SUPER TUNERS
PHOTO : JOE McHUGH PHOTO : JAMES SISK
Rickie Smith Pro Mod
The king of DIY , at least in the Pro Mod ranks , Smith has done it all , mostly because it ’ s the only way he knows how . The track record of wins and championships speaks for itself , showcasing a work ethic unmatched in the sport . But even Smith has enlisted help , working with Brandon Switzer as his team includes a second car with driver Khalid AlBalooshi .
“ I make my tune-up calls , drive my own 18-wheeler , drive the car and go out and get most of my sponsors . I just don ’ t roll in and get out of the way . I try to do my own work . I guess it ’ s become I ’ ve done it all years ago when I came up through the Pro Stock ranks and I helped a lot of the Pro Stock guys in the early 2000s .
I had my own engine shop , I built my own engines , I know how to read spark plugs and all that stuff . It ’ s just being able to stay on top of it . If I had to quit for a couple of years , I would have gotten pretty lost . I ’ ve stayed involved and it ’ s kept me up to date .
The last 4-5 years it ’ s advanced so much . I just didn ’ t want to get into having to hire a crew chief with a turbo car , that ’ s the reason I stayed with nitrous cars .
( But ) what ’ s helped me some is I hired Brandon Switzer . He ’ s taken over ( Khalid AlBalooshi ’ s ) car and I can focus on my car more . We share information , we try stuff , we go back and forth and
Tim Wilkerson Funny Car
In many ways , Wilkerson is living the American dream . He runs an auto repair shop and also goes 320 mph in his Funny Car , a dream that Wilkerson made reality . He runs his race team out of his shop and Wilkerson has managed to stay successful in a world of super-teams . It ’ s never been easy , but Wilkerson has 10 straight top 10 finishes , living the dream while always managing to persevere .
“ I would say I ’ m the only guy who does all of it . Maybe Del ( Worsham ) and I . Fans tell me it ’ s cool I do that , but probably in the next 2-5 years that will be over with .
More than anything , it ’ s just a necessity . I can ’ t really afford to hire a full-time crew chief . Richard Hartman has been a lot of help and I ’ ve had good job offers , but I really enjoy doing what I ’ m doing .
The coolness of doing it all , it ’ s really intriguing to me , the tune-up part of it . The psychology part is the hardest part anymore , but I really enjoy racing the bigger teams .
It ’ s good for the sport . I probably heard it 50 times ( in Seattle ) and I didn ’ t even really get a chance to stand around . But it ’ s good to see
that ’ s helped me with the automatic . It helps to have someone to bounce things off of and we ’ ve got confidence in each other .
A lot of it for me is old-school driving , being able to feel it in the seat more than looking at the computer . You feel what the engine is doing and a lot of things you ’ ll feel that a computer won ’ t tell you . A lot of drivers can ’ t tell you that , understanding what the engine is supposed to feel like . I ’ ve still got that old Pro Stock mentality . That ’ s just the way I ’ ve always raced and it ’ s saved me a lot over the years .
The torque converter was a learning curve and it still is . I have a little more confidence in it , but I didn ’ t have a clue what to do with it . I ’ ve definitely come a long way the last few months . It definitely made ( the car ) more consistent . But a pro in my book runs clutches . An automatic is for people who don ’ t want to work on cars , thrash on them . You have to have a better crew chief to run a clutch .”
a privateer running well and I think that ’ s NHRA ’ s goal to try to keep it close .
The whole sport is trying to have a progression where people end up in Super Comp and then go to Comp and then to Alcohol ( Dragster or Funny Car ) and then to nitro . That ’ s always been the sport ’ s goal , but the nitro cars have just gotten so expensive .
I got in this because I like to go fast and I do it because it ’ s exciting and I want to be at the top of the sport .
It ’ s people , it really is . I know that in my own business . I ’ ve got quality people in my auto engine shop and machine shop and this has gotten that way , too , where we train them and some body else hires them . It seems to start over every couple years .
I ’ m not bad-mouthing anyone . I get it . But it shows . It takes us 6-8 races to get going and we went through a terrible start to the season where everything went wrong .
The parts attrition ( now ) is just awful . It goes up 10-15 percent a year . You used to get 10 runs on a rod , now it ’ s five . At Denver , you throw half the rods away every run . You used to get 10-12 runs out of crankshafts , now you get five and it ’ s a much more quality piece now .
It ’ s a good show for the fans , but we know the costs are out of control . At the end of the day we ’ re in the entertainment business and it ’ s such a unique experience . It ’ s a tightrope you walk , trying not to screw that up .
But this and how we ’ ve done it is a huge source of pride . My wife came to me about 20 years ago and saw I had nitro Funny Car in my veins . I owned six gas stations at one time and this is way more fun than selling tires and batteries every day . We started at the bottom and we haven ’ t gotten to the level of John ( Force ) or Kenny ( Bernstein ), but we ’ re really enjoying ourselves . We go there to win the race and it ’ s a great source of pride for me and a great source of pride for my guys at the shop .”
September 2018 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 89