Dirt
with a host of other prestigious wins and awards.
He is well-versed in the mechanics of the sport,
seeing through the eyes of a manufacturer, spon-
sor and racer, so it’s no surprise that before long
his in-depth knowledge of the sport, mixed with a
modeling background, had him in the sights of TV
production crews. His first stint as an on-air com-
mentator came in 2001. He’s now a regular fixture
on the NHRA on FOX broadcast and hosts two
shows, Garage Squad and TruckU, on Velocity.
“It’s fun. It really is. It’s not as fun as racing,
but it’s the next best thing,” Massel said of his TV
career. “A couple of people had some faith in me
and that’s what’s been the difference to be able
do this for a living.”
While much of Massel’s on-track success has
come in th e Comp Eliminator class, he has in re-
cent years competed in the NHRA Factory Stock
Showdown in a COPO Camaro. “It’s totally differ-
ent than what I’m used to,” Massel explained. “I’ve
never been in a production-type car, with a little
tire on the back. We make a ridiculous amount
of power for what those things are. It’s crazy.”
This year he debuted a new ‘17 COPO and, at
Norwalk, unveiled a new engine program with
Jon Kaase. “This is kind of a big deal – a Ford guy
doing a Chevy motor. It’s cool to see him involved
in this class and taking a leap to the Chevy side
with me. The motor made significant power, so
I’m looking forward to seeing what it will do the
rest of the season.
“The class has a lot of potential right now be-
cause there’s so much factory support for it. Dur-
ing all the broadcasts on Sportsman shows it
gets highlighted. They show all three rounds of
it. And then they usually show the final round on
the Mello Yello Pro show as well. I think NHRA
and FOX consider it a possibility of something
really going somewhere, so they’re trying to help
support it as well, which is huge.”
Things seemingly couldn’t be better for Mas-
sel, but it was less than a year ago when things
literally burnt to the ground.
“We were going to go run an outlaw race, had
put a big turbo on my Cobalt for the no-rules
thing and we had an injector o-ring failure,” Mas-
sel explained. “During the burnout, alcohol got
onto the distributor and the thing caught fire. I
knew there was a fire right away, but because it
was methanol no one else saw it burning. I’m
screaming to the other people. Unfortunately,
the track’s fire truck didn’t work, and they didn’t
know where their fire extinguishers were. My fire
bottle actually didn’t go off. I ripped the handles
off; the lines were completely frozen up in my car.
I learned the hard way that every year you’re sup-
posed to take the lines out and oil and grease them
and put them back in, which I was never aware
of. The track crew didn’t have a screw driver or
a Dzus wrench or anything to get the nose off.
So I literally ran back to the starting line with
my firesuit and helmet on and grabbed the fire
extinguisher and was trying to put my own car out
while everybody else just stood back and watched.
Something that could have cost a few hundred
dollars turned into about thirty thousand real
quick. It was a bad, bad day.”
Despite the tragedy of the day, there were some
redeeming threads woven into the story. Massel
was uninjured, and thanks to his sponsor, was
able to continue competing in Comp in 2017.
“Without Autogeek’s support I would have
never been able to rebuild that car and I would
never have been able to continue to race with all
the other stuff I’ve got going on. Five years ago,
I was all but done racing. They stepped up last
minute without knowing anything about the sport
and supported me. Without them I would have
been out of racing.”
Massel not only came back out, but came out
winning, scoring a victory at Charlotte. Later
this year he’ll bring out his dragster in addition
to the Cobalt and COPO. Garage Squad is in its
fourth season of production, and TruckU is going
on season 11. Add to that the FOX broadcasts,
efforts toward his own pilot show, Behind the
Helmet, and time spent at the family business,
and it’s clear Massel truly is an automotive jack
of all trades.
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Issue 122
BRUNO MASSEL JR.