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Brian Husen, Kalitta Motorsports crew chief joins WFO Radio
Brian Husen, Kalitta Motorsports crew chief joins WFO Radio
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About this episode
Brian Hughes, crew chief for Sean Langdon’s Top Fuel car, breaks down how the team’s strong Arizona start came together—months of sorting parts, tuning, and decision-making right up to the moment of the run. He talks about learning under Alan Johnson, balancing aggression with smart risk (especially after tire-spinning issues), and the mental process behind key calls like qualifying strategy and the final-round plan. The conversation also covers Sean’s improved mindset, the 1000th Top Fuel milestone, and NHRA’s 75th season context, plus WFO’s Pomona ticket plans and a deep pro stock “major moments” bracket game.
Topics:
top fuel crew chief mindset
tuning decisions right up to burnout
qualifying strategy and buy runs
tire spinning prevention in finals
learning under alan johnson
team lounge brainstorming process
sean langdon mindset and pressure
1000th top fuel race significance
nhra 75th season and pomona preview
pro stock major moments bracket game
Cars:
Toyota Camry
#NHRA #dragracing #Kalitta
Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel crew chief, Brian Husen joins WFO Radio before the Lucas Oil NHRA WInternationals. Husen will talk about his team's recent victory at the Arizona Nationals, and his goals for the remainder of NHRA's 75th season. WFO host Joe Castello will preview the Lucas Oil Winternationals at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona California.
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Technical
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Car
Toyota Camry
"...eg Anderson becomes winning his pro stock driver. Camry Caruso earns a second female pro stock win. This..."
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This is WFO Radio.
Hey everybody, WFO Radio is back on HRA Nitro.
I'm Joe Costello and super excited for the Lucas Oil Internationals this weekend baby.
That is right, Pomona, California, hopefully we will get to race and it will be fun and
I will tell you my plan as of right now is to be there.
Super excited about it, Miss Gainesville, Miss Arizona, you know, Ma is in the hospital,
but she's trending better.
At least today she certainly was and so my plan is to be in Pomona, California this weekend.
I'm super excited.
Why don't you join us and get some tickets and be ready on the show today.
Number one qualifier, first two races, one the Arizona Nationals, Brian Hughes and went
345 and testing, finished second in the points last year with Sean Langdon.
I'm very excited to speak with Brian.
Last week we had Chris Cunningham on the show talking about the 1000th funny car race, which
is this weekend.
Brian and Sean won the 1000th top fuel race.
That's not why we're having them on.
Crew chief, big numbers on the show last week, a lot of people were interested in Chris Cunningham.
That's not why we're talking to Brian.
We're talking to Brian because they have come out of the box very strong and this is one
of the favorites to win a championship.
Get to know him a little bit more before we get to Mr.
Hueson.
I do want to shout out some of the people who make it possible for me to go WFO like
husseyperformance.net.
Thank you, Hussey for being on board with WFO Radio and Bernie Speedshop.
This is Josh Hart's home business.
Our friends at Redline Synthetic Oil.
Thank you guys for supporting WFO Radio.
Total Seal Piston Rings, the Hidden Horsepower podcast, so much stuff from PRI out there.
Larisse Motorsports Insurance.
A lot of you reached out to me about Holden.
Larisse last week.
He did a great job on the show.
You heard about Jesse, of course, and FTI.
We'll talk about them all later.
Going to talk a little bit about some of the pro stock moments on Drag Race Bracket Bonanza.
I've got a really cool heirloom piece of history here that I will share and show with you later.
But right now, let's bring on the guest of honor.
Those of you that like the technical side, I think you're going to love this interview,
Mr. Brian Houston.
What's up, Brian?
How are you?
Good, Joe.
How are you doing?
I am very well.
I'm excited to have you on the show, watching you over the past, you know, two seasons and
two races at the helm of Sean's car has been fun.
Speaking with Sean about it has been fun.
And now to speak with you directly, I'm very excited.
Congratulations on Arizona.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
So let's start at the beginning.
You got a fast hot rod.
You finished second last year.
Coletta Motorsports one, two.
I remember speaking with you and Alan in Sonoma in the lounge and you described sorting out
this these fuel cars as going behind a TV and sorting through all these VCR wires, an
old reference.
The young people don't know about it, but and that it just takes time and this is connected
to that and that's connected to this and these two things affect each other.
And you got to get rid of it.
And boy, did things come together well once you got it all sorted out.
Yeah, it's just a carryover from the, you know, championship season with Doug in 2023 and
getting Sean's car up to speed with Doug's car and getting all the parts and pieces correct
and and getting the guys to maintenance their areas in a certain way that we need done to
to go out there and put up the numbers that we put up.
All right, let's get to know Brian Hughes in a little bit.
You've been with Alan Johnson for many years before the show started.
We were talking about, you know, the run even, but drag racing, hot rods, race cars.
Where did you get that passion?
Where did that come from originally?
My dad, since I was a child, you know, you can see the picture behind me.
That's one of his interactions.
He had one hell.
I don't know what year that was, but I was a single digits age.
So I've just been around cars and things like that my whole life.
Kind of didn't. I didn't pick it.
It picked me. That is great.
And getting together with Alan Johnson, he has talked a lot about you just coming up.
And there was a lot of, you know, stepping out of the shadow discussion
when you got the crew chiefing job.
But he seems to relish the opportunity to learn as much as is possible.
How did you two get hooked up and talk a little bit about that journey with Alan?
So initially it started in 2000.
I went and worked for him.
He had a funny car.
Bruce Sarver drove it.
Emula was the sponsor started there.
And then I ended up leaving there and going to work at Schumacher Racing
when they acquired the Army sponsorship.
Finished out the season with the X side with LV.
Troxel driving it in 2001.
Went and then it was a crew member on the Army car and spent a few years doing that.
And then Alan had gotten hired in June of 2003.
So kind of got reconnected there and just been working together ever since.
So you're like, you know, I guess you're 50 now, 50-ish approximately?
52.
So 52. So you're in your mid-20s and you're out on tour
and you having incredible experiences.
You got to be part of the run, all of that.
As because we need young men like yourself to fill that role.
I'm hearing that that's one of the hardest things right now, right?
Is to find good quality crew guys that get it, that want to live the life.
That's you.
You've made it.
What did you gain from that experience?
You know, I was young.
So back then it was more of a working on a race car and going state to state
and town to town and having fun and checking it all out.
Didn't really, you know, it wasn't like a mindset of mine
that I have to pay attention and do good work and all that.
I just did what came natural to me and, you know, just all kind of worked out.
You know, obviously I was young and made some mistakes at points and got straightened
out a few times and learned my lessons and got the chance to work with a lot of great people.
