At the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, California, Tony Stewart added another Top Fuel victory to his name.
While his talent behind the wheel is nationally recognized, he is quick to give all the credit to the men and women that build his car.
“At this part of my life, it’s fun for me to watch the crew and see how excited they are,” Stewart said. “That’s the people you’re excited for.”
The NHRA is one of the most grueling racing divisions on the planet. The nitromethane V8 motors strapped to the bodies of Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars create double the horsepower of a NASCAR Cup Series engine… per cylinder. It takes extraordinary precision and detail for the engine builders and tuners to make this monstrosity of a machine fire down the 1,000 feet of race track.
Following each run of the track, the cars are towed to the pits. There awaits a crew of mechanics who will disassemble and reassemble the engine in roughly 45 minutes. Knowing what consequences could be faced if any minuscule piece is not at full strength, they work tirelessly to have the most pristine engine ready for each run.
“Every time they have to flip this thing and get it ready in 40 minutes to make the next run, one guy makes one mistake, it screws the whole run up,” Stewart explained. “For those guys to do their job on preparation and assembly at 100% and the crew chiefs make the right calls, it’s neat to celebrate with the team.”
The sport of auto racing is quick to champion the driver alone, as they are the ones brave enough to strap in to these 12,000 horsepower cars and reach 340mph. However, they know they are only a fraction of the overall effort to win.
“Everything I drove before I got to drag racing, I was 70% of the equation,” Stewart said. “Now I’m at 30%, the tuners and crew chiefs are the success and failure of the race car.
“I feel like it’s a much bigger team sport because of how big a part of the percentage those crew guys that touch the car make an impact on it,” Stewart said.
Ida Zetterström returns to Top Fuel this weekend, but has spent the previous weeks helping the mechanics prep the cars. She has seen the perspective of the crew from top to bottom.
“You can’t do this without everybody around you,” Zetterström said. “It’s not just what you see at track with the guys around the car, everything that goes on in the shop before we hit the track, we win as a team.”
The drivers of NHRA have worked their whole lives to reach the pinnacle of drag racing, and now that they’re here, all they want to do is make their team proud. That is the ultimate characteristic of drag racing. All other professional sports have proven to be ego-driven and one person wanting to be the star of the show. Drag racers want to cross the line first so they can prove their mechanics and tuners are the best in the business.
“The hardest part is that you win and get to the top end and feel like a hero,” Stewart said. “I want to be with my team, who are at the opposite end of the track!”
Six-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders, Stewart’s Elite Motorsports teammate, echoed Stewart’s sentiments.
“The amount of hard work and sacrifice and time that goes in to [winning] one drag race, it’s definitely exciting,” Enders said.
2018 Funny Car champion J.R. Todd is a member of Kalitta Motorsports, and has relished in how his team celebrates their successes at the drag strip.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen how Kalitta’s typically celebrate on the starting line, they definitely show some emotion,” Todd joked, referencing the traditional dogpile of crew members following a win-light.
The NHRA rewards all. The driver in the car, the people that built it, the sponsors that fund it, and the fans that cheer for it.
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