Wed, 16 Jun 2010, 10:18 AM Diehl Ready to Thunder Again After Thrash to Rebuild Funny Car

By Leeza Diehl Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

BRISTOL, Tenn. --

Jeff Diehl

No one would have blamed Jeff "the Surfer" Diehl if he would have put his dream on hiatus after a broken header caused his Funny Car to launch spectacularly and crash during qualifying at the Union Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago on June 5. Diehl hadn't missed an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in 2010, but even he didn't know when he would get to strap into the cockpit of his 7,000 horsepower nitro Funny Car again.

It was the second major blow the independent racer took, only nine weeks after launching a body off his car at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. However, Diehl and his friends put forth a gargantuan effort in just over a week's time to have his flopper back on the racetrack at this weekend's NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

Top Fuel crew chief Richard Hartman was generous enough to allow Diehl access to his shop, the home of Hartman Machine Works and Horton Race Cars, in Belton, S.C. Veteran chassis builder J-Ed Horton front-halved his chassis. Diehl was joined at the shop by Dustin Gatliff and Joey Junta, and they made busy in sorting out their racing inventory and assembling the race car after the new front-half was complete. Diehl himself crafted new tin for his hot rod.

"I'm using the same body that blew up in Charlotte," said Diehl. "I repaired it and gave it to Mike at Rimz One to hang up in his shop, so he returned it to put back on my car. We even got the tin and stuff anodized, so it's a race car right now and not something we threw together."

Diehl, who has spent this season attempting to attract sponsors and make a living on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, took a serious blow in the Chicago mishap, but the encouragement of his friends and supporters helped him pick himself up off the canvas.

"My wife, Leeza, told me that if I came home, I wasn't going to fix it," said Diehl. "I stayed with the car where I had nothing to do except work. With J-Ed welding on it during his work hours and Dustin and Joey with me all the time, it's amazing how much we got done in a week.

"I couldn't have done this without the people who support our team. Rimz One Wheels, Tires & Accessories was with us the whole way. Lescure Company is going to help us out on the Western Swing, and knowing that was a huge motivator to get back out there. Pirana Z Apparel is going to come back on board with us, too."