Many fans only equate Whit Bazemore as a drag racer and one who isn't shy about speaking his mind. However, many seem to forget long before he won races in a fuel car, he won the hearts of many drag race fans with his brilliant photography. He also wrote, because back in the early 1980s many editors loved a freelancer who could deliver a complete package. A complete package was incredible photography and the words which spoke to describe many of the images which left many speechless.

We felt it would be neat to put a recorder in Bazemore's hand and turn him loose in the pits during the Auto Club Finals in Pomona. It's a long read, but well worth it.

 

FIFTH STOP - BRITTANY FORCE - Who’d have ever thought it? Back in 2013, Force’s rookie year, probably not many. Brittany struggled, with one team member whispering that her talent level was “questionable.” But then again, when one thinks about it a little more deeply, her Dad also struggled in his rookie year. (And many years, thereafter) Look at how he has ended up. I struggled some too. So did a certain Jack Beckman. Many have, of course. I don’t remember Scelzi struggling too much in ’97, his rookie TF season. But, as he was driving for Alan Johnson, he won his first race, as well as the Championship. 

Father John was in a couple of real s***boxes for many years. There is a real difference when someone struggles while in top notch, well funded, and properly prepared race cars compared to, say, a guy driving his s***box from race to race with no real money, buying pre-cracked cranks and worn out blocks from the well funded guys, all the while doing a lot of the race work of today’s specialist crew guys between rounds. 

But, whatever your opinion of Brittany WAS, it is surely different now. At least mine is. For sure, she earned some stripes last Sunday at Pomona in route to her Championship. She wasn’t the one who gave it away. She was consistent, even if not Shawn Langdon stellar. Few are, though. She didn’t make any mistakes. She was focused, mistake-free when it counted, and overcame her reputation, which no doubt was added pressure. I spoke to her in the trailer just before the final round.

I spoke to her just before the final round. 

WB -  So, Brittany, this is a sport where you pay your dues no matter what, and you paid yours - you’ve done an unbelievably perfect job today so far. Right? 

BF  - Thanks, thank you 

WB - So what were your thoughts this morning waking up? Was it excitement? Was it fear? Was it happiness? 

BF - It was a little bit of everything. I’m excited - I just wanted to get in my race car and, you know, settle this thing, but obviously, the nerves were tough. They’ve been tough since I left Las Vegas, and I’ve been carrying a gut ache with me for the last two weeks and really, I just wanted to get back here in the car and see what we could do. I know without the support of my entire team - Alan, Brian, the whole Monster team and everyone at JFR, they had my back; I knew regardless of where we ended up, I’d be proud because we’ve accomplished so much this year. 

WB - So you drew your confidence and strength from the team? 

BF - Yes. I have to give it all to the team. They’re the ones that after… 

WB -  But still - It’s you. I mean they’re doing all the work, then you can throw it all away. I mean, we’ve all been there: me, your Dad, everybody - and you carry a red light with you, like you said, so what was your mental strength this morning? When you got out of bed, what was your first thought? 

BF - (Sigh) It bounced back and forth between “I can do this, I know how to drive this car, I have a team behind me that’ll put together a good race car, if we do our normal routine, we’ll be good.” 

But then the other thing that kept jumping in was “well, you’ll go out there and red light the first round and its all over,” and that was my biggest fear first round - especially coming out of Vegas with the red light. And so, you’re carrying both those emotions, and you’ve got to knock one out. What I’ve thought about this last week - just carrying this gut ache, carrying this fear, excitement - again, all of it. 

I told myself, that’s fine, I’ll carry it, you know, all week long, but when I climb in the race car, that’s when I’ve got to get rid of it. That’s when you’ve got to get your mind in the right place, and focus, and do your job. My team has my back, and I told them before we went into race day - we huddled up in the staging lanes - and I told them I’m gonna give it my all, and regardless of how it turns out, if it bites us, if we win, whatever it is, I’m going to give it my all. We’re gonna have a good day, no matter how it turns out. 

