Throughout his 30-plus year NHRA career as a crew chief and team manager, Lee Beard has been tackling and meeting challenges.

Beard, however, says his latest task was one of his most daunting of all.

Beard recently was in charge of putting together two complete Top Fuel dragster teams for the Yas Marina Curcuit, after it partnered with Don Schumacher Racing. Yas Marina is a spectacular motor racing circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The new Top Fuel teams with drivers Tommy Johnson Jr. and Hot Rod Fuller will be based in Abu Dhabi.

Throughout his 30-plus year NHRA career as a crew chief and team manager, Lee Beard has been tackling and meeting challenges.

Beard, however, says his latest task was one of his most daunting of all.

Beard recently was in charge of putting together two complete Top Fuel dragster teams for the Yas Marina Curcuit, after it partnered with Don Schumacher Racing. Yas Marina is a spectacular motor racing circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The new Top Fuel teams with drivers Tommy Johnson Jr. and Hot Rod Fuller will be based in Abu Dhabi.

“Probably in all of my years of racing, it was the most challenging project I’ve ever personally took on,” said Beard, who is the team manager of DSR. “I think from the time we agreed with them (Yas Marina) and tested the cars was 70 days. We started off with purchase-order books and ordered all brand new equipment and brand new transporters, built the race cars and all the engines and all the support equipment in 70 days. We had everything detailed and finished painted, and everything was done the same as if we were building teams to run for the championship on the NHRA tour.”

The new Yas Marina Circuit dragsters made their debut recently during a test session at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla.

According to Beard, Johnson Jr.’s car made a 3.84-second pass at 310 mph and Fuller’s car ran 3.86 seconds at 311 mph.

“The cars are currently being finished and serviced and the rest of the details are being put on the equipment,” Beard said. “They’re going to Baltimore on Sunday (Jan. 31) to be loaded on a boat to go to Abu Dhabi. I believe they’re leaving Baltimore Tuesday, and it will take them (the cars) five or six weeks on the boat to get there. We’re going to fly over there and we will get them from the port and take them to the track, and maybe do a few days of testing before we run our first event in March.”

Johnson Jr. and Fuller’s dragsters are scheduled to compete during the inaugural International Drag Racing Festival March 18-20 at Yas Marina Circuit’s impressive new drag racing facility. Yas Marina Circuit is the first NHRA member facility outside of North America.

Getting Johnson Jr. and Fuller’s teams to Abu Dhabi isn’t something done overnight.

“Obviously, there are two 18-wheel rigs fully-outfitted with race cars and motors and pit equipment that we will just drive on the boat,” Beard said. “There are also several containers that included spare race cars, tires and brake cleaner and that type of stuff. The Yas Marina Circuit is probably the premier motorsports facility in the entire world, and they have an 8,000-square foot building for us to keep all our equipment in and work in when we’re over there servicing the stuff. This is just a very exciting venture.”

Beard says Johnson Jr. and Fuller will make exhibition runs at the Drag Racing Festival.

“In the fall of this year, they have a lot of events planned with Top Fuel cars,” Beard said. “There’s a possibility after we’re done with the grand opening that we’re going to bring the Top Fuel cars back here to the United States and run some of the NHRA national events with them. If we did have to run them on the NHRA series, they would be as competitive as the rest of the DSR cars. We’re not 100 percent positive of the schedule of these two teams and cars and drivers we currently put together. The relationship we have with Yas Marina is still new, and they don’t really know 100 percent what they want to do, but we’re taking it one step at a time. This is a huge thing for drag racing to get exposure in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the United Arab Emirates. Certainly it seems drag racing has some great value over there with the country of Qatar with the Shiek (HH Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani) funding the Al-Anabi teams here in the United States. We hear talk that someday they plan on having a five or six-race series over there with a very large championship purse.”

Beard also realizes how important these relationships are to the sport of drag racing.

“This is a great step forward for international relations with that part of the country,” Beard said. “This also is a great step forward to expose NHRA drag racing to the world.”

If there’s a conflict in schedule with NHRA national events and DSR’s Yas Marina Circuit, Beard will be with Johnson Jr. and Fuller’s teams.

“I’m still the team manager and I’m very much involved with our teams that compete on the NHRA (circuit),” Beard said. “You will see me at Pomona and Phoenix and all of the races I can attend that don’t conflict with our Middle East efforts. When those cars run over there, I will certainly be with them. I value that relationship and we’re trying to nurture it into something great, not only for Don Schumacher Racing, but also for the sport of drag racing.”

Initially it was thought Yas Marina would also partner with DSR on some Funny Car teams, but that hasn’t taken place yet.

“There has been talk with the same management group over there that they would like to eventually have Funny Cars over there, and Pro Mod cars,” Beard said. “Again, they’re looking at the most exciting cars there are in the sport of drag racing and (they want to) come forward with a pretty big entertainment package for the people of Abu Dhabi.”

Although Top Fuel teams are fairly new to the Middle East, Pro Mod racing is extremely popular in that part of the world.

“I think the first guys who kind of associated themselves with that part of the world were involved with Pro Mod,” Beard said. “That was the very thing that opened their eyes up. Once they got over here to the United States and attended the NHRA drag races and saw the Top Fuel and Funny Cars run, and saw they’re the premier classes in the sport, they see real value in that. That’s why they came to the table with the Al-Anabi team and now with the Schumacher group to have Top Fuel and Funny Cars over there.”

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