Thu, 02 Feb 2017, 14:51 PM Antron Brown, Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, Jason Line and Erica Enders Interviews

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2017 Auto Imagery, Inc.

The following are interviews with NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series guests including Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps and J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Jason Line and Erica Enders (Pro Stock). Interview topics include the start of the season at the Circle K NHRA Nationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on Feb. 9-12.

Antron Brown

Antron Brown - Brown has won the Top Fuel world championship in back-to-back seasons and is a three-time champ. He returns to competition with his Don Schumacher Racing team in 2017.

Q: Do you look at other sporting figures to keep yourself focused and motived?
A: Someone that I always idolized growing up as kid was Michael Jordan. The reason being is, that no matter how good he was, he knew he was only as good as his team. What he did was make everyone around him great. From a team aspect you have to surround yourself with the right people. I've been very fortunate to find people that share the same desire as I have. Brian Coradi and Mark Oswald (crew chiefs) who have always made people around them great. Brian took drivers that were average drivers or drivers who couldn't win races and he won races with them no matter what. Brian made the people around them better. When I got a part of it that's what really made our team stand out as a whole, Brian wasn't doing it by himself. He brought Mark along and then he got other assistant crew chiefs and myself and then the rest of our guys on our crew all came in together. We made something, like one of those miracles happen. Miracles like where you truly get an all-star cast to get together to make unbelievable things happen. That is where I credit out entire teams success from.

Q: Do you get the sense your team is hungry for more wins and championships?
A: Absolutely and they put the work in each and every day. When you have a team that isn't worried about going home at 5 o'clock, they will stay there until 6 p.m., or 7 p.m. or come in on the weekends to do what they need to do that is when you know you have a driven team. They don't worry about me working because they know I'm always in the gym working and doing my part and they do their part. Then we come together as a whole. We aren't just satisfied going out there and racing. Once we get to that point that we are just out there to be out there that is the time to step aside and give somebody else their shot to do what they want to do and live their dream. Right now we are still so passionate and driven. The part that drives us is each and every year the competition steps up and they get tougher, better stronger. That is what makes us look inside ourselves. How can we raise the bar? What we did last year isn't going to make it happen this year. We are going to have to re-invent ourselves and come out and get better. Sometimes we take a step backward to get better. We struggle. Like last year when we struggled at the beginning of the year because we started off with a brand new routine. We started with brand new parts and pieces and tried different things. Being more aggressive in areas that we weren't aggressive enough and had to find our window. Once we did we were able to capitalize and grow during the year. We still didn't stay stagnant and had to grow at each and every race. When we go into the Countdown we had to put everything together and it worked out. We are going to go into 2017 with that same formula. What can we work on to improve upon that formula? At the last two races we saw the Kalitta cars come out swinging hard, very hard, that is going to be a team competing for a championship and we have to battle them. We have to come back and step up to that level.

Q: Any big changes to the team this year?
A: We have been working on quite a few things to make our car better. I can't get into details about it but we have been working on quite a bit of things. In our clutch department and also on our chassis so we are always developing new things. We are learning. We are at the infancy stage of somethings but really starting to dig into them and want to see how they are going to pan out as the year goes on. We are going to be incorporating them throughout the year to make our program better.

Q: Are you excited to see the relationship with Fox Sports continue to grow?
A: I'm absolutely excited to see the relationship with Fox expand. Fox is opening doors and has gotten us into areas that has never seen us before. Our sport is one where when you come out and actually feel it and see it in person at the racetrack and then you are able to go home and understand what is happening on the TV screen. The TV is opening eyes and people are wanting to come out and check it out and then they are hooked for life. That is why you see all of our fans act like they are. It was once one of the world's best kept secrets and now Fox is letting it out of the box and it is contagious and takes the sport to new levels.

Q: Are you excited to see fresh talent come in like Troy Coughlin Jr., and Tanner Gray?
A: Our sport has always had young racers that come into the sport and we have a large pool to pull from. From Jr. Dragsters, Sportsman ranks all pulls them in. You name Troy and Tanner but you also got Jonnie Lindberg coming from the Alcohol Funny Car ranks. You are seeing these people pulling up and they have championships in the sportsman or the alcohol ranks. That is what we need more of and we need more partners. The more we get Leah Pritchett and Papa John's, one of the biggest pizza chains and one of the biggest marketing companies in the world into our sport for them to choose NHRA it shows the direction our sport is going in.