WB - I don’t think anybody can take anything away from you today and that’s cool. Really cool. You’ve been a good, extremely consistent race car driver - the kind everybody wants. Mistake free. I think your Dad and the team are all extremely proud of you today. One last question: Driving for your dad is a double-edged sword. I can say that ‘cause I know. I know him better than anyone… Was there any time today - or in the past month - where you feel like you have something to prove to him? Is there that kind of scenario with you and your sister? 

BF - Well, honestly, obviously, I want to do the best job I can. He’s the one who gave me this whole opportunity, the one who’s taught me everything about drag racing - introduced me to this whole sport. I want to give it up to him - he’s the reason I’m here. But, he’s so supportive - my whole family is, they have my back no matter what, that I’ve never felt, “Oh, I have to DO  THIS  - you know - FOR  him.” He’s done it all - been in every scenario and situation, and no matter how I screw up or how well I do, he’ll have my back. 

It’s great to have that support system - knowing that you have that, you don’t have the pressure of … you know it could be a negative approach at the end of it all, but he’s gonna be positive, he’s gonna be proud of me no matter what, so that’s what’s most important and that’s what weighed on my heart, and um… you know he and Alan (Johnson) had an agreement this year that he’s - my Dad’s - not allowed to bug me on race day. He’s not allowed in our pits. He has to leave me alone when we’re around here at the race track…

WB - (Laughter) really? 

BF - yeah - and that’s been so tough for my Dad, but Alan said, you know, if I’m going to be her crew chief, she’s my driver; you don’t talk to her, and that’s been really tough for my Dad. It’s been a struggle - you’ll see him do laps around our pit … 

WB - (much laughter) Doing laps? Well - is it tough for you, or is it good? 

BF - (Laughter) No, it’s ok, I’m ok with it. I’ll deal with my Dad outside of the racetrack, but it’s funny because he came up on that last round (the championship-clinching round) and he knows he’s not allowed to talk to me. If he drives over and Alan’s there, he’s like, (hands up) “I’m not talking to your driver,” but he didn’t say anything, he just went like this (hand over heart,) and he meant just drive from the heart, and that’s what it’s all about. 

When you’re having fun, you drive your best and that run, the first run, I was just a nervous wreck because I thought, don’t do what you did in Vegas and when you're thinking that… Oh my gosh, all I’m thinking is, don’t red light because then its game over, but once we got past that first round, I thought, you know what? We’re in the fight for this thing, we’re chasing this thing, you know, yeah, we want number one, but if we end up 2 or 3, that’s ok, and I’m going to have fun driving, and it came together and worked for all of us.

WB - You know - so I have my history with your old man… 

BF - (laughing) Yeah… 

WB - But I’m so happy to see this - you know he gave me a hug - not a kiss - (Laughing) But, um, you either added ten years to his life or took them away, I don’t know, but it’s great to see him like that. 

BF - He’s gonna be an emotional wreck for the next few days.

WB - For the next year. You’re one of his babies following in his footsteps - all the way. 

BF - Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much. 

SIXTH STOP - ALEXIS DEJORIA - The sport is going to miss Alexis. The billionaire heiress to John Paul DeJoria’s 3 billion-plus fortune is a racer at heart and is more approachable than most. She comes across as real - she tells it like it is and minces no words. I am a fan.

WB - What did the sport give you as a person?

ADJ - This sport gave me a sense of purpose for the last 12 years - it gave me confidence and a sense of purpose. I matured out here. I’ve got a lot grey hairs to show for it. It got me out of my shell; I was a very shy, young girl and you just can’t be shy out here in this sport. It’s done tremendous things for me and my family, and I hope I’ve done the same for everyone I’ve encountered out here.

WB - The highlight of your career - so far - is obviously winning Indy.

ADJ - Have you ever won Indy - did you win Indy?

WB - Twice.

ADJ - F****** cool. That’s Cool - that’s awesome.

WB - (laughing) I think it’s more than a championship - I do, but then again I never won the championship, so of course, we’re gonna say that. (laughing)

ADJ - (Laughing) I never did either, so me too - Ha, yeah, we’ll say it’s better. It’s better. (laughing)

WB - So you have a sense of accomplishment. Is it because of Indy - or the whole thing - your whole career?