And they kind of taught me the right and wrong ways to be, you know, to be successful out here.
Then it was up to me to put that into motion and it just all worked out.
Was there a point where maybe became conscious of the situation that like, man,
I'm here with one of the greatest of all time and I get to like learn from this guy.
And then he, you know, I'm working so close with Alan Johnson as, you know,
his reputation continued to grow.
You were there for so much of it.
Was there a moment where you kind of realized like, man, this is a big freaking deal.
I don't know if I ever really came across or, you know, I don't think I felt or thought to myself
like, man, this is a great opportunity to work with Alan because, you know, back then he wasn't
the greatest yet, you know, so obviously he's very good at what he did and very smart and
intelligent and that was plenty aware.
But, you know, early in the Army days, we had a small laptop back in the clutch area and
at the end of, you know, the days, you know, Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays and weekends
and whatever it was, we were, we had access to the runs and we didn't know what the hell we
were looking at for the most part, you know, me and Jason McCulloch and good guy, Roger Whitworth,
we were curious and eager and we'd sit back there drinking a beer and looking at all the stuff and
Alan had come into the track the next morning and we'd have all kinds of questions, you know,
what about this and what does this mean and what does that mean and, you know, we didn't bombard him,
but that's kind of how we learned, you know, when you're a crew guy, you spend the majority of your
time out there working on the car.
So the times that you do get to look at the computer and look at the runs, you're not necessarily
around the crew chief to be able to ask direct questions, so you got to kind of
look at it and make your own synopsis and then ask questions when you get to opportunity.
That is, that is awesome to think about. Excuse me. The quest for knowledge. So into it, like,
want to know every detail and the ride has been pretty wild. You've won a lot of championships,
you've seen now accepted as the greatest, certainly in top fuel, I think that's fair to say.
Mount Rushmore, crew chief, you've seen him in some big moments when I had Sean on last year,
we talked about those like go into the box kind of moments, thinking about it and making that
final call. I noticed that with you a couple of times, like that there's a gut feeling at some
level and I notice a lot of similarities, kind of like with head coaches. What would you say
about that? How your style has been maybe some of what he is but made your own?
Yeah, I don't know if it's really a style, it's just how we run our cars and we have the ability
to make some changes right up to the moment of, even after the burnout, you know, you're back
in the car up and you're still going through your mind, you know, all the different scenarios that
are in front of you and how aggressive you want to be and you might swing one way when you start
the car and by the time the thing gets back from the burnout, you've thought it through some more
and changed your mind or whatever it is. So, you know, when we get up there to make a run,
it's just a constant cycle through my mind of all the different scenarios, how the car set up,
what I think we can get away with, how aggressive I want to be and like I said, so you can,
there was a few times my first year where I'd open the box and turn the knob one way and
20 seconds later, I'd open it and spit back and back and forth and back and forth and that was
just a lot of indecisiveness in my knowledge at that point. So, now, you know, Q3 and Phoenix
went up there with a mindset that I think we can run 76 on this race track and we're in the back
of the pack and as more cars went down, everybody was improving pretty substantially on their
qualifying positions and right before we started the car, I thought to myself, you know,
trying to run 76 is, you know, you're being aggressive and if you miss it,
you're going to end up in the bottom half of the field, so why don't you just, you know,
lay up a little bit and take what it gives you and, you know, if it's not number one,
at least you're going to have lane choice first round. So, that was kind of what went through
my mind there and fortunately it worked out and we were good enough by 5,000.
That is wild to hear. And those are the moments and me when I am on the starting line to try to
extract that from the person who just went it, like all that thought going into a couple of
decisions on flows or however you do it and it can make the difference. Ultimately, you became
number one qualifier and you were awarded a buy run first round, which is huge.
Yeah, definitely. You know, with having the opportunity to be, you know, not have to compete
against somebody and just go make your run first round, definitely takes a lot of pressure off,
you know, as far as getting through first round and gives you a better, you know,
comfort level, leaving the trailer, heading up first round. So anytime you can get that,
that's a big bonus. What do you think of racing so early in Arizona?
I'm kind of an early riser, so it didn't bother me, but it was odd at the end of, you know,
end of qualifying. It's like, we're done. You know, everything's service, we're ready to
make the runs for the next day and look at all the data and normal thing and it's two
o'clock in the afternoon. It's like, man, we've got time to go do whatever the heck we want right
now. So that was an adjustment. I think if we continue to do that more and more and more,
you kind of adapt to it, but it definitely kind of threw me off a little bit.
Yeah, it seemed cool me watching from afar, but right, the whole afternoon, you had the
afternoon. I don't know, maybe we stumbled upon something there for the right markets.
So first round, you get the buy run. Second round, you go up against Tony Schumacher
and that's, you know, former Colette of Motorsports personnel over there, kind of interesting,
but you ran 95 with a nine at 329, getting down Sean 67. And let's talk about your driver for a
second. There's a great story on drag zine, Susan Wade with a real positive story about Sean.
In the story, the word maturing comes up or maybe he's just got a general more,
I don't want to say more appreciative, but less taking less pressure upon himself to win every
round and live or die by the wind, light, that kind of stuff. He's taken it easy. They even quote
something he learned in the Middle East, like kind of like, Hey, man, just take it easy.
Have you noticed that the story talks a lot about it and that he's enjoying racing with you,
maybe more than he's race. He's enjoyed racing ever.
Yeah, he's always been a great cheerleader, you know, come in the lounge after a run, whether
it's the successful successful run or, you know, unsuccessful run, he's always, you know,
tried to be positive and, you know, he has, he's a racer, he wants to win as well. So, but
I, you know, maybe I'm pretty hard on myself. So when we fail, it's pretty tough on me. And
I, maybe he sees that me and realize maybe that's what he was going through and didn't
like what he's seen. I don't know. He's, I love working with him. He, we, we have the same
expectations of ourselves, you know, and he, we just, I don't know, it's like we were brothers
from another mother. I don't know what it is, but we think the same way, you know, we, we want to win
as bad as anybody does. And I'm glad that maybe he's, you know, backing his emotions down a little
bit and have, enjoying the ride and, you know, kind of taking the experience in and having fun
doing. I'm glad that I'm able to play a role and help him get to that point. I guess I don't, I
don't know. It's a, it's a- It's a heady question. I admit it. It's a, it's a heady question how your
presence affects that of others. I like, maybe he realizes if you just revealed that you are
really intense and you take it really hard, maybe he senses that he needs to be the balance.
Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It's a welcome, you know, Sean, we'd like him either way, but
I'm just glad that he's having fun and enjoying the ride.
Well, and Justin and Aaron, I know Aaron Kay, very talented, very similar to what you described
coming up, like born into drag racing, loving what he's doing, getting the great opportunity.
