I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several drag races this year and I have such a great time that I like to write about my experiences.  I’m definitely not enough of a motorhead to be able to report on the technical aspects of racing, but I do like sharing the interesting things I see and hear while hanging out with the teams.  I was very surprised to learn that many of the teams don’t know each other very well unless they’ve been racing together for years.  They recognize the other drivers’ names and their cars and they wave as they pass in the staging lanes, but often that’s as far as it goes.  After spending time with various teams, I understand how that happens.  There is a lot to focus on throughout the day to ensure that your car makes it down the track in the manner that you expect and walking next door to see if your neighbor likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain is not part of it.  So we’ve decided it’s time to devote a corner of the web to getting to know the teams!  And since the teams do such a great job of taking care of me, giving me water, and patting me on the head, my dad has started referring to me as the Pit Pet.

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several drag races this year and I have such a great time that I like to write about my experiences.  I’m definitely not enough of a motorhead to be able to report on the technical aspects of racing, but I do like sharing the interesting things I see and hear while hanging out with the teams.  I was very surprised to learn that many of the teams don’t know each other very well unless they’ve been racing together for years.  They recognize the other drivers’ names and their cars and they wave as they pass in the staging lanes, but often that’s as far as it goes. 

After spending time with various teams, I understand how that happens.  There is a lot to focus on throughout the day to ensure that your car makes it down the track in the manner that you expect and walking next door to see if your neighbor likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain is not part of it.  So we’ve decided it’s time to devote a corner of the web to getting to know the teams!  And since the teams do such a great job of taking care of me, giving me water, and patting me on the head, my dad has started referring to me as the Pit Pet.   

Wow.  Do I know how to pick ‘em or what?  I had planned to hang out with Alex Hossler and his team a few months ago because I felt this was a team that was going places.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m a racing newbie, but even I recognized the consistent improvement from this car at the races.  Before the weekend started, I tried to think of the things I wanted to write about and the direction I wanted to take.  However, he made it really easy for me when he won the ADRL Pro Extreme event at the Texas Motorplex this past weekend.

Every time I went to the line with them, I took a video of the run because I never knew if that run would be “the one” where he would put down some good numbers.  Little did I know that every run would be commendable!  It started with a couple of 3.77 runs, then a couple of 3.75 runs, then finishing up with a couple of 3.73 runs! Since every video is great, I’ll just post the final run when he wins it all. 

You can even see the ambulance and safety truck heading out near the end and Jim Salemi going to crew chief, Chris Duncan, and motioning down the track.  Alex told me later that he was down at the top end yelling, “I’m on fire but I don’t care!”  He jumped out of the car, looked at Bret Kepner, and said, “How’s THAT for a dramatic ending?!”  Since the final run was made well after midnight, they won on Chris’ mom’s birthday.  What a great gift from her son!

WATCH THE VIDEO



I was really impressed watching Chris work on the car.  He reminds me of a scientist and in my silly, cartoonish brain he’s always wearing a lab coat.  When he’s leaning over the car, he works with the precision of a chemist mixing toxic chemicals.  Or maybe it’s just the glasses.  His dad, Lenny, is also part of the crew and he was telling me about the extra attention to detail that Chris used when building the car.  Not only does the car look clean and sleek, it gives a clean performance.

When I first met this team several races ago, I thought they were a quiet bunch.  Not true.   They are all laid back, jovial, and sarcastic … which means I fit right in.  Lenny was even laughing when he discovered that fellow crewmember John or Brent stole his sandwich.  I know who did it, but I’m not telling!  This team is also a very caring bunch.  They were all genuinely concerned when Jason Hamstra crashed and made sure the Hamstra family knew they were there to offer any assistance.  Alex was behind Jason’s car when it took off on that fateful run and he immediately headed down there to check on his fellow racer.  When I saw Alex later, you could see the concern embedded in his face.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to hang out with the team, especially during this race.  I will be adding this team to my list of pit stops when I’m bouncing around the track.  I suggest you do the same.  Oh, and Alex likes pizza.

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