ADJ -  I think it’s the whole thing. Indy is definitely the icing on the cake because I didn’t - I haven’t won a championship, so it’s the next best thing. All the wins, the record numbers, the rounds, I mean all of it together. I can’t hang my head about any of that. I think we’ve done well in the relatively young years we’ve been out here compared to some of the other teams, so I think we’ve done well and I can honestly walk away with my head held high.

WB-  I’ve got one more question, and this is more personal because I’ve just figured this out myself after not racing for ten years. The aggression and the warrior mentality we all have - it doesn’t matter who you are, but to be successful you have that, and you channel that aggression. What are you going to do to channel that aggression? Because you’re still going to have that.

ADJ - Oh, of course, of course.

WB - I mean, I’ve just figured it out in the last month - (laughing) I’m an angry M'Fer, and it shows in different ways. It’s not necessarily good at times. 

ADJ - (laughing) - yes, yes, I hear you. Yeah, this is going to be tough because it HAS been an outlet for me of my aggression - being able to battle it out on the track and so stepping away I’m going to have a hard replacing that. I don’t think I can.

WB - Yoga doesn’t do it. (laughing)

ADJ - (laughing) I don't think … It's impossible to replace a Nitro Funny Car - there is nothing that compares to these cars, so I’m gonna have my work cut out for me to fill in that gap. I don’t
know man - I’m gonna just get on my motorcycle and just ride.

WB - When are you coming back?

ADJ - (Laughing) F***, I don’t know.

WB - What year? Give me a number.

ADJ - (Laughing) I don’t f****** know, man. It could be one, it could be four - It could be … I don’t know. 

 

FIRST STOP - RON CAPPS - Capps and I are friends. It’s all cool. Some misguided fans still want to make a big deal over the little dustup way back when - but come on. It was nothing. I didn’t even hit him back. Oh, but I will. Always a payback somewhere! But not too soon. We’ll probably be old and in wheelchairs, and I’ll run him off the beach path into the sand when I’m visiting him. He will tip over and be stuck, and I’ll be laughing my head off. Yeah - that’s the plan. In the meantime, we’re good. Very good. I talked to Capps as he was packing the chute Saturday night after qualifying, on the eve of defending his first Championship. 

WB - How do you feel about the ladder the way it is? - (no teammates on the same side of the ladder) So, all BS aside, would you rather have your teammate in the first round, or the ladder the way it is?  

Capps - I haven’t looked at the ladder - I do know we run Del… and Robert Hight - we meet up in the semis. And Courtney’s on my side. I was hoping, because of how good Hagan and TJ  - Tj tested with the 6 disk, and they’ve been running good -  I was hoping that one of those - Beckman, Tj, one of my teammates would have him (Robert) in the first round. We’ve had a couple of autograph sessions, and all I’ve heard from them is how much they want to help us and it’d be cool. But the scenario - especially after Vegas - the last thing I want to do is beat one of my teammates early, so in that sense of the word… I don’t know when I meet up with one of my teammates…  

WB - You’ve got Courtney in the second round, Del in the first - you don’t meet one. But he races Hagan in the second… 

Capps - See, that could be beneficial. But no joking, running Del makes me nervous because you never know, he’s so good at what he does. He’s a good friend; we’re in Pomona… I’m glad I don’t have a teammate, and I’m glad I don’t have one near in the first three rounds, to be honest with you. Everything’s so… 

WB - Effed up

Capps - Yeah, you know, after last weekend it’s like I offended Jesus and they’ve come out of the woodwork. Pretty harsh, some of his fans. You know, it’s understandable. We’ve got great, loyal fans.

WB - Dude, I know… 

Capps - Yeah, yeah, what am I telling you for… 

WB - Yeah - I’m good friends with him now… but the fans, his fans, still hate me. Like I care… 

Capps - Well he’s not talking to me right now, so you’re better off than I am.  He won’t even look at me here. So we’ll see what happens. 

WB - You’re going for your second championship, dude. You waited all those years, second, second, second. Is it easier now? I mean, is tomorrow less pressure because of last year, or is it the same? 