And it seems like you've got a nice group. I spoke with Chad at the start of the season. He said,
everybody's back. Everybody's good. We got a good, really good chemistry going on both teams.
Honestly, all three teams, like I feel like we've got a really great racing organization right now
and Connie provides us with all the resources that we need and there's nothing we want for and
the expectations that they have for us as far as a motorsports team are the same ones that we
hold for ourselves. So, you know, having Aaron come on board and was something I really needed
in the lounge just to bounce some thoughts back and forth. You know, Justin is intelligent
and knows to race car from front to back. He just doesn't have the experience in front of your car.
So we got through that first year without Aaron and was happy to have him come on board and they're
both, you know, at the end of the days. It's usually the three of us up in the lounge and just
brainstorming and talking about different things and what went wrong and what went right and
kind of kind of going like that. Bouncing back and forth to the results from Arizona. I love
you hearing you guys talk about, you know, I love the competitiveness and I want to try to bring
more of that out like crew chiefs. Yeah, you want the car to go, you want to win, man. You want to
win. This is you're not leaving your family to just be around. You guys want to win and thinking
about that team in the lounge trying to figure out how to make that happen. And it's been happening
over the past couple of years. You've had great year. You're out of the box strong.
That's something I want to capture. I love hearing about that, Brian.
I don't understand what you're asking, I guess. Well, just we don't get a lot of it
and we need more. Not necessarily from you, but from everyone about crew chiefs don't really talk
too much about what happened because you're processing so much information. And I think it
is great. So semi-finals Matty Gordon, the pesky Matty Gordon, Sean's part of Matty Mania. He has
been a coach to her as he is to many others. But you got through and you got to the final. Tell
me about that run. Yeah. So obviously, Miss Q one, we had a safety malfunction and then from there,
we, you know, made some decent runs that wasn't running on eight cylinders every run in it.
Trying to get the fuel systems, you know, straightened out and when the track was good,
it would run on eight cylinders. But then when I had to slip it down there, I wasn't getting enough
fuel out of it. And by the semifinals, I'd finally reached the point of the proper amount of fuel
and it ran on eight cylinders and spun for the first time that weekend. And we were fortunate
to get through that round on Q four. We broke a bunch of clutch levers and throughout bearing
locked up and damaged the entire clutch. So going into first round Sunday morning, we had to put
a whole brand new setup in there and stall springs, you know, something that we control.
We use it's for the starting line area, basically. And we had to put a new set of springs in and
lesson was learned there for the last two and a half years of ran the same set of springs.
And they, you know, soften up and over time and put new springs in. And that basically is like
taking primary off when the springs are stiffer. And so I was pretty shocked to get through first
round and see the scoreboard light up with a 83 when I figured it was gonna run 77 or 78.
And so it was kind of a, the rest of Sunday was a small challenge, you know, just kind of
knowing that the car wasn't going to 60 foot as good as it needed to and hoping that that
wouldn't affect the overall result of the run because if you're not going X amount of miles
per hour at a certain point in the racetrack when the clutch is coming out of it, you know,
you can spin the tires if you're not going fast enough. So got through the semis, you know,
you know, ran on eight cylinders finally and was a little slow early, like it had been all day,
but managed to get the win. And we were pretty, pretty lucky there.
Going to the final. Well, so many systems, 12,000 horsepower. It's insane that they go down the
track at all. Look at this. Juwan is out there. Proud of you. Big bro. Congratulations on Phoenix.
Thanks, Juwan.
Juwan, please put in the chat a private story about Brian that will make him
keep the PG.
PG private story, a topic to bring up to ask him about. I got some dirt on him, so he better
be careful. Yeah. Like I said, PG, PG stuff. All right. Final round. Lee is on the other side
of the racetrack. That whole Tony Stewart team there back. She's back. She had great success
in Arizona, but so has Sean, three in a row. That's crazy. Tell me about prepping for the
final round and obviously the results. A great one for you and the team.
Yeah. So for the final, you know, going back to the semis, the first time for the weekend,
it had spun the tires. And if I didn't do something about that, I was going to definitely spin the
tires again, but hadn't had been faced with that scenario yet. So was going through my mind for
45 minutes or whatever it was in the lounge trying to come up with a plan of how to address that.
And Alan had stopped buying between a short conversation that him and I had.
You know, we just were brainstorming ideas back and forth and how to prepare for the final and
kind of landed on something that I wouldn't have gotten there had he not been afforded the
time to come over and talk to me. So didn't, you know, just knew basically like
spinning the tires, you're going to lose. So the goal is just do not spin the tires in the outcome
will be whatever it is. If we get beat, then we get beat, but we're not going to spend the damn
tires. And, you know, just what I learned last year, my first year tuning a car, I was just trying
not to make any mistakes and go up and down the racetrack. And that turned out okay. You know,
won a few races, but going into the second year and I wanted to be more aggressive. And then
we started spending the tires a lot. So I feel like I'm kind of, I'm in a mindset of a happy
medium where I want to be aggressive, but I want to be a little more cautiously aggressive. And
it's a little bit smarter racer now than I was a year ago or two years ago. And, you know, like
going back to the Q3 run where having the mindset to lay up a little bit and just take what it gives
you. Last year out, I said, screw that, we're sticking to the game plan. I learned my lessons
those ways. So in the final, it was a matter of just don't spin the tires and take what it gives you
and with challenging conditions like that, the results usually work out okay. And it turns out
you want to think I'm slowing the thing down, we still have a pretty fast restart.
That's it. Well, exactly right. That is incredible to hear you talk about that process.
Where do you think you are in your learning curve as a crew chief? Clearly,
you're somewhere that you can finish in the top two in points. But do you still feel
at the beginning of the learning curve or are you starting, it sounds like you're starting to
settle in with that confidence? Yeah, I'm extremely comfortable when it comes to,
you know, making decisions as far as tuning the race car. You know, there's obviously things I haven't
had to go through yet, but I'm sure I'll work through them just fine. But I think mentally,
I'm at a point mentally where I try to make, you know,
like I said, try to be a better racer, make better decisions and not try to just go down
the racetrack and not try to set low E.T. every run, but be a little more in tune with the
atmosphere around you and the conditions and what's going on as far as on the racetrack and
who you're racing and what you think you need to run versus what you really want to try to run and
be smart about it and, you know, hit the long ball when it's time to hit the long ball.
That was great. Which you are also capable of doing.
You and Lones did a nice discussion about the 345 and testing. I think that is,
it's going to sell tickets this year. You know, if there's ever like a Friday night session or a
big homerun session that a racetrack, I think our sport is built on it. It's the 75th season.
Look at how many races we got Kenny Bernstein coming out to because of 300.
