PHOTO: JAMES SISK

Formerly a manager at Memphis International Raceway, Crossnoe holds his own race – the Outlaw Street Car Reunion – and has been a go-to prep guy at a number of different events and for a number of different series, including the NMCA, the Mid-West Pro Mod Series and races at Gateway Motorsports Park. He was also a mainstay in Bradenton over the winter, prepping the track for test sessions for standout Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Drag Radial drivers, as well as the U. S. Street Nationals.

But, as he explained to DRAG ILLUSTRATED, working with the PDRA is something he is especially looking forward to in 2018.

Obviously big news for you to be working with the PDRA in 2018. How excited are you for this season? What are you seeing out of the PDRA to commit to something like that?

It’ s a big deal for me to get involved with a big-name series. Some of the best cars on the planet run over there( in the PDRA). It’ s going to be a lot of positivity, a lot of eyes and a lot of good press out of that deal, so I’ m looking forward to it.

They’ ve all done a great job getting that deal started, and then this past year they got a lot of momentum behind them. It’ s cool to be involved with a series on an upward swing.

Within the PDRA, there’ s a lot of great racing, but also a lot of different classes. What kind of challenge does that present to you from a track prep standpoint?

A lot of that will be based on the run order. Some cars want more wheel speed, like the Extreme Pro Stock cars. They want a lot more wheel speed than a Pro Boost car does. They did a good job of that last year, setting the run order to where Pro Stock was the last class out, the farthest away from the track prep. Well, then you prep right behind Pro Stock and tighten it back up for Pro Boost, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme. They did a really good job of that in 2017 and I’ m sure we’ ll carry that forward in 2018, along with Top Sportsman, Top Dragster and the motorcycles, all that.

Does your past experience, where you’ ve done a little bit of everything, help in that regard?

Knowing the stuff from an event manager standpoint, like some of the jobs I’ ve done in the past, you know, I combine event manager with track prep, and you run the event, set the run order, all that. A lot of that has come into real big favor for me. Just knowing all the way around the circle has been very beneficial.

Looking at the PDRA schedule for 2018, what are some of your thoughts when it comes to the different tracks you’ ll be going to?

That’ s going to be a new deal. A lot of those tracks I’ ve never been to, so I’ m really looking forward to that, going to Maryland and Columbus( Ohio), going to GALOT twice, Darlington( South Carolina), and Virginia. It’ s going to be a good schedule and there’ s a lot of good racetracks, and a lot of good surfaces. It should be a fast season, that’ s for sure.

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