A / FUEL
TO TOP
FUEL
A weekend in the pits with Top
Alcohol Dragster’s Corey Michalek
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
|
PHOTO BY BOB SZELAG
C
orey Michalek is rolling
his nitromethane-injected
A/Fuel dragster out of its long
white gooseneck trailer when a
young fan approaches the pit
area seeking a used part or an autograph. At
30, Michalek doesn’t have to think back too
far to a time when he was in the same position
as the young boy walking the pits at Ohio’s
Summit Motorsports Park, dreaming of one
day strapping into a Top Fuel dragster and
racing down the storied Norwalk quarter-mile.
This is a big weekend for Michalek, who will
attempt his NHRA Top Fuel license runs on
Monday, but for now, all he can focus on is the
task immediately ahead of him: qualifying in a
stacked Top Alcohol Dragster field
at the Summit Racing Equipment
NHRA Nationals.
D r a g Il l u s t r a t e d . c o m
91
Dr ag Illustr ated