Ron Capps

Ron Capps - Capps enters the 2017 season as the defending Funny Car champion after securing the season crown for the first time last year.

Q: You enter into Pomona as the defending. How different will that feeling be?
A: This will be the first time doing that. I was asked so many times last year about the importance of winning the U.S. Nationals versus a world championship and which was a bigger deal. And winning a championship has been bigger than I could have even imagined for a lot of different reasons. The coolest part as getting sent a picture by our DSR people with the number one on the car. I've been number 28 in Funny Car since 1997. It is something I haven't gone through yet but I can't say how excited I am to do it and represent Mello Yello and NHRA as a champion.

Q: Was that cool to seeing that number one on the car the first time?
A: I had so many high points that seemed to outdo themselves during the off season and it really started right after Pomona that week. Things that I have done every single season, the Blaine Johnson golf tournament, the awards banquet, and then our Capps Fan Cruise we do every year a week after the season. Every time somethings happens, and if I'm called Champ, I couldn't comprehend it. You come close, you leave Pomona not winning a championship and you don't understand how big a deal it is until it happens. Walking through the house and seeing the trophy is amazing. I'm lucky my wife has allowed me to put the trophy in the house where it is, right when you walk in the door. There isn't a lot a racing stuff we have out in the house but she understood the importance and how much we put into our life to achieve it. Walking into the house or out of the house, walking by that trophy every day, I can't explain it to someone who hasn't gone through it.

Q: Is there a change in mindset as the hunted instead of the hunter?
A: I don't know yet. I'd be interested to see how I feel after Pomona. There is going to be a lot of firsts for me. The accolades and the first time for a lot of things even after this long of a career. It is refreshing but another first is trying to defend our title. The first time I hear public address announcer Alan Reinhart introduce me as your defending Funny Car world champion that is going to be another first. That is going to be neat. I don't know if we have had a target on our backs in the past but I have always felt like when we race someone it always brings out the best in them. There is no better compliment to get from someone in the NHRA than for them to tell you that when they race you it brings out the absolute best in them. That is the ultimate compliment to get from another racer and we get that a lot.

Q: How much are you looking forward to getting back into the car?
A: I'm ready. I'm pretty blessed that I get to jump into a car Rahn Tobler (crew chief) has had his fingers on all winter long. I went back to DSR to our photo shoot and in Indy and I got fitted into a new seat in our new chassis and it was so nice to be back in the shop and hear Tobler go over everything he had gone over in the car. What the approach is going to be, hearing all the team members telling me what we are going to be doing, brand new chassis. Some cool things I don't know that some teams can brag about and it is so refreshing to hear about. Driving the race car and competing is only a fraction of what I do. It is nice to have a car so well prepared that I can get into it and not a lot I have to worry about.

Q: Have you had much change over in the team going into the year?
A: We haven't had much change over going into the year. Our team will go to dinner together after they leave the racetrack and they are a very tight knit group. It is so big to have the same guys to come back.

JR Todd

JR Todd - Todd will make the transition into Funny Car for Kalitta Motorsports after racing in the Top Fuel ranks the past nine seasons with nice career wins.

Q: Are you looking forward to this next part of your career?
A: I am extremely excited about this new chapter in my career. It's something completely new to me when it comes to driving and it holds a big challenge as Funny Car is probably the most competitive class right now.

Q: Is this like starting over for you?
A: With this being the first time I've ever competed in the Funny Car ranks, I definitely feel like a rookie again going into 2017. In years past, I would get excited about the upcoming season in Top Fuel but this year feels different. Excited, anxious, and nervous are a few ways of describing how I'm feeling.

Q: Did you feel claustrophobic in the Funny Car when they closed the body?
A: The first time they lowered the body on the Worsham family car in Bakersfield back December, I thought to myself oh boy here we go, no looking back. At the same time it was such a cool feeling though but also takes a little getting used to.

Q: When will you feel completely comfortable in the car?
A: I'm not sure it'll take as many passes as it did for me in the dragster before I became more comfortable and more aware of what was going on. I'm hoping that by the time the DHL Toyota Camry rolls into Pomona that I feel comfortable enough that Jon O (Oberhoffer, co-crew chief) and Todd (Smith, co-crew chief) can stand all over the tune-up and that we're in contention for the Wally on Sunday. Knowing what the DHL guys have done in the past and what we are capable of, I fully expect us to be able to contend for wins throughout the regular season and then battle it out for the Mello Yello championship.

