3 Things That Surprised Me About My Nitro Experience So Far

Since making the public announcement about my new endeavor with the Top Alcohol Dragster team, travel, racing, learning, working, “life”… has all been non. freakin. stop. Busy is nothing new for me, and I guess that its better than the alternative, but I am looking forward to some time in the late fall/early winter to process all the growth this year has brought as well as gear up for the next chapter.

I’m sitting here writing this entry at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, VA. Maybe its the realization that it’s my last weekend racing sub-200 mph or maybe its the downtime since our class was called for the day and I’m in spectator mode. But the unexpected & unoccupied time with the soothing sounds of racecars has me reflecting about some of the most surprising things I learned this first year of my nitro experience.

I considered myself a pretty decent fan of the class long before I even knew my pathway into it. And though most of my focus has been on the lessons about the mechanics, safety, and driving the car, there have been some surprising big takeaways I couldn’t pick up on as a fan. So here’s whats been the most shocking …

1.No two teams are the same.

Upon further review, this feels kind of silly to say, so I’ll explain what I mean. Of course every team is different. I know that to be true about the classes I’ve run my whole life, too. Everyone has their systems, their ways of doing things. Some care about orderly tool boxes, some just make sure its in the trailer, that kind of stuff. Some teams have one person that does everything - drive, wrench, dial/tune, etc. Some teams have volunteers, some have full-time employees.

Before working with a different team, I was never exposed to nor expected to contribute in any setting other than what I’ve grown up in. Now, I have responsibilities to the team and to myself to learn the way this car runs and what our procedure is. You can pick up on things by watching, but learning by doing, that’s the realest experience there is. Observing teams and how they do things was just for fun before. Now, I’m expected to understand the processes and aside from all that I’ve learned mechanically, what I’ve also picked up is that every team does things differently. There is a pretty graphic saying that goes, “there is more than one way to skin a cat”… well, I’ve learned that to be true about making it in this class. There is more than one way to get the job done and have success. I now notice the little differences between how teams get it done (but not enough to be dangerous by any means, so please keep teaching me ;) ). This feels like a big step in personal growth to me and definitely something I would not have known before this past year.

2. The turn-around times are tight.

I always knew this class was a lot of work. Maybe I didn’t exactly understand what all needed to be done between runs or why some teams were wrenching hours after the last cars have been down the track for the night, but now that my hands are dirty and I’m in it, all I can say is these teams need every minute of time between runs they’re given. If not spent on the racecar, a quick few minutes to rest and recover as crew and driver are also as necessary (and not always guaranteed). In the few races we did this season, more than once were we told a time and actually called to the lanes much, much sooner. Time has healed how livid I was in the moment, but when we hadn’t yet warmed up the car and were called to the lanes, I thought, “they must be kidding….” Well, they weren’t. “TV time”. But then we sat in the lanes for at least 45 minutes. Gotta love it. It is serious business and super stressful how quick these teams have to work (and that turn around time only shortens deeper into the rounds). I just had no idea how integral every minute in the pit can be for these cars.

3. It’s difficult to be a fan of the class when you’re in the class.

This realization might be the most challenging to come to terms with as someone who genuinely enjoys watching the intensity of this class from Q1 to the final. One factor that contributes to this is that teams who are lower in the points, new to the class, or slower in the previous qualifier, go first in the lineup; officials give you your run order. After your car runs, you immediately go meet it at the end of the track. There is no waiting and watching. If you’re lucky, you might catch the runs on the track PA, but no guarantees. (See lesson two above- the clock is ticking). That, combined with being so focused on your car and the jobs you are responsible for, there just isn’t a ton of room for following what everyone else is doing. I was so surprised at the number of times I had no idea who was number one qualifier, what the bump spot was (that is, the slowest time needed to qualify, calculated based on your peers’ performance), or where we were qualified going into the next run. I’m sure that gets easier to manage with time and experience, but for the foreseeable future, I expect that I will be so involved in what I am doing that I will be too close to the screen to enjoy the big picture. That isn’t a complaint; I believe a change of perspective can truly be the most exciting gift.

It might sound cheesy, but this experience already has been so life-changing and I haven’t even driven the car yet. I see the growth I’ve had over this last year in big and small ways. After more than a year of emotional turbulence throughout the pandemic, I’m so grateful for the things that have aligned to allow me to reach new personal milestones and keep me moving forward. This might just be the beginning - but wow, it has already been such a ride.