Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 100
30 UNDER 30 · 2018
SANTO JR.
& SANTINO
RAPISARDA
■ SANTO RAPISARDA JR. AND SANTINO RAPISARDA have accomplished
a great deal as crew chiefs over the last several seasons as the family
continues to lead the charge as pioneers and trendsetters for Australian
drag racing.
That they travel 10,000 miles to Indianapolis annually to help make
continuous improvements to their program just shows how hard they’re
willing to work to raise the bar.
After Santo Jr. tuned Damien Harris to back-to-back championships
in 2015 and 2016, Santino did it most recently as Wayne Newby won the
championship last year. Both 25, the Rapisardas have proven themselves
as standout crew chiefs no matter the continent.
“It’s in our blood, no matter the work load, the timing, the effort,”
Santo Jr. says. “We would do anything to race Top Fuel and we are very
lucky to be able to on the level that we do.”
Adds Santino: “Doing this as a family, it makes it more enjoyable than
anything. We’re all working towards a common goal and it’s so cool to
win as a team.”
The wins have been frequent and so have the milestones, as the Rap-
isarda teams continue to set benchmarks on the Australian scene.
The pivotal move came when the family made its first visit to the
United States in 2010. There, Santo Jr. and Santino rubbed elbows with
the likes of Jim Oberhofer, Todd Okuhara, Lee Beard, and Bobby and
Dom Lagana. Their crew chief expertise paid dividends and continues to
play a strong role for the Rapisarda teams. To their credit, both brothers
have made the most of those trips to the United States, listening closely
and applying it perfectly.
“We made a lot of good friends and we’re very fortunate to have made
JUSTIN
HUTTO