Special Section
felt like it’s a great home for us. Pro
Extreme didn’t feel like the right fit
for us. With the Roots blower
program, we can take this car and
race other events on our off
weekends.
Plus, our goal with this car, at some
point in 2018, is to be the first Roots
car to run 3.50s in the
eighth-mile.
Looking back at your win at Mary-
land, the winner’s circle was
flooded with drivers, crew members
and PDRA staffers who wanted to
congratulate you. How much did
that mean to you?
The biggest thing for me is the re-
lationships I have with everyone at
the PDRA races. When I go there, I
want to win. I’m not a great loser
– I’m really not. That’s just my com-
petitive side. I’ll let it go if I lose, but
I want to win. If I do lose, I’ll root
on my competitors and support
them. I think I’ve treated people the
way I want to be treated. It’s really
been a good thing, being with God
Speed and just loving people and
treating them a certain way. When
I was down after making a mistake
at Martin, my team and everyone
was so supportive.
You’ve been battling back and forth
with Chuck Ulsch, who’s been to all
three final rounds and just won the
Summer Drags. Do you think that
battle will be a recurring theme as
the rest of the season plays out?
I really don’t know. Chuck drove his
butt off at Martin. He won two
rounds off a holeshot and his car has
been running very well. I do think
we have a performance advantage
just based off the numbers at the
first three races. We always say, hey,
it’s ours to lose, but little things have
bitten us. I do see Chuck as a tough
competitor and a good driver, but
we need to just continue to focus
on our program and keep going up
and down the racetrack. I believe
people will make mistakes them-
selves because they’re trying to
catch us, one way or another.
After racing with Al as your crew
chief on various cars over the years,
what has it been like to work with
him now as not only your crew
chief, but also your car owner? What are your goals for the season?
That’s the thing. Being that he’s the
car owner, he calls the shots when
he wants. He doesn’t have to answer
to anyone else. At this point, he’s
the crew chief and the leader of
what’s going to happen with the car.
During a race, he does his thing, I do
my thing and the guys do their thing.
If we have an issue, we all jump in
together. We just have a really com-
fortable group. Working with him
on his own car is by far superior to
any other team I’ve worked with
with him just being the crew chief. Realistically, our goal is to win the
championship. Al wants to win the
championship and we want to win
it for him. If I had my way, I’d win
every race this season. I know ev-
erybody would say the same thing.
We’re going to keep on pressing
and putting our foot down, trying
to get this car to not only repeat,
but run quicker. I’m big on faith and
I’ve called it, saying I’m looking
forward to that championship at
the end of the year. I do believe we
have the right combination to make
that happen.
In addition to Al, you seem to have
a really good group of guys with a
strong team bond. Tell me a little
about your team.
We have Lee White and Hank
Jackson maintaining the car in
South Carolina. Rick Giovannelli and
Mike Dusinski come with me from
Florida. Al’s son, Dillan, also works
on the car. Al is based in Canada.
We’re never really all in the same
place together until we get to the
track. It’s like a big family.
I’m blessed to be in the position I’m
in. I could not buy this type of team.
I don’t think anybody, even with all
the money they could get, could
buy this team. I always say God put
this team together because it’s phe-
nomenal. That’s not to say we’re
perfect and we don’t make mis-
takes. What we do when we make
a mistake, we cover each other and
say, “We’re going to get it right next
time.” I think that’s what’s inevita-
bly going to win.
PDRA660.com 49