That's a, that's a pretty big milestone to have that on your personal resume that you did that,
even in a test, still pretty cool. Yeah, it's, it was exciting. Like I said,
you know, it's something Alan and I talked about over the winter, you know, different ways we could
run our engine to try to make, run better speed. And that was kind of my mindset throughout Gainesville
and his as well. And we were, we made some pretty fast runs prior to that. And that particular run,
I didn't expect it to run 345. Not even, it wasn't like I was trying to run that on that particular
run. It was more just want to go on the racetrack and get a good solid lap in. And the, so when the
number popped up, I was surprised, but I wasn't surprised, so to say. People were like, oh,
the clocks are hot. That's how you know you made a good run when that topic comes up. All right,
I could keep you all day, but I don't want to. You won the 1000th Top Fuel Race. That was a big
deal. When it happened, I don't know, it kind of seemed that this is my opinion. What does that mean,
the 1000th Top Fuel Race? And watching Sean be so joyful, seeing garlics there, all of that,
it made me realize, man, this is something that really is only going to happen one time in our
lives, one time, the 1000th Top Fuel Race. This weekend is the 1000th Funny Car Race. So you're
a good person to talk to you about the significance of the milestone winning that deal. When you
look back on it, you know, what would you say to the Funny Car Crew Chiefs about getting a win like
that? I mean, for me, that whole day, I didn't even have it in my mind about that. I was just
trying to win the race. And once it settled over and, you know, got to the winter circle, and like
you said, saw garlics and Connie was there and all that kind of stuff, then it just kind of,
it was a little bit humbling, you know, to think that you're in a sport that the people that you're
surrounded with right now in the winter circle are the people that basically built this sport.
And here you are, you know, you get the opportunity to compete in a race at a milestone like that.
So it was humbling. It's cool. You just enjoy it, you know, and the next, the 2000th win,
most of us won't even be around to see it. So, you know, it's definitely one of those
moments and one of those trophies that are up on the high up on the list of all the accomplishments
that have been fortunate enough to be a part of. You mentioned Connie. There's a couple of people
in the chat posting, you know, about Connie and just how much he means to the sport and how appreciative
we all are. But you get to work with him. And I'll share with you a story in the championship
last year in Vegas. You know, I ask questions. Maybe they're not always the best questions,
but there was a situation where you guys had to run Doug and I was like, what's going to happen
over there? And someone said to me, the old man does not come here to watch Doug's car win.
He wants his car to win. And sure enough, that that's what happened. It's easy to lose track of
that. But Connie, that's his car. And you are the avatar for what he's, you know, his expenditure,
his investment in the sport, winning for him, being so close to Connie Coletta now.
How do you take all of that in? You know, it's got to be amazing, but also humbling at the same time.
I'll say when I first started working on Sean's car, I was slightly intimidated. I hadn't really
spent a whole lot of time around him and talked to him a few times, but nothing in depth. And
when I started working on Sean's car, we'd have short conversations and I heard all these stories
over all the years and how he can upset and get and some of the chewy out kind of thing. And I'm
like, you know, I'd made some mistakes the first year, you know, we launched a lot of blowers
off that thing. And he never, he never, never went off the handle on me or anything like that.
So it kind of, you know, made it easier. And he's a, he's a cool cat, man. He's, we blew up in 2024
one time and he, somebody come and asked me to go over to his trailer. So I walk over there and he's,
what the hell's going on? And I said, man, I just, I screwed up. I had the fuel system too lean and,
you know, kick the rods out of it and blew the blower off. And he goes, well, shit, that's all
right. I've made plenty of mistakes. He was fine with that answer, you know, so, but walking over
there, it was like, here we go. This is, this is the stories I've heard about him getting ready to be
a part of one of these. So it's, it's cool to hear those stories and, and then get the opportunity
to work with him and talk to him. And I don't know if the guy's been around so long and I feel,
I feel kind of honored that he's even, you know, knows my name, put it that way.
Yeah. No, I, I, that's amazing to hear you say that. And it's true. The guy is incredible. The
longevity and the investment while he's given for drag racing. It's, it's incredible. It's great to
see him. So first year, figured it out. Second year, finished second behind Doug. Clearly you're
a championship favorite. You're going to be in the conversation all year. What do you have to do
to make that happen? Just raise smarter. Just like I was talking about earlier, you know, a lot of
a lot of the failures we had last year were directly falling my shoulders from, you know,
like I said, I went up there thinking we could run 76. I'm not backing down. I'm going to run 76 and
didn't work out that way all the time. And there was times where it did work out, but
reflecting back on those times like that, you know, Alan taught me years ago at the end of every
season, you need to evaluate your season and look at your, your, where you're good and where you're
bad and what you need to do to improve. And that's what I've been doing for the last couple of years.
And 24 was, I felt like I'd gone up and down the racetrack and won some races. And so 25, I
wanted to be more aggressive and got too far on that side of it. So I think the pendulum is in
the middle this year. That's my intentions anyhow. And I'm going to go out and hit the gas and do the
best that we can and try to make the best smartest decisions that we can. And if everything works out,
we'll be champions. And if it doesn't, we won't, we'll get ready for next year. But
I feel a lot more dialed in this year than I have the previous two years.
That's great. Great, great to hear. And we know, and there's plenty of time to talk about it, but
a lot of, you know, teacher versus student kind of references probably in our future with Alan,
because he doesn't look like they're backing down at all. And there are a lot of other drivers
that are coming online, good teams, fast teams. It's going to be very entertaining year. 75 years
of NHRA drag racing this year. It's just, it's been great so far. Congratulations on winning Arizona.
Good luck this weekend, didn't Pomona. I certainly hope to be there. And I really appreciate you
making the time for us, Brian. Like this stuff is great. What I was trying to say earlier is that
we all know the drivers will tell us that it's you guys that shoulder the majority of the
responsibility. And if you give them a car, then they can maybe do something with it. But if you
don't, there's not much that they can do. So extracting those stories is the challenge. And
so thank you for today. Like I learned a lot just about how you approach it. And I'm going to come
at you in the future as well, because I think you got a lot of good stuff going on. I wish you
great luck. Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. Thank you, Brian. Appreciate
it. Brian Hughes and with us here on WFO radio. They got it done in Arizona, number one qualifier
for two races. And the guys got it going on. I also know that he is the prototype for what we
need others to do. We need crew guys to learn the trade and develop into crew chiefs. Because this
sport, that is the limiting factor. We could have 10 NASCAR, you know, millionaires and billionaires
decide they want to go drag racing with top field dragsters tomorrow. I don't know if we can
staff them. I don't think we've got the guys to staff them. And so we need a lot more Brian
Hughesans out there. Thank you, Brian. Thank you Colletta Motorsports for making it happen here on
WFO radio. All right, guys, let's get some comments in the comments section. I want to hear what you
guys have to say. Poor job of questions for Brian, but I didn't really solicit it, right? How blessed
are we to have a good amount of the original still with us? Certainly for the 75th season
of NHRA drag racing, garlets around. We just lost at Escondarian, but Connie Colletta Connie
intimidates me. It's starting to wear off a little because I've seen him smile so much. The happy
like happy Connie Colletta and why shouldn't he be happy, right? He's winning world championships
and Doug is one a couple in the cars around great. But those stories about Connie like, oh man,
you know, I want to get this right. I want to do a good job.