Capps - Funny you ask that, because Jon Asher was in here yesterday and he said, “You seem a lot better this year, even though I had a two-point lead on Hagan last year, to me as much as I finished second, I said hey, that wasn’t enough. I think I… Asher had a good point; I think winning it last year took a lot of pressure I woulda had because last year I was a mess. 

I wasn’t even comfortable if someone had to go three rounds past us. So I didn’t want to talk about it - someone said, “hey - it’s yours,” And I was  “shut up, get outta my sight.”  So, it is - it took a lot of the pressure off, I am better, and to be honest, chasing Hight - we’re behind - it’s kinda cool to be able to put the pressure - he’s gotta go another round past us. He loses whatever round, we’ve gotta win that round. No matter what. 

WB - How are you gonna win Indy. (Laughing)

Capps - We almost won it this year… so I don’t know man.

WB - (Laughter) ‘Cause once you win Indy, you’ll be good. ‘Till then, you’re just another world champion. (Laughter)

Capps - I truly believe the Indy Gods will decide when you’re gonna win Indy. I mean, you’ve won. Look at who’s won in the past. 

WB -  So, I have a serious question for you - and this is for sure beating a dead horse - but I think it has real merit - would you rather win a countdown championship, or would you rather win a normal championship, because you would’ve won a normal championship I think, and I would’ve won a countdown championship, so in my mind, it’s not real because I didn’t win that championship, so why should I be world champion if I didn’t win it the right way?  

Capps - yeah, yeah - I would have LOVED to have won it when it was old school and no Countdown, and - I don’t think it’ll ever happen in my career - I don’t they’ll ever go back to that. It’s just the day and age we’re in, but for sure, I would have loved to back then - just said, “we were the absolute best from Pomona to Pomona.” When you had to be - 24 races - that’s crazy. When Force was - when you and I raced - he’d clinch in Dallas or sooner sometimes…

WB - Just bad ass. 

Capps - yeah, so that woulda been cool. 

WB- I’ve been watching here, and it seems a lot of your competitors are behind the car. When you can see it from the stands … it’s not too good.

Capps-  I’m behind the car - some of the time. You may not see it, but I am. I feel like I am. If I were to get further behind it, I’d be off the throttle, but they’re  times - even yesterday’s runs -  He (Tobler) backed everything down to get down there - wore a lot of clutch early and it was purposeful, He wanted to mow it through, which it wore in a 5 disc over two hundred thousands. It’s a lot for us. And then it plunked the clutch and lifted the front end up. It’s hard to see anyway, and when it lifted the front end up, it started to take me to the right a little bit - I was in the right lane, and at that point, I’m thinking ok, now with the headers, you’ve gotta be ready, and I let it go, and thank God it ran pretty good. But, just for a while, you don’t have the control you think you have, and you definitely have to get out of the throttle sooner than we used to have to. By a lot. It’s too bad you cant make a hit in one of these right now, before we even change to next year. It’s not gonna be a huge change, but it would blow your mind of how much… to me it’s like a nostalgia FC - more so - front end dancing, it’s moving around a bunch, and you don’t have the leeway to be able to stay in the throttle longer. Like we used to be able to stay in it and get there - you can see the finish line - you’re like, “I can get there before I hit a cone.” 

WB - Yep, yep… 

Capps - A good driver can pull that off and get the win, right? 

WB - Yep, yep… 

Capps - It’d be like that. Can’t do it anymore.  And a lot of runs, I’m fightin’ in there and I feel like I’m behind it a lot. To me. I come back, and I tell Tobler, “ Oh man, I didn’t mean to let it get that much out of the grove…” And he goes, “Oh, you weren’t that far.” Then I watch our tape from the starting line, and I’m not near as far as I thought. Me, in my mind, I feel like I’m way out. I wasn’t. 

WB - But see, that’s the difference. See, you think you’re behind the car, and you’re not, and other people don’t think they’re behind it, and they are.

Capps - And they’re a car width. I’m a half car at most. 

WB - Like our friend. 

