Thu, 8 Jul 2010, 12:08 PM Dragsters and Tigers and Final Rounds, Oh My

By Kelly Wade Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

When Tigerflow Racing Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Monroe Guest clicked off a set of incredibly impressive runs at NHRA's national event in Las Vegas last fall, including a 5.155 at 281.01 mph that was the seventh quickest and fifth fastest pass in the history of the category, folks sat up and took note. It was Guest's first season competing in the class, and he was wasting no time in establishing his A/Fuel dragster as a hungry predator with a fearless and effective commander at the wheel.

Guest, who is co-owner of Tigerflow Systems, Inc. with Marvin Yoder, had a little help, of course. Then-crew chief Scot Johnson had developed a new cam that contributed to an incredible surge in power.

Guest was 2008 Division Four Top Dragster Champion. Photo by Robert Grice

"We went out there with this new cam, and the car just loved it," said Guest, the 2008 Top Dragster champion for the South Central Division. "We thought, boy, we got the cat by the tail. The only problem was that we were having a problem in the shake zone, and I had to pedal the car almost every round. We went to [the Finals in] Pomona and put it on the pole with a .19 pedaling the car, so we knew we had power, it was just taming it. We really thought coming in to 2010 that we were going to be the ones everyone was chasing."

The team was thrown a big curveball, though, with a rule change regarding fuel temperature that adversely affected their tune-up. Suddenly, all of their progress dissipated in a barrel of warm fuel, and they found themselves in a position that necessitated starting over from scratch.

"We thought we'd go to Florida and set the national record, and we couldn't even get out of our own way," recalled Guest of their season debut. "It just made so much horsepower. We didn't know which way to go with the car, and we really struggled with that."

Guest made his first final round appearance at the Houston national event next to Bill Reichert.

Guest bowed out in the second round in his first race of the season at the divisional event in Bradenton but quickly rebounded with a runner-up at the Gainesville divisional a week later. Struggles rose to the surface once again at the Gainesville national event and he recorded another second-round finish, but at the Houston national event, things began to fall into place.

A nasty bout of tire shake in his first shot at the track was but a memory and he ultimately earned a start from the No. 8 spot before socking away well-earned triumphs over Marty Thacker, John Finke, and Buddy Domingue en route to his first final round at a national event. In the other lane was reigning Top Alcohol Dragster champion Bill Reichert, who was fresh off of a semifinals victory that boosted him to 239 round wins, the most of any other driver in the category. Guest coolly launched a thousandth ahead of Reichert, who pulled in front at the 60 foot timer and kept the lead for the win.

Guest scored his first national event Wally in Chicago.

"We had some lucky rounds, I was getting some good lights, and the car was running good," said Guest. "We got outrun in the final by Reichert, but we were up against the best. That's like beating John Force; it can be done, but it's going to be hard to do. It was very exciting, but we were pretty let down, too, because we felt like we could have outrun him. We had the advantage, it was a race we could have won, and we gave it away."

The team was on a roll, though, and Guest logged another final-round finish at the divisional event at Texas Motorplex two weeks later, and then after a few weeks off, they traveled north to Chicago for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, where Guest out-qualified Reichert and then got around him in their semifinals match. The victory that he'd been so close to in Houston was once again within his grasp, and he wrapped his fingers around it at the conclusion of a title-round standoff with Jared Dreher in which he expertly battled through tire shake, got it hooked back up, and crossed the finish line first, 5.482 to 5.498.

One week after winning in Chicago, Guest triumphed in Englishtown over Mike Kosky.

The celebration had barely quieted when Guest drove his Todd Odum-owned Tigerflow rail to the winner's circle again just one week later at the NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown. The rain-delayed Monday final was a showdown with two-time E-town winner Mike Kosky, who had eight national event wins to his credit. Guest made his best run of the weekend with a 5.388 effort and won easily when Kosky pitched the blower belt.

The season scorecard looked pretty good, and Guest readily admitted that the year had already exceeded his expectations in terms of results. However, the unpleasant truth was that the car was struggling in the heat, and though Guest was pretty pro at pedaling, there were significant challenges that required addressing.