Just being involved in NHRA drag racing. All right, when we come back,
we'll take some of your comments, your thoughts about the thousand funny car race about Lucas
oil, internationals in Pomona. I've got a couple of things I want to talk about the drag race
bracket bonanza, our league, the drag race bracket bonanza league on WFO radio. If you have not
joined, I recommend you do it. Drag racing Billy is leading the lead drag racing Billy and Super
Street 5345 is second. Micah is third. As I understand it, the drag race bracket bonanza WFO
radio league. This is what Bobby Graham gave us on the incident on the ignition show last night.
Maybe I wrote it down wrong. But if you're not in the drag race bracket bonanza WFO league,
you're making a big mistake. It's a lot of fun. Please join us there. Couple of things. WFO is
available on PowerTube TV. If you haven't downloaded the PowerTube TV app on Roku or Apple,
you should do so. It's just that simple. It's really great stuff. I want to thank our friends
at hussyperformance.net. David Allen and the team, quality copper gaskets, of course, but also composite
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to find out more, and they usually can get them out sometimes same day. Think about that.
Last week on the show, we had Holden Larisse. That's a great interview. Holden was awesome.
You know, these guys not doing interviews all the time. Fresh off the Larisse Motorsports
Cajun Nationals down there, the Cajun Sports Nationals. We talked about some of the exemptions
that people who have insurance for their race cars don't even know is buried it deep in their policy.
And that's all we're trying to educate you about here on WFO. Insurance, right? You don't need it
until you do. Sad, but the day you need it, you're going to wish you had it. If you don't have it,
it's going to be a catastrophe. But if you do have a policy, make sure that you are covered
on the return road in the staging lanes. If you've got race fuel, if the car's on the lift,
these are all things that you may not have. And you can call Larisse Motorsports Insurance
to go to the website to find out more information. When we come back, we're going to take your
comments, your thoughts, and share a couple of things about the greatest moments in pro stock.
And I've got this like piece of NHRA history that I just dug out of my dad's garage,
which I think is kind of interesting. We'll check it out after this.
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You should get a can at SummitRacingEquipment.com. All right, put your comments in the comment
section. I got a couple of things like, thank you, Dragster Jeff. Dragster Jeff sent me.
It's been a long time coming, but it finally made it from the Hot Rod Reunion, cool shop rag
here. He also sent me by way of Sacramento Racing Fan, this cool Ron Cap's bobblehead.
So thank you very much as much as I try to have cool collectibles go out the door. There's more
coming in, which is fine. Our Patreon giveaway for the John Force artwork went great, and now we've
already started on our next giveaway. Now, I don't even know what the giveaway is going to be. Maybe
it's going to be this cool Winston divisional champion hat. Maybe it could be that, or who knows?
Maybe it'll be one of these amazing Denzo Matt Smith bobbleheads. Who knows? But the Patreons
just started doing giveaway after giveaway after giveaway for our Patreon listener club. I want
them to feel like they're getting something special by being involved in the WFO universe.
Don't forget, the guys from Life's a Drag will be on 12 noon Eastern time. Elin and Jason, will
Jason be there this week? You know, I don't know. But Elin has been talking about pro stock major
moments bracket. So I decided to bring that on the air because I think it's kind of cool. Like the
first one, Bob Glidden is the finalist at every event versus Erica Ender's wins title on double
red light. Wow. What do we think about that? Well, one is a positive and one is kind of a negative
because it's double red light. So I'm going to go Glidden. Sorry, Erica, but you're probably in there.
I'm going to go with Glidden. He makes a final at every race. We all remember that. That was a
pretty wild situation. I was not, you know, an adult at that time. Next one, Warren Johnson has
top speed at every race. Tanner grades youngest pro stock winner. No offense, Tanner, picking Warren
on that, setting up a Bob Glidden versus Warren Johnson round two. And now you get an idea of
what we're talking about. The drag race bracket bonanza, pro stocks, major moments, celebrating
75 years of NHRA, I'm sure. How about Lee Shepard goes to 16 straight finals versus Bob Glidden
wins pro stock challenge and Indy. I'm just going to pick Lee Shepard because I was a big Lee Shepard
fan as a young man. In fact, I think that's the first time that I really experienced tragedy
in my life when my my dad like pulled me aside and tried to explain to me what happened to Lee
as we were getting ready to go to the Gator Nationals. As you know, 45 consecutive years
that streak unfortunately ended this past year, but celebrate the streak once it ends, right?
That's what Steve Torrance always says. You don't think about the numbers until after it's over.
Well, 45 straight years of Gator Nationals, guys. I'm real proud of it. And the Lee Shepard year with
the missing man formation in pro stock was one of those years. So I'm always going to pick Lee
Shepard and I always think like what might have been had Lee lift. And Jeff Bodine won the Daytona
500 with a set of Lee Shepard heads on his Hendrick Motorsports car. Just so many things.
Bill Jenkins, B Jenkins, I think he's talking about the grump makes first nine second pass.
Erica Enders is first female pro stock finalist. Gosh, Erica, I feel terrible going with grump.
Warren, there's got to be an Erica one that is going to make it past the first round.
Warren Johnson earns a 220th top mile per hour of event. First all female pro stock final. I'm
picking that WJ with the performance milestones. That one was kind of generic. Stanfield's race
father and son final in Sonoma. I was there for that one versus Larry Morgan versus Alan
Johnson burned down final. I was not there for that one. So I'm picking the Stanfields.
Joe Lee, Stanfield one class at the Larisse Cajun Sports Nationals talked about it a lot on
admission, the audio only podcast and way to go, Joe Lee. Sorry, Aaron, we were all written for
Greg. Greg Anderson becomes winning his pro stock driver. Camry Caruso earns a second
female pro stock win. This was a very tough one, guys, but I'm going with Greg. Don Nicholson
wins championship at 50. Bob Glidden as five straight Columbus wins. Wow. Don Nicholson,
I'll go with that. And you can continue on. There's a lot of it. I'm not going to do the
whole thing on the air, but I recommend you go to drag race bracket bonanza, join the WFL radio
league WFO radio is the code to get in the league and join us and be a part of it. All right,
let's see what everyone else has to say before we go to this bit of history, which is a total
freestyle bit. I don't know how it's going to go. It could be terrible. But let's see. This guy
deserves a punch in the stomach. Randy punch in the stomach. I don't care if it's in the forecast
or not. But you like vocalizing it. You're speaking it into existence here. What are you doing? Why?
