LETTER from the EDITOR
This fall marks eleven years since we started Drag Illustrated. Holy cow. When you write it out like that, honestly, it’ s almost impossible to believe. Well, I say that, but on nights like this, when it’ s 3:15 in the morning and my eyes are burning from staring at this damned blinking cursor, it makes perfect sense.
In the days leading up to getting this gig going, which I have almost painstakingly vivid memories of, my do-ordie mission was to shine a light on the awesome people I had met at the drag strip throughout the course of my life. I’ d spent my entire life to that point around cars and the drag strip and my takeaway – almost always – was that these people don’ t get the credit they deserve. Such is the reason that we created this annual Crew Chief Special Issue( CCSI). It’ s no secret that we’ ve been committed to telling the innumerable inspiring and relatable stories the drag racing world has produced and continues to churn out, but there’ s more to the equation than a talented driver or experienced crew chief. Drag racing is a sport that, on almost every level, requires the effort and understanding of many. They say it takes a tribe to raise a child. Boy, I think the same could be said for a race car.
When I start to think about the many people that deserve to see their name in lights on the pages of our annual CCSI for busting their humps to go drag racing, I can’ t help but think about these people to the right. These names you see listed over there? They’ ve been the equivalent of a super team for me, many of which who’ ve fought the good fight right along side me since the very beginning. It’ s no sort of revelation, but if there’ s anything that I can offer to you – and I’ m not officially turning this into a self-help column despite my seemingly continual efforts to do so – it’ s that there’ s been few things, if any, more important to the growth and success of Drag Illustrated than the people involved. It’ s funny. Some of the darkest and most challenging days have also been some of the most fun, exciting and rewarding – precisely because of the ride-or-die people that have been involved.
From Mike Janis and Mike Janis Jr. to Alan Johnson and Richard Hogan, to just about any business book or blog you can find, the concept is clear – the better the people you surround yourself with, the greater your chance of success. Despite the drag strip being a mecca of good-hearted, passionate, hard-working people, it’ s safe to say that the age-old adage is true – good help is hard to find. That’ s why it’ s oh-so-important to encourage, reward, support and motivate the good people you have.
As I’ ve labored over in the past, amongst drag racing’ s biggest problems – at least in terms of
Wesley R. Buck Editor-in-Chief
mainstream popularity – is that it looks too easy. I’ d be hard-pressed to count the number of times I’ ve head something along the lines of,“ don’ t you just hit the gas and drive in a straight line?” when I’ ve made mention of my working in the drag racing industry. To the untrained eye, drag racers today do, for the most part, make it look pretty easy. Even at your local Saturday night drag strip you’ ll find a couple dozen dudes that can go“ double-oh” on the‘ Tree and run dead-on their dial-in – let alone on the national event scene.
The thing is – and we all know this – it’ s not easy. Drag racing, at times, can seem impossibly difficult. It’ s made manageable, though, by the quality of the men and women involved in the operation, regardless of whether it’ s a squad of gung-ho friends or well-paid professionals.
If you’ re interested in growing your business, improving your car’ s performance or contending for a championship in 2017, please, double-down on the good people involved in your program. Don’ t be afraid to trim the fat, either, and eliminate those that aren’ t a part of the solution to whatever problem you’ re facing. Let’ s face it – there’ s no tuner or crew chief or gadget that will save you, your next run, or your season if the guy putting air in the tires reads the gauge wrong or your buddy putting the plug wires back on gets a little crossed up while hurrying. Drag racing is all about the details, and the people responsible for them.
I invite you to email me at wes @ dragillustrated. com and follow me at facebook. com / wbuck and wesbuckinc on Instagram.
Wesley R. Buck Editor-in-Chief wes @ dragillustrated. com
Scott Dorman Publisher 615.478.5275 scott @ dragillustrated. com
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Mike Carpenter Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike @ dragillustrated. com
Ian Tocher Senior Editor 404.375.4895 ian @ dragillustrated. com
Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van @ dragillustrated. com
Nate Van Wagnen Web Editor & Staff Writer 440.986.1480 nate @ dragillustrated. com
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Andrea Wilson Controller 660.349.0847 andrea @ dragillustrated. com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ainsley Jacobs, Bobby Bennett, Tommy D’ Aprile, Lisa Collier, Gordon Columbine, Rob King
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: John Fore III( Senior Staff Photographer), Paul Grant( Senior Photographer), Roger Richards, Ian Tocher, Van Abernethy, Mark J. Rebilas, Joe McHugh, Chris Graves, James Sisk, Jason Dunn, Ron Lewis, Gary Nastase, Jason Sharp
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10 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 113