Capps - Yes. Somebody. Some people. 

WB - Yes, certain people. Alright.

Capps -  It’s all relative, right? 

WB - Yes, it is all relative. But they are… they look behind it. This is the first time I’ve sat in the stands, and I don’t go to many races, but I’ve thought. “They look really fast. These look quick.” They’re pretty cool now. 

Capps - And you’re steering from the rear end. You’re doing a lot of THIS, and the front end’s not really on the ground more - and it’s fun, but if you’re - you’re kinda behind because it doesn’t react as quick with this. (swinging his ass) 

SECOND STOP - DEL WORSHAM - 

WB - You've won two championships. You’ve been with well-funded teams. You’re not exactly broke, but you’re not a team like this (sitting in the Kalitta / DHL hospitality unit.) 

Del - Understandable. 

WB - So, I get racing with your family, but, as a competitor at the end of this year now, you look back, do you think you made the right decision? 

Del - I do. But it can be frustrating. Because everybody wants to win. But, but, I have won on all levels, but the one thing I haven’t won - I didn’t win the way I originally set out to do it, and that was with my Dad and with my team where I was the one in control of the majority of what was going on. You know, winning with Alan Johnson, I mean, you know he’s amazing, just amazing - look what he did with Brittany. It’s just amazing what he can do - he’s a great guy. 

And coming over to DHL, we built a team that won, and that was very gratifying. But in the end, I really want to make one more run for a championship the way I started it, and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. And the first year, we knew it wasn’t … we knew what it was going to be … I made a last minute decision, my Dad got sick, a lot of things took place, but we still survived and went through it. I think next year will be better and it’s gonna take 3 to 5 years - and if I can make a run for a championship, then maybe that’ll be a good time to at least call that part of my career done and move on to other things. 

WB - Cool. There are rumors that the Sheik is involved a little bit. I saw his initials on your car…

Del  - He’s a friend mostly. 

WB - Yeah? 

Del - Mostly a friend. He helps out .

WB - Is that gonna grow?

Del - No. Nah, Nah, he’s not gonna sponsor me. That’s not his… he’s already done that. He’s here; he helps me out on projects I have; things I need, but as far as being the major sponsor, he’s not gonna be that, and I knew that. Like I say, we’re friends, I go every year, once a year, to Qatar and spend a week with him every year; he came to three or four races with us this year, and he just helps me out, but by no means will he be a major sponsor. 

WB - So, is your goal now to build a team as big as these other teams? Are you out looking for money? 

Del - Out looking for money. I’d like to build a team that’s somewhat like Tim Wilkerson’s, about that level, you know. 

WB - That’s still 2.5 - 3 million bucks probably, right? 

Del - To be proper, yeah. But have a car that’s competitive and … that’d be nice, Tim’s got a nice little team. You know, whether or not it’s a championship - things just have to line up. It’s a year like we had in ’15 where you get yourself in the countdown and get hot - you just gotta be hot at the right time. 

WB - Right, right. You can’t be hot only in February and March! (laughter) 

Del - No, no, But you still gotta make the Countdown which with as many fast teams as there are - remember if John has three or four teams, Schumacher has four and Kalitta has two, well, how the hell do you make the top ten? So, you’ve done a lot - even to make the countdown, it’s tough. And then … once you are in the Countdown, if you can break it through there, it’s possible to pull it off. And that’s what I’m going on. I’ve been part of teams, I’ve seen how they’ve done it, I raced with Alan, he showed me. 

I knew how to win races, but I didn’t know how to win a championship. I saw that with Alan. Then I came over here with DHL - we couldn’t even win races, and we built it into winning a championship. But I’ve got to get back to winning races again first. 

WB - Yeah… yeah, for sure. 

Del - It’s there. It’s there. It’s gonna take more people, more money, but it’s there. 