Why would you say such a thing? Why would you put that evil on us, Ricky Bobby? Don't do it, Randy.
Keith talks about Eric Medlin and Daryl Russell being multiple world champions,
certainly Joe Austin Proc finally getting out of round one or same story again.
You know, I love that Nighthawk is on this. I think they're going to get out of round one.
I think that the story goes that they didn't get a lot of the parts and pieces that they ordered,
the prox. Same situation with Brian and crew members and crew chiefs and the human,
you know, assets, right? The people who do the work. Drag racing could grow tomorrow.
Elon Musk could say, I'm going to support five new teams. And if we don't have the staff
to race them, we're in trouble. Well, the same is true for the parts. If you are waiting on
superchargers or waiting on clutch fingers or waiting on whatever discs, you can't race.
And so from what I have read with the Proc family and what I know, and Bobby Bennett had a good
story with Austin and that they are ordering the things that they know are going to work and be
faster and maybe be next gen fast. And it hadn't all arrived. And even right before Arizona, a lot
of stuff showing up on Friday night. Well, what are you going to do? You're going to get ready for
Pomona. And so I expect this and I'll look for some backup, assuming I get out there. And I'm
leaving that open. But this is one of the stories I'm going to follow up. Like, where are we, Proc
family? You got what you need? Is this race one of the new Proc set up with TASCA? I think it is.
Yeah, a lot of people mentioning the R word. Guys, stop, please. Keith says, join WFO and Patreon
as well as buy WFO merch. This guy's great. You're right, Keith. They should all buy WFO merch.
A win for Spencer Hyde this weekend. That would be kind of fun.
Joe, all the talk last year with all new drivers and cars and we still only have 14 entries. I think
it was 15 when I checked earlier today. Going out West, you know, most of your top fuel cars are in
the center of the country. Some people got a beef with California. I'm okay with it. Like, this is
a story that I've personally evolved beyond. It is what it is. First round, number one qualifier,
earns a buy run. Okay. But then round two is, you know, like there are people who
there are people who celebrate eight car fields. So let's celebrate our round two eight car field
and then we'll have a bonus round one with seven more. You know, I don't know. I'm a
glasses half full kind of guy. I would love for there to be 16 top fuel cars. We got full
fields everywhere else. We have 15. It is what it is. It wouldn't slow me down in a second.
Erica and Jason, one of the best moments for the title says Mr. Ant Dog.
Yeah, but they both went red, except Erica didn't because Jason went red first. If you're Jason
Line, do you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that? I think I do. I think I would.
Like that's one that's kind of hard to shake off. Erica though, the round before remember
she was trip zip, trip zip against Jonathan Gray. The greatest countdown performance by any single
driver has to be Steve Torrance's perfect countdown because they won every round. But if you were to
go back and I just I'm using the word anecdotally a lot because I haven't gone back and studied every
round. But if you went back and you studied every round win. I think that's peak Erica Enders that
year. She rose to the occasion every time she needed to. She had double O lights and whole shot
wins and won the championship. It was amazing. That's something that like I was speaking with
Brian a little bit like we're always focused on the next thing because it's coming up quick.
The next class, the next race, the next driver. But a little deep dive into that championship
with Erica and some focus on the big moments of that championship. There were so many. It was a
huge deal for Eric Anders and really cemented her, you know, that got her on the board.
But as one of the great reactors in the sport, look, there's Blake. Joe, I have an idea
for the NHRA mobile game. Tell me what you think NHRA championship drag racing bragging rights.
Very interesting. Let's see. Next up, Grubby Pete, please. So we have the loans has done
a lot of great things with the crew chiefs. I have had crew chiefs the past couple of weeks
slightly accidentally, but I'm loving it, even though Brian didn't understand what I was saying
in one of the questions. But you know, you got to you got to you got to dig in there, man. I'm
not I got no shame here. I would love to have Grubnik on. I would love to have Grubnik on.
Grubnik, you know, I don't know that he's into that kind of stuff.
Media. Come on, force, guys. Let's get Grubby into coming on WFO. How about we do it? Great
hearing from crew chiefs. Morning from No Count.
There we go. All right, so let's delve into this.
OK. Book it. Matt Hagan, number one qualifier at Pomona. Got it. What is this?
I unmuted my television. So I'm going to Pomona as of now. I have not yet canceled my flight.
Mom is still in the hospital 40 days. Today is day 40. But at some point I have to
continue on. I have arranged for some of my wonderful friends to stay with my mother and
monitor her and her safety. But also she is getting better in many ways. She is weeks away
from her last surgery, surgical procedure. I don't want to go too in depth and you guys
don't want to hear that kind of stuff. But she has blessed my return to work. If she was saying,
Joe, I want you to stay here with me, that's where I would be. But she has said, Joe, it's OK
for you to go to work. I will be OK. And at that point, OK, I'm going to go to work. I'm going to
start the 75th season of NHRA Drag Racing. And I'm excited to do so. Now, if I don't show up,
then something happened, guys. You know, something happened. It's been amazing. Thank you all for
all the positive stuff that you have said and sent me and the messages and everything.
It's humbling. It's humbling. But it's my personal deal and it's my last living parent.
And there is no choice. There's no choice. Like I chose to stay with my mom. No.
But now that she has said, Joe, I'm feeling like I'm well enough that you can go. And also,
you staying here isn't going to help me get any better either. Maybe I'm annoying her.
Maybe all the yeah, you got to do this cheerleading is and she wants me out of her life.
That's possible, too. Don't matter. But what I've been doing is kind of going through
my mom and dad's house, adjusting some things, cleaning some things, throwing some things away,
as you can imagine, preparing for her return. You all been there at some point. So I found
this NHRA drag racing sent to me when I lived there. So a long time ago.
What is it?
Marketing in motion. A media kit from the Winston drag racing days. Totally unmolested.
Services of the National Hot Rod Association. Frank Bradley and Jim Head on the cover. Just that.
Look at that dragster, Jim Head, top fuel cover material of the marketing guide.
Winston drag racing. I do not advocate smoking. Kids don't smoke. I'm just showing the logo.
Don't do it. But packed grandstands. Right by the Winston sign. Who knew.
Digital. This is what is amazing to me. Digital has destroyed all of this.
Now they send you a PDF table of contents. Introduction and HR's commitment. Immense yet
intimate. Immense yet intimate. How cool is this? And you got Bernstein and you got a motto.
