“When I drive that slow, you know it’s hard to steer, And I can’t get my car out of second gear” Sammy Hagar, I Can’t Drive 55

After 7 races this season it looks as though it has the potential to be one of the most competitive seasons ever. Team Kalitta is sitting with 3 wins, JFR has 4 and DSR has 3, plus add 1 each for Leah Pritchett and Steve Torrence and a surprising 2 for Tim Wilkerson. It’s still relatively early in the year and for as great as those numbers are the list of who hasn’t won is pretty impressive. Del, JR, Shoemaker, Langdon, Johnson Jr. It’s really pretty crazy, but shows how tough it has become to win a Wally this season.

One thing that stands out so far is the tenacity of Leah Pritchett this year. The shutdown of BVR was a surprise and Leah had to scramble to secure a future, even just short term. Despite all the drama, at least to the public, she carried herself with dignity and grace that represented her ambitions. It has been amazing to watch her take step after step in achieving her goals and at the same time try and remain focused on the task at hand at the racetrack. To go from her ride at BVR to the Lagana Brothers car, back to her BVR car and into a DSR car..what a complete challenge for her. It’s hard enough driving a Top Fuel dragster, much less 4 in as many races. But if anyone doubted her drive and desire I think they can put that to rest.

I have heard that Leah will be in the DSR car for at least 2 more races and I have no doubt she will find the funding to continue; I just hope it comes before she has to park for a couple races. It just wouldn’t be the same without her out there.

Are we sure Smax Smith isn’t really Sammy Hager in disguise?

DSR has been a little bit shocking this year. I think of them as a cutting edge, best of everything type of team, but the really slow uptake on the 6 disk clutch has been strange to watch. Most, if not all competitive teams in 2015 had already switched to the 6 disk, while at DSR only Matt Hagan’s team was running it full time. It seems that they sacrificed long term gains for short term performance and now they are trying to catch up to the rest of the teams. After 7 races to only have 3 wins out of 7 full time teams is pretty surprising.

While on the topic of DSR. It sometimes startles me on social media to see the distaste for DSR. “Oh they win too much” “It’s all about all the money they have and not fair” and so on. The reality is..if DSR went away there goes 7 sometimes 8 top flight Nitro teams. Do you really want to see a field without those cars? That is one smart organization over there, and Mr Schumacher understands that he can’t be the whole show. Terry McMillen wouldn’t have made Atlanta without DSR ready to help him out and frankly Leah wouldn’t have a ride for now without the depth of that group. So instead of focusing on what you don’t like about the team, focus on what’s good.

This far into the season a couple drivers really stand out. Brittany Force for one. It always seemed like Brittany was a good driver, just not really into the whole atmosphere of racing full time. I don’t know why, but that was the vibe I got from her. I have to say, bringing in Alan Johnson to the team was a breath of fresh air for them. She seems a lot more at ease with the team, the car and the whole experience of racing. The first win then adding a second win really showed a side of her I hadn’t seen before, and I hope we see more of it. I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that now they have a group of guys who can speak the language of Top Fuel at the highest level. Hats off to John for getting that all worked out, and allowing the dragster team to step up in a big way.

After the John Hale explosion I can’t wait until the last of the old style Dodge bodies are gone. Simply too dangerous.

NHRA All Access. I can’t speak highly of this enough, not just as a way for viewing the races, but a great tool for the racer to use at any level. Think about it, a sponsor now has a way to directly watch their dollars in action, in real time. You can say to the sponsor here, you can see the level of competition you are involved in and you can watch live as your dollars compete. Just set them up with a subscription and bingo, direct sponsor contact. Even if they don’t watch all day, a simple text to say “hey, we’re in the lanes ready to go, turn on All Access and watch.”. I know when I watch I see guys like Sherman Adcock and instantly reference Peak antifreeze in my mind. With just a little work put in I think it can and will become an invaluable addition to a sponsor program.

Well, here we go into the meat of the season. The Summer months are upon us. I think it’s 5 races in 6 weeks. Here’s to the rest of the season keeping up with the first 7.

Be Safe, Have Fun.

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