WB - So, it’s more about the challenge of racing with your family… 

Del - It is, it really is. I mean, Dude, as I told you, I had the best car - I was Alan Johnson’s personal driver, and I left for another challenge, well, then that turned into this (we are in the Kalitta / DHL hospitality unit…) well, now we’ve conquered that and now we’re back to where you and I were. Back to where … it’s very gratifying to build your car, build your team, pick your people, drive your car, and not to be like an ego maniac, or do it all - you still have people who help you, but your the guy who’s putting the right people in the right place …

WB - Yeah, it’s… 

Del  - And that’s what I want to do. I want to give that one more shot. 

THIRD STOP - JOHN FORCE - We don’t need an introduction. Back then: always respect, often times war. Now:  friends. Good times, for sure, and I would not trade one moment of my history with this guy for anything. 

WB - John, You’ve got two cars fighting for a championship now, but it’s not you - is it harder for you watching your team fighting for a championship then it is when you’re the guy doing it? 

JF - Robert knows the drill - he’s been there and he’s won. He knows it can be there or you can lose it, either way. Brittany, this is her first time, and I can remember my first - I couldn’t see straight. But she’s handling it real good - so I’m kinda just letting her do her thing. You know, we talked this morning for a few minutes - I said “I believe the good Lord already knows who’s gonna win - it’s all destiny. Go up there and have some fun, you’ve earned the right. I’m amazed she’s even in this hunt. As good as they’ve come along during the year - they were in the back, in the bottom of the top 10. And to bounce up the way Alan said he was gonna do - Alan Johnson in the Countdown, he said, “It don’t matter how many races you win, you gotta win them all in the countdown.” 

Hell, I think he’s won two and been in 4 finals. But that kid over there in Capco, Steve Torrence, that’s a great family; we love ‘em, they pit right here by us, so, you know whoever wins, God bless ‘em, it’ll be a new champion who will come up. It’ll either be my daughter or Steve Torrence - either way we’ll be standing right here in Pomona in February. 

WB - When you won all your championships, there was no Countdown. You were the World Champion for the year. I never won it. but if there had been a countdown, I’d have won it twice, so I look at the Countdown as “Is it real?” You’re a person of influence in the sport. 

JF - Well, I never get into that. What NHRA does, it’s their ballpark; I just do what they want and … but congratulations, you’d have won that championship. 

WB - (Laughter) Yeah, eff. Eff that. (Laughter) 

JF - (Laughter) Then you’d have quit beating up on me. But the real truth is, they did it in NASCAR. I think the NASCAR deal is way too complicated; I can’t figure out who’s winning. The thing I look at in NASCAR - what I look at is - if you have one bad run, it’s over. You can run good all year, have one bad run and be out. NHRA’s deal, the way it is, it put’s people in the seats - that’s what everybody says, and that was their reasoning. I kinda liked it the other way because it worked for me and I had it wrapped up by Dallas, so nobody really cared, and we’d be done by Dallas. But in this Countdown, oh no, it’s re-done, and it starts all over again, so I don’t argue it, I don’t get into that, whatever way they want to do - but if you look at it, uh, well, I don’t know how to look at it, I need to think about that. I don’t know where Brittany’d been if the numbers had been reshuffled so that you could say you like it, but if you’re on the other end of the stick, you don’t like it. So I don’t know. I ain’t that smart. 

WB  - Right. You’ve had some critics lately about a couple of different things, the team order thing, which is never going to go away as long as there are multi-car teams - you know, everybody knows there’s been a game, with you, with Schumacher, in almost every form of motorsports there is that. Why … have you ever told NHRA, look, get rid of that rule, let us be upfront with the fans? 

JF - There again, I don’t tell them how to run their business. Believe it or not, yeah, I might be one of the top names out here, but that ain’t my business to get into that. I don’t tell them. I know that F1, they got rid of that rule, they said enough of that, but if they catch you doing it, they’ll fine you a million bucks, so … Me and Schumacher, I don’t know what he does over there, and I don’t care. He seems to know what I do here, but I don’t care. That’s everybody’s opinion, and you know what’s really funny? You drove these cars, you one of the best. Sometimes s*** you try to do doesn’t work - you know what I mean? And I’ve had calls made on me that were totally wrong, so I never say anything - I keep my mouth shut, and I race, for the fans, for the sponsors. 