The Tigerflow team celebrated in the Englishtown winner's circle.

"Todd Odum, the car owner, drove the Topeka nationals while I was on vacation," said Oklahoma-based Guest. "They struggled in qualifying and went out the first round, and it seemed like in the heat, our car was not responding to anything we did. We went to Chicago and had a mixture of heat and cold, but it was cool enough for us to get some lucky rounds. When it was hot, I either tree'd the guy, or the guy smoked the tires like Reichert did in the semifinals against us.

"We went up to Englishtown and it was high water grains and high humidity, and, ironically, we never outran anybody. We were struggling, and we came back to Tulsa [for the divisional event], and the heat was miserable. The humidity was high and the track was hot. We could not get this car out of its own way, and we barely qualified and got beat first round. That's when we knew we were in trouble and had to make some changes. We made those changes, and hopefully it will turn the program around and we'll be more competitive in the heat."

The revised program included a changing of the guard, with former crew chief Johnson leaving the team and chassis builder Joe Monden stepping in to twist the wrenches.

The 1972 Natural High Vega provided the opportunity to break into the 10-second range.

"Scot is a great guy, and he's smart, but I felt like we needed to go in a different direction from the combination that he runs and the development he does on the engines," said Guest. "The next four races, it's going to be hot. If I don't do good there, I don't have a shot at the world title. I felt like I needed to get the car back to the basics and back to being competitive in the heat, and so we brought Joe on."

It would make sense that the shake up would prove effective; Guest seems to have a knack for establishing goals and identifying what needs to occur for success to ensue.

In grade school he got his first taste of drag racing when his father, Paul, took him to the then AHRA sanctioned Tulsa Raceway Park to see "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Ed "the Ace" McCulloch, and Shirley Muldowney, among others, and the experience set his course. In high school, he made his first foray into drag racing while under the wing of motorcycle mechanics instructor Mr. Baugus, and he rode his souped-up bike to a surprise win at Super Sunday, an all-day event featuring close to 300 motorcycle competitors. "From that moment on, I had that desire to drag race - and to win," said Guest.

In the early days, Guest got his kicks wheeling doorslammers .

His first race car was a '73 Camaro that he bracket raced for fun, but his desire back then was to drive a car that could break into the 10-second zone. The mission was accomplished when a racing buddy sold him a '72 Vega that he took to a 10.96 his first time out. Guest moved on to a '70 Camaro and then bought an '03 Jerry Bickel-built Grand Am formerly owned by Pro Stock racer Jim Yates. From his ever-increasing desire for speed was born an attraction to dragsters, and Tommy Phillips built him a brand new 2007 TNT Supercar dragster that he ran in IHRA for a spell before entering NHRA competition in 2008 and scoring the division 4 Top Dragster title in his debut season that included a divisional win at Memphis Motorsports Park.

"Once I got into a dragster for the first time, I knew right then that it was all I ever wanted to drive," he said. "I've been hooked ever since."

Guest in his Top Dragster in 2007. Photo by Robert Grice

With the encouragement of his wife Susan, daughters Jessica and Mercedes, and son Jack, Guest has come out swinging and displayed tremendous potential for even more success. Guest credits Tigerflow business partner Marvin Yoder as a vital supporter and also acknowledged Lucas Oil, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, Scot Johnson, and Todd Odum.

"Back-to-back wins in Top Alcohol Dragster is pretty phenomenal," said Guest, who is currently fourth in the standings with plenty of opportunity for advancement. "It's hard enough to win in this class because it's so competitive with a lot of great drivers and a lot of smart crew chiefs. We got everybody's attention, for sure. What I would like to do is license this year in a Top Fuel dragster and maybe run 1-3 races in Top Fuel next year in addition to Top Alcohol Dragster. It would be nice to drive the best of the best when it comes to power and speed. Whether or not that could turn into a full-time ride, I have no idea, but I would at least like to say I've done it.

"Our goal is to win the championship this year, and we are in a position to do it as long as we keep going rounds. It's tight, and it could go either way right now. We've got a legitimate shot at it, and yes, we're going for it."