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Dude...this is sweet
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Josh
Starcher is learning the ropes of Top Fuel and barely out of puberty
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By Bobby Bennett Jr. Photos by Roger Richards |
Imagine for a moment that you see a kid exhibiting tremendous talent on the little league baseball field. In a battle with his peers this youngster more than holds his own in competition. Further envision that the right scout sees him in a baseball clinic and one year later he is in the major leagues. While that is a stick and ball analogy, it is pretty close to the real-life scenario that transpired for an 18-year old aspiring drag racer from Fairmont, West Virginia.
Josh Starcher was in the midst of wrapping up one of the most impressive Junior Dragster careers that a kid could hope for when the offer came from drag racing school entrepreneur Joel Collins to drive a Top Fueler. Starcher was planning to move up to a full-sized dragster and used Collins’ Top Dragster driving experience to get his feet wet. An innocent conversation with Collins, Starcher and his dad Tim at the end of class one day revealed that the team owner and driver Bruce Litton had parted ways and that elicited a response from the kid. “I would give anything to drive a Top Fueler,” the second-generation racer blurted out. The conversation took a serious note and the offer was made to the Starchers for Josh to drive a Top Fuel car. Immediate doubts formed in his head and the dream of the lifetime seemed like a pipedream. Collins had never been more serious in his life. “Honestly, I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I could do it,” explained Starcher. “I really didn’t think I could. Going from 32-horsepower to over 6,000 was quite a jump.
Starcher licensed in the early part of 2002 and ran a limited schedule on the IHRA tour. Because he was only Seventeen years old, the NHRA wouldn’t let him participate in their events. That worked out just fine for Starcher because it took all of last year to adjust to the car. He readily admits that he’s still learning and that each lap on the car is an educational experience. That on the job training has come from former Funny Car pilot Richard Hartman, whose family runs a Top Fuel team on the NHRA POWERade tour.
“With Richard being a driver and having been through most of the stuff I’m going through, he helped me out a lot,” added Starcher. “I probably tested his patience quite a bit.” Starcher recalled his initial testing session in Darlington prior to his debut. He laughs when he says that was the day that Hartman knew he was going to have his work cut out for him. Starcher added, “I was backing up a little too slow and wasting too much clutch. In Junior Dragster, your Dad pushes you back so this was a big leap. The backing up process was the hardest thing for me to learn. I went out on the second pass and I was backing up much quicker. I turned the wheel a quarter of an inch and I realized the differences of the steering. “When I made that minor turn, it jerked the wheel out of my hands. I tried to get it back and it jerked it out of my hands for a second time. I just tried to grab it to keep it off of the wall. I finally said to myself, ‘Screw this.’ I grabbed the brake and hit the fuel shut-off and I was certain that Richard was going to kill me.
“I just sat in the car and didn’t want to get out. I thought Richard was going to yell, but he had been in the same situation before and he reassured me that everything was okay. Without Richard, the transition would never have been made.” Starcher feels that Hartman’s refusal to chastise was probably the largest confidence builder for him. Some suggest when rookie driver Brandon Bernstein suffered season-ending injuries in May because of a crash, it put Starcher and other rookies under the microscope. Starcher feels that what happened to Bernstein could have easily happened to an experienced driver. He added, “In the back of my mind, I feel like I have to
try and do something to impress people. You really have to run your
own race whether you’re a veteran or a rookie. You have to
cut a light and run as fast as you can. That’s the bottom
line.”
Some might suggest that Starcher is still awestruck at his status of being a Top Fuel driver. He feels differently about that because of his competitive nature. “At Bristol, when I lost to Brandon because we smoked the tires is the first time that I really got pissed off because I lost,” added Starcher. “Richard had told me that if it smoked the tires and Bernstein was out ahead to not get back into it. Bernstein got a little bit out and then kicked the blower and I could have kicked myself for letting that one get away. “Come to find out I had made the right decision because once we got back to the pits we found that we had scruffed three of the rod bearings down to the bronze. It was a deal where I was upset at myself. Besides, I could never get mad at my crew because they make a lot of sacrifices for me. The crew is awesome.” Starcher has learned the intricacies of driving a Top Fuel car, but the most difficult thing he took hold of was in not second-guessing being out there in competition.
“My biggest worries were that this driver or that driver didn’t approve of me being out here,” confided Starcher. “I think it has a lot to do with my age. Larry Dixon and I talk quite a bit. Larry gave me a bit of advice that I’ve held onto. He pulled me off to the side and reminded me that he put his pants on one leg at a time. He made me feel welcome.” Starcher knows that to an extent he can be a target of starting line shenanigans, but that comes with the territory. He combats that by running his own race. Starcher does add that if a driver can play the game then they should do it and if not they should just run the race. After watching the fisticuffs transpire between Clay Millican and Doug Herbert last year, Starcher has to be on his best behavior. That means no raising the middle finger to a rival who may test his patience. “My dad would kick my ass,” added Starcher, not sure how dad would approve of profanity in an interview. “Plus, he wouldn’t let me race any more. Beyond that I’d be too afraid of what Richard and Joel would do to me.”
Shortly after that question was posed, the topic of the infamous Shirley Muldowney and Andrew Cowin incident following a run in which she charged that the Aussie had hung her out to dry staging. “I wouldn’t piss Shirley for anything in this world,” confided Starcher. “I don’t know her but I’ve heard enough of the horror stories. She intimidates me more than any other driver out there. It’s not only her because Rhonda Hartman-Smith is a badass too. “I had heard that Andrew bumped into Shirley a few weeks after that and he had a cheeseburger in his hand. He just froze from what I hear. I heard that he offered her a bite of his cheeseburger. “Me? I probably would have given her mine. I wouldn’t mess with her for any amount of money.”
Starcher gives a lot of credit to Don Garlits for his contributions and advancement of the sport. Only one time did Starcher ever outrun Garlits. In fact as Starcher puts it, “In three out of four events “Big Daddy” spanked that ass.”
“Yeah, but at least I can tell them I ran ‘Big Daddy and beat him once.” Starcher points out that he wants to race as long as his body will permit. He likewise feels loyal to his current team and if a job offer comes along from one of the larger teams it will pose a dilemma, as to whether or not he would accept an offer or remain true to his team. “That’s one of those offers that I would hate to answer honestly,” explained Starcher. “When I was eleven years old I had my first dream that John Force wanted me to drive for him. I’ve dreamed about that for seven or eight years. It would be tough. “I honestly would have to discuss it with my Dad. But then
again, I love working with the guys I have now. You had better believe
that I’d do everything in my power to bring the whole team
along.”
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