And look at these guys. And just, you know, numbers are the heart of NHRA Winston drag racing.
Talk of elapsed times and record setting speeds, fuel, countless discussions in the grandstands.
Attendance figures, demographics and television audience are the focus of marketing research.
But behind the numbers are the people, the fans, racers and race officials who give
NHRA drag racing its life. Notice they didn't mention the announcers. Right. Look, there's surely
the venues and which venue is depicted right there on the cover of the venues. Gainesville.
Back when they had rooftop viewing on the tower, the only thing wrong with any
Terry's new tower at Gainesville is that they got rid of rooftop viewing. That was a really big deal.
But a list of all the tracks, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Gainesville, a lot of these tracks are not
on here anymore. But like a little, but this is a magazine. This is like for someone as a
potential sponsor, contingency programs, marketing programs, but we're not going to spend too much
time on that. We'll go to this next folder. What's in here? What is here?
For immediate release, NHRA and Winston celebrate 17th year of winning partnership
in 1991. Glendora, California. So I'm graduating high school.
The NHRA Winston drag racing national tour, which celebrates its 17th season of a winning
partnership between the National Hot Rod Association and the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1991,
will feature one million forty one thousand six hundred dollar points fund
marking its fourth consecutive season that the fund eclipsed the one million dollar plateau. And it's
you know, was this typed? This is typed guys. This is typed on a typewriter.
Think about it. Nice little photograph. The U.S. Nationals. Old Indy.
Look at that. Old Indy old tower. This is starting to look like it might have to be one of our
Patreon giveaways. The big picture. The big picture. Another folder. So NHRA is saving a
lot of money not sending these things out. Just saying our digital world that we all live in,
excuse me. Our digital world we all live in is so much easier. Think about the person
in Glendora, California that had to stuff this envelope to send it to me.
And clearly it wasn't even looked at. It wasn't even looked at. Sorry, guys.
I'm in the sport, though. It worked. There's Wally.
And what's on the cover of this?
Generic cars. No one of name.
It wasn't by accident that the National Hot Rod Association became the only
full service sanctioning body in auto racing. It happened because dedicated experience and
helpful NHRA personnel have teamed have learned that there is more to drag racing sanctioning
than just a few benefits and services. And this is and Wally wrote this. That's that's Wally's.
We got an introduction. You've got the building in Glendora. This is great. Oh my gosh. We've
got graphs and charts, guys. Graphs and charts. No, I'm not going to read all the graphs and
charts. You understand they are positively skewed. They're definitely positive graphs and charts.
But some great photographs, sportsman racers.
And these are the kind of things that you find when you're digging in. Oh, look at this.
Field Services Director George Phillips. Is George out there?
Mr. Costello, the fax transmission of your letter marked with today's date was directed to my office.
We at NHRA are certainly sympathetic to the plight of many racetracks that are being encroached upon
by urban development. I'm starting to think about this. I'm starting to not really recall what this
was. April 17, 1991. Let me just keep going with George Phillips story. C.C. Mike Lewis, Bill Holt,
and Jim Teller. Miami Hollywood Speedway is closing at this certain time. Miami Hollywood
Speedway, the track back there, where Daryl Gwynne, Chris Cunningham, myself, all got our start,
was in a fight for its life at this time. We were dealing with urban sprawl coming in. And I
remember, I guess I'm, you know, 18 at the time. I must have written a letter to the NHRA talking
about like, hey, help us. Something like that. So let me get back to it. I have not cold read this.
Who knows what they're about to tell me? Like, you know, sorry, kid. Who knows? So my current
employers, I apologize if that happens. Let's see. As most of us here in the home office grew up with
drag racing in Southern California, we are very familiar with the scenario. We are also dedicated
to the preservation and upgrading all drag racing facilities. Along those lines, we suggest that you
work with the Division II office in your efforts to bring the importance of the Miami Hollywood
facility in your area. The new Division II director, the new Division II director, Bill Holt.
Although extremely busy with the Southeastern Division's hectic racing schedule,
will more than glad to lend assistance and guidance. His phone number is, I wonder if that's still
effort on the part of your racers and sponsors to be a solid part of your community. And its
economic base is the best way for a facility to remain integral to the area and is still
true to this day. In the meantime, I have sent you some ammunition to use in fact,
gathering for the future discussions with Civic Commerce and other community leaders,
such as George Phillips Field Services director, CC Mike Lewis. Okay, so you know now that I
remember what this is all about, I did open it. It was open and I did put it to good use,
trying to save Miami Hollywood Speedway, which did not happen when failed. But anyway,
I think that this is a fun time capsule and worthy of bringing on the air. Something interesting,
right? To think about drag racing, where it has been. And if nothing else, I kind of found this
letter live on the air. I have been trying to save drag strips since 1991, writing letters to
NHRA. What kind of dumb kid does that stuff? At 18 years old, writing letters to the National
Hot Rod Association, trying to solicit help in saving my drag racing facility that I worked at?
What was I thinking? No, obviously, that's, I'm proud. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of what I did.
And maybe it didn't work. But I wish that track was still with us. All right, final comments in
the comment section, guys. Let's hear what you've got to say about anything going on this weekend,
what we've got. Life's a drag tomorrow, 12 noon Eastern Time. Do want to mention our great friend
Marvin Rodak, rodaxcoffeeandgirls.com, hot sauce, spice rub, everything good, this coffee. Oh my gosh,
it is so good. If you love coffee, you got to try a little Rodax, 817-924-6821. Call Marvin Rodak.
And Frank Holley's drag racing school. Oh yeah, man. Dragster Adventure still pushing Frank Holley
and Lana and driving a dragster. Why wouldn't you have that experience? Drive a dragster at Frank
Holley's drag racing school. And our great friends at Bernie Speedshop, BORN, YZZ. This is
Josh Hart and the family. I know a lot of those guys listen to WFO Radio. And guys, I am inching
forward on the Send Dads GTO to Bernie's project. Obviously, everything that's going on around here
has slowed the project. But they buy and sell on consignment. They sell cars of consequence. They've
got a great showroom. I heard that the fan fest was amazing. And I only wish I could have been there.
But if you're a WFO listener and you want to know more about Bernie's, they've got great social media.