Some fans will love me, some will hate me, but it, it’s never gonna be a perfect world. At the end of the day, I don’t get into the rulemaking. I do what I do as a team owner - I don’t even tell my people what I’m doing, you know what I mean? You give somebody an opinion on driving a race car - you’ll just screw them up. So, basically, I am paid to win, and that is how I look at it. It’s that simple. 

WB I-  know you’ve been asked this recently, but I want to ask you. How old are you now? 

JF - 68 years old, going on a hundred. 

WB - Dude, you’ve been 68 for a couple of years. (laughter) 

JF - (Laughter) No, no, I’m 68. I’m 68. Born May 4th, 1949. No cards or nothin, don’t send me any cards.

WB - (Laughter) Never would… How long are you going to do this? 

JF - Well, I signed a contract - I’ve gotta lifetime contract with Peak. They really like me, my energy, the owner Tom is my age, and he’s got full-on energy. But, I’m selling product, that’s what I do. I go back to the Advance Auto and all the store chains, the Walmarts, all the places I’ve been. I know that business, you know, I had 30 years with the other oil company, so the real bottom line is the good Lord - if this was Indy Car and NASCAR, I’d be done. You know that, hell, I couldn’t stay awake that long, they’d have to have rest stops. But this car is 3 or 4 seconds, and I gotta stay on top of that light. And I work hard in the gym - I was in the gym last night. I work hard, I don’t drink until I’ve got a week off or two, but what I’m saying is I don’t party anymore, I go to bed every night… my wife says, “It’s 9:00, you’re going to bed?” I need to and then I get up every morning at 6. That’s just the way I function. But what I’m saying is, I’m gonna drive this thing as long as I’m good. The day I’m not good, I’m gonna get out of the seat. 

Hell, I’ve been questioned here lately, about, “Well, he don’t know where he’s at on the race track …” 

Oh I know exactly where I’m at. I’ve always had my eyes checked, eyes are good. I went (got my eyes checked again) after some of them complaints, and I said, “am I far sighted or near sighted? Something that could make me think I’m somewhere else?” They said, no. This all comes back to the headers that we’re changing weekly for race tracks, if it drops a hole it’s crazy. You change headers; it shoves you one way, the next run, it’ll shove the other. I don’t get it. Weight on the front of the car, getting over the bumps, a lot of stuff. But I WILL say, that I’ve gotten over the centerline. I NEVER made the statement that I said I’ll drive till I crash ‘em. I went back and I checked all the TV, I can't find it. I did say, “I’m gonna drive this thing until I … and then I shut up, cause, first of all, I’d never hurt my self, and I’d definitely never hurt somebody else. So, what I’m saying is these things are an animal. 

Cruz Pedregon said, and I love him, he said, “Force was running into walls in the nineties,” but I never hit anybody, ever. Know what I mean? I’ve been run over by people myself, some of the biggest names in the sport. And had my car destroyed. There ain’t no rule. Sorry. Go back and fix your car and move on. So those are the battles that I fight. I ain’t mad at nobody. 

DO I drive on the edge? I do drive on the edge. A photograph caught me sideways at full throttle. It made me look bad. 

WB - I have it. Mark’s (Rebilas) photo. 

JF - The truth is, it made - it made such a left turn - I was goin’, I was goin’ at an angle, and I thought I have it, I got it turned, ok, it’ll be ok, and right when I get there, I’ll just lift, and it’ll come right back, because I was after points, low et, and I got RIGHT there, and all of a sudden, Jesus criminy, I couldn’t get off the gas fast enough. 

WB - I’m gonna show you this picture, Rebilas’ picture, and ask you, “if this was me, and that is one of your daughters, Ashley or Courtney, (in the other lane) what the eff would you do to me? Break my jaw or knock me out? (laughter) 

JF - (Laughter) No, no. Ugly… it’s ugly, (more laughter) No, the point is, you wouldn’t do that either. You think I want to wreck a car, wipe out a car, a quarter of a million dollars or three hundred or wreck a body - whatever, 

WB - or kill a guy…

JF - No, s*** no, and the minute I thought I’m ok, I’ve done it a million … I sat down, and Hagan came over, it wasn’t a committee that jumped on me. Hagan came over and said, “I respect you, love you, he said, I gotta say you did come over a couple of times and if the media asks, I’m gonna tell them that.” 

