Drag Illustrated Issue 113, September 2016 | Page 95
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Ty Tutterow
Opportunity
Answered
A
longside the scrutiny and assumptions of success that come with being
the only son of drag racing legend
and 19-time doorslammer champion
Todd Tutterow, this year 21-year-old Ty Tutterow
is enduring the pressure of being buckled into a
$250,000 race car belonging to GALOT Motorsports team owner Earl Wells. Understandably, Ty
feels the pressure, but also believes he’s blessed to
have the opportunity and to have been coached
extensively for this time since first strapping into
a Junior Dragster at nine years old.
“By age 14, dad started me out doing easy stuff
on his Pro Mod car, things like removing the
valve covers, taking out the spark plugs and so
forth,” Ty recalls. Within a few years, though, it
was evident he had the knowledge to service virtually every area of a competitive Pro Mod entry.
He’d also gotten a taste of driving a grown man’s
car while still very much a kid when his grandfather felt Ty was mature enough to get some
seat time in his ex-Pro Stock ‘81 Camaro, a car
capable of 5.80s in the eighth mile on 10.5-inch
slicks. Ty says he drove the car on off weekends
from racing with his dad and even won a local
bracket race with it.
While still a teenager, Ty got the chance to
make his first hit in a Pro Mod car during a test
session at Piedmont Dragway, an experience he’ll
never get over. “Driving one of these Pro Mod
cars is unexplainable,” he testifies. “It’s amazing
how out of control these cars are and it gives you
a whole new respect and perspective for these
things when you drive one as compared to standing behind one and watching it go down the
track.”
Last year, upon driving one of the GALOT
Camaros on a regular basis, Ty went through
the normal learning curves associated with any
rookie driver. But his work ethic mirrors that of
his famous father, so it came as no surprise when
Ty won his first-ever heads-up race this July. “I’m
very thankful for the opportunities I’ve had that—
without question—wouldn’t be possible without
my parents,” he says. “I also couldn’t do this without Mr. Earl Wells and his wife, Peggy, along with
my sponsors like Ty-Drive, Hank Thomas Performance, Hammer Superchargers and UltraSonic.”
While very humble in his abilities, anyone who
has known him for most of his life will agree that
Ty has always been distinctly mature for his age.
He’s also fiercely competitive. “In racing, eventually, I want to be one of the guys that everyone
wants to beat—like my dad,” he concludes.
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