They got a great website. You can check out all their inventory. And who knows? Maybe you'll end
up buying something. Appreciate them greatly. Redline synthetic oil, certainly. An FTI performance
transmissions and torque converters. They've got a tax day deal going on, 10% off. So reach out to
FTI for your race torque converters. Consistency. So much performance and consistency come in the
torque converter. One of the great evolutions of parts and pieces. Total seal piston rings and
Larisse Motorsports Insurance and the guys at Jesse Converters. Matt Latino has done a tremendous
job. Matt Latino and his dad, Eric, have got a great business with catalytic converters. Both
high performance. That's the G Sport brand and the DP FX fit, which is the Over the Road
Direct OE replacement. Right now, Jesse Converters is one of the very few places where you can go
to get a direct OE replacement for what you're using in your Over the Road truck. So go to
Jesse Converters online and order and tell them you heard about it on WFO radio. Meanwhile, Matt
Latino spoke with Matt last week. Very interested. Matt Latino marketing. And this is just like a
little side note. A message to racers out there. Everybody's got like how to get sponsored. There's
a lot of how to get sponsored. There's not a lot of how to live up to the sponsorship. How to write
a contract. How to protect yourself and protect your customer and live up to the agreement.
And Matt Latino marketing Matt is doing that for his fellow racers. So if you're a racer and maybe
you've got a sponsor that's close, and you want to make sure you do the right thing by them and by
you cover your expenses. Yeah, $500 is enough. And then it turns out it costs you $500 just to
cover the agreement just to do what you say you're going to do. And then you're working for free.
Matt Latino marketing thought that was kind of a cool deal for Matt Latino to do. All right,
let's see if we got any comments in the comments section to get on out of here and then start
preparing to go to Pomona. Let's see. Great to hear you missed here. You again missed you. But I get
it. Great show. Grubby would be sweet. I think Grubnick would be sweet. Or maybe it wouldn't.
Maybe we'll be speaking two different languages. The guy is clearly operating on a different
processing. You know, he's Linux and I'm Windows. But it would be interesting to try. Hello from
Louisiana. Great show going to go in the shop, turn on some drag racing and work on a bike I'm
doing for this kid. Where'd you go, Anton? Thank you very much.
You really think IHRA about to buy NHRA? No, I don't think that. I don't think that. But if you
want to put that on your list of predictions, Nighthawk, I think that would be fun.
Let's see. Joe, I would like you to have Erica Enders on to preview the NHRA Norwalk race
in a couple of months, please. That's an early order. I have high confidence that Erica will
make it onto WFO in 2026. Erica Enders is one of my favorite guests.
Everybody talks about growing NHRA, but if you look at social media and nobody's posts,
maybe a handful. I don't know about that. I don't think that's necessarily true. I think the
chasing speed documentary on Vice TV, which I don't know if they're still running it and
reruns or whatnot, that would be good to know. I think everybody unified and pushing that out
there and did a great job. The problem that you have with a lot of teams is that they
don't want to promote other teams. I experienced this on WFO early on. If I had a John Force
driver winning a funny car and a Don Schumacher racing driver winning a top fuel,
and I had them both on the show, this is personal experience. I would post that I had them both on
the show. Neither Don Schumacher racing nor John Force racing would amplify the post. This is
years ago now. Things are a little different. Things are a lot different, but years ago when WFO
first started, neither would amplify the post. I eventually was in position where I could ask,
like, what was that? It was like, well, we don't want to promote Don Schumacher racing
or John Force racing from the other side. And then the comment would be like, well,
so you're willing to not promote your own interview to avoid promoting the other one?
And the answer was pretty much yes. Yeah, that's the way it goes.
NHRA social media does a great job. It's just that simple. If you're not following NHRA's social
media, then you're missing out on a lot of great stuff, whether it be Lucas oil series,
sportsman action, bits like in the lanes, like I would love to do in the lanes or attention to
pits, things that I'm directly connected to, things that a galvan is doing, things that Courtney
is doing that hometown homies deal. That's a great bit spending long form time with whoever
the person is from that region. You know, Daryl Gwynn was my hometown homie. We knew him. He had
fans, hundreds of fans will go from Miami to the Gator Nationals because they had a top fuel team
in our hometown. It's important for people to know who their hometown racer is. So I think
that was great. So you should follow NHRA social media. It's okay. That guy's still stuffing my
tickets. Think about the manpower it took back then to make it run, to make the NHRA show run
back then, sending some J.A. from Hollywood, Florida who wants to save his local track,
a whole marketing kit, 18 year old kid. Now, you know, like I'm sure I wouldn't have been surprised
if I opened the envelope and I got a smack across the face. From engine startup to the
flash of yellow, what is the maximum time a top fuel team plans for the car to get in the beams?
You know, like about a minute and a half. Moving good question for Brian, though. They'll run out
of fuel, man, or not run out of fuel and lean out on the track. Look at the grandstand's good old
days. Ah, Nighthawk. Where is that? You don't think we could get photos like this right now?
Look at that. A couple of zoom in shots at the right track. Look how tall that grandstand is,
man. How many rows is that? 15? Our grandstands are way more packed than this right now.
That is perception. Your perception. Clearly it worked, though. They picked these photos for a
reason. Like, look, a lot of people zoomed in, right? Oh, look at all these people zoomed in. We
can get this shot. We get this shot this weekend at Pomona. The grandstands are way bigger now.
Plus, you've got a way larger audience now at home. You got people paying for the subscription.
Come on. But again, perception is reality.
Higher PR reps. We got a great PR team. We used to have the Candies and Hughes Dragster, right?
Some things were lost. Some things were lost when everybody moved to Indianapolis. Some
things were gained. You know, having a national tour, making it easier on the teams. But your
hometown hero regional racers and everybody had them and knew who they were. Like down here,
South Florida, Pro Stock, Dempsey Hardy. And everybody here, you talk to the old timers,
they all got a Dempsey Hardy story because they would go by the shop and they would hear about
drag racing and they would go on the tour. Of course, Southern California had, you know,
50 of them. But every region had their own guys. And now everybody's in Indianapolis.
And so one region has all the guys. And that is a little tougher on the promotion of the sport. But
that's evolution. It's evolution. There was once, you know, 30 different manufacturers of cars.
Now there are less. That's just the way it goes. Pomona used to be packed on both sides. What
changed Joe? Well, what changed? There's a hell of a lot more to do. Being at home is a hell of a
lot more comfortable. Watching sports from home at all is a lot more possible. I think I covered
it right there. That's what's up. 80 inch liquid crystal screens and beautiful central air and snacks
and hanging out at home. You can watch the race live on Fox. You can watch it live on NHRA TV
in high definition with slow-mo cameras. That's what I think. Kids are into
different extreme sports. Everybody's gone through it. I'm proud of the crowds we get.
Those are big crowds. All right, guys. Appreciate all of you. Remember, life's a drag. 12 noon Eastern
time. Thanks to everyone for supporting this show. Remember, if you'd like to join Patreon,
patreon.com slash WFO radio. Doing a lot more for the Patreons these days. Appreciate it. Remember,
life's a drag tomorrow, 12 noon. And I hope to see you in Pomona.
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