But to me, the ones that’ve done it, you know, don’t get a mob and come after me, just come over, come talk to me, because when Hagan said it, I said “wow,” and went back and looked at the videos, and I went back to Topeka when I went over to Worsham’s lane, and I thought “OK,  time to pull it back, because what you could get away with two years ago, you cant now. SO I had to pull ‘er back. 

WB - So I talked to Ron Capps, and I told him, “you know, I’m watching Friday and Saturday qualifying, and I think like about half the people driving now are behind the car, and he goes, “Dude, I’M behind the car.’ Like half the time, I’m behind the car … it’s so different; it’s hard.” So, I get it. It’s good to hear it from you.

JF - Oh yeah, number one, I love the sport. Only thing I’m guilty of is wanting to be loved by everybody and that ain’t working, but at the end of the day when these things are that radical, and you’re over by the wall thinking, “I’m gonna get there - get those points to help my team mate,” well, you gotta realize sometimes you gotta lift. 

You gotta give it up. I’ve… Whether its a win, I’ve driven on the edge thinking I can get away with it, with any of this shit, well, now I realize these cars are a handful. And that’s where I’m at. 

FOURTH STOP - J.R. TODD - JR Todd has done an amazing job this year adapting from a Top Fuel Dragster to the DHL Fuel Funny Car. For me, aside from winning Indy, the highlight has to be in Sonoma when he blew the tires off at the hit, but recovered perfectly to hunt down, and beat Jack Beckman. It was a driving job that most - even with 20-plus years experience - cannot pull off. I was impressed.  

WB - Your first year in a Funny Car - What do you think of them now, compared to dragsters?

JR - They’re an ongoing challenge as a driver, that’s for sure. They’ll keep you on your toes, and people keep asking me, you know, “You got it down yet?” I don’t think you ever get it down, driving one of these things. It’s really critical to keep it in the groove and just - everything across the board it seems different than driving a dragster. It's a reality check, and it’ll humble you but its a lot of fun at the same time and I wouldn’t trade it for anything right now. 

WB - I look back at the season - I see Sonoma - the semi-finals when you smoked the tires and dude, there aren’t many people that can do that these days. When you look back at the year, what’s your best run - was that one of them? 

JR - Yeah, for sure. As a driver, you like to win runs like that when it comes back down to you, making a judgment call in a split second so that one sticks out in my mind because fans come up to me all the time and tell me how cool it was to watch. It was definitely exciting in the car. It’s just one of those things that you can’t THINK about at the time - you just have to DO it. And you know, the rule you’re taught early on is don’t give up until the other guy has crossed the finish line, so I wasn’t giving up ‘till he crossed the finish line and sure enough, we got by him in just the amount of time. 

WB - Cool. Snake is a fan. What does that mean? 

JR - It’s pretty awesome. He comes over whenever he’s at the track - he came over yesterday, and he’s quick with one-liners, you know. He checks out the car and this and that, We’re talking, and I said, “you wanna hop in it?” 

“Nah, I don’t wanna embarrass you…” (Laughter.) He’s pretty good about keeping me in check, but it’s awesome when he calls you up when you’ve won a race and congratulates you and says you’re doing a good job. To me - coming from someone like that and Connie too, that’s the ultimate compliment, because those guys have been out here pretty much from day one - they’ve seen it all - in their eyes, they recognize good from bad, so when they say I’ve done good, it makes me feel pretty good. 

WB - Winning Indy - pretty effing cool, isn’t it? 

JR - Yeah, that's something you strive your whole career to do and people who haven’t done it, who don’t drive or work on a team - I don’t think they understand the importance of winning that race and how stressful that race is. You can ask anybody in the pit area - crew chiefs, crew guys, drivers; it’s a long race. Come Monday evening; you’re worn out, you feel like you’ve been there for two weeks. It’s the one you want more than another race, for sure.