000 cards to our men and women in uniform and Rodger says that this year they would like to hit 125,000. "The troops expect to get letters from mom and dad and their families, but when they get one from a complete stranger that encourages and supports them it means a whole lot."

While he was working at all those jobs from which he is now retired, Rodger also found time to

Rodger in his Super Comp car.

meet Karen and go racing. "We met at Catalina Island over Easter weekend," Karen said. "Now we all know that, historically, once you get back to the mainland those meetings don't amount to much, but ours did." That was thirty-seven years ago, and shortly after they met they began racing. Rodger raced at the 1966 Winternationals where he campaigned a 1937 Chevrolet. "It ran in the low 15-second range which was pretty good for those days." And Karen, who now runs a '57 Chevy convertible in Super Gas, began her career with a 1955 Chevy in the B/G class. "We had moved east and we raced at Island Dragway, Englishtown and Atco," she said. "The car was called 'Blondie' and it was a pretty popular car at those tracks." In addition to driving, and because Rodger was really into racing, Karen became quite a mechanic in her own right. "I've worked on transmissions, rear ends, axles and things like that and I enjoy it. But don't ask me to vacuum my house!" When I caught up with her at the recent National Open at Speedworld Dragway in Wittman, Arizona, she was getting ready to do some maintenance on her car. "It threw the rods

Karen Comstock

out," she said. "I checked it over after the run and knew something was wrong. We hurt it pretty badly." Rodger, meanwhile, was waiting his turn at running his 2008 Yancer-built, Super Comp dragster. "It's got a 637 cubic inch Madcap engine and makes about 1,300 horsepower and it drives like a dream." Following their weekend at Speedworld, where Rodger made it to the semi-finals, the two competed at the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, where Karen made it all the way to the fourth round in Super Gas. Rodger's best finish, for the record, was a win at a Division 6 points race in Woodburn, Oregon a few years ago.

The Comstock's are involved in another pet project at the races and that's their support and sponsorship of the Jack Beckman-driven, Valvoline-sponsored Funny Car. "We met Jack when we moved back to California in the mid '90's. We wanted to help him further his drag racing career.

Beckman in MTS Top Fueler

He's such a racer's-racer and he's willing to help anyone." So, after their initial meeting, and after watching him progress through the alky ranks, they helped Jack get a ride with Dexter Tuttle's Top Fuel car. "When Dexter decided he wanted to go in a different direction we contacted Don Schumacher and set up a test program for a couple of races." As we all know, that test program has turned into a full-time gig for Jack and another way for Rodger and Karen to spend their retirement years. "It's been great to watch him start, win his first race, set the national record and contend for the championship," Rodger said. "And it's the perfect way for us to promote the 'Mail from Home' program. It works out well for everyone." And it's just another example of some drag racers, some very dedicated drag racers, giving back to the community, only this time it's not just the racing community but it's the community of the men and women who are serving our country. "We hope every race fan will take a moment to stop by and fill out a card," Karen said. "To know what that means to our service men and women is a feeling that's even better than winning a race." Plus it frees up her time so she can vacuum the house, or take a trip to Catalina Island.