Q: Rookie Troy Coughlin Jr. takes your place behind the wheel in the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster. Have you given him any tips thus far this season?
A: So far I have just offered Troy Jr. little pointers here and there or let him know my opinion on things. He's a racer and comes from a great racing family so I don't see him having any problems adjusting to Top Fuel and we'll all be there to help and support him along the way.

Jason Line

Jason Line - Line is the 2017 Pro Stock world champion on the strength of eight wins and six runner-up finishes.

Q: There isn't much of an off season in this sport but were you able to step away for a while at the end of the season?
A: It was another good off-season. It was too short, but it was good. Greg (Anderson, teammate) and I again got to participate in the Summit Racing-sponsored Operation Appreciation, and this year we had the opportunity to visit troops in Kuwait. Operation Appreciation is always a great trip with Armed Forces Entertainment, and it gives us a good reminder as to how lucky we are to live here, and how lucky we are to get to do a lot of things and live this lifestyle.

Q: Was the off season lighter work load this year without the transition to EFI?
A: It was definitely different. I was able to spend some time with my family and do a few home projects. I actually took some weekends off and tried to do things I normally wouldn't get the chance to do, and it was different, but it was nice. I enjoyed having a little more of a normal lifestyle than I have in the past.

Q: You and Greg started 2016 on such a high note and then the field caught up to you. Are we going to see the same level of competition at the outset of 2017?
A: I think that everyone is going to be pretty even this year, more like it was in the fall of 2016. I think that's what you'll see. With the current rules package the way it is, you'll see everybody get bunched together as time goes on.

Q: Was there one area you worked on in this off season or worked on the total package?
A: I mentioned before that I was able to take a little bit of time away from the shop this off-season, but that's not to say that everyone at KB Racing was working any less than they have in the past. We worked on a lot of things over the winter. This off-season was not as much about coming up with a recipe as it was about refining a recipe. There's a big difference there, really. All-in-all, it was a great winter, but we have a much different mindset than we did going into last season, that's for sure.

Q: We enter 2017 with the second season of Fox Sports. How important are they in partnership of the sport and growing the sport?
A: My job is to race, try my best to have a fast hot rod so I can be competitive, and win - but having a good TV package with our partners at Fox is just as important when it comes to the growth of NHRA, the fans, and of course all the sponsors who believe in us, invest in our sport, and keep us going.

Erica Enders

Erica Enders - Enders and her Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. return to Chevrolet and aims for returned success in 2017.

Q: How excited are you to return to Chevrolet for 2017?
A: Really looking forward to this year with my guys, probably more than any other season because the excitement level with our team is really, really high. We know what we can do and we're ready to go get the job done. We're back to what we know and we are anxious to repeat the success we had in 2014-2015. I'm gonna be busy this year because aside from Pro Stock I'll be racing Buddy Wood's Super Gas Camaro at a bunch of races and I'm running a COPO in the five shootout races. I'll be getting a lot of seat time and that's exciting.

Q: Last season didn't have the results you were accustom. Does that give you more resolve going into the season?
A: It was a challenging year but what we went through made us stronger. I think what we went through would have torn a lot of teams apart but it didn't hurt us at all. Yeah, we were upset we weren't performing well but we still joked around, still had fun, and we smiled through it all. It was a character-building year, and it showed me there is zero ego on this team. It's easy to be all happy when you're winning but the true measure of people comes when times are tough. We're tough. This year is gonna be great because I already know what we're capable of and so does everyone else. At the same time, I learned we don't need win lights and trophies to be fulfilled. Being a family, having each other's backs no matter what, being together through it all, that's what matters.

Q: What are your thoughts on this year's rookie class?
A: Troy (Coughlin) Jr. is an awesome kid, one of my favorites out there. He's the very epitome of a drag racer. He's excelled and won in every category he's raced and he's done it the right way, taking each step along the way. He could be spoiled rotten but he's the exact opposite. He's a great person, very humble and kind. I'm looking forward to him accomplishing some really great things in Top Fuel and winning the Rookie of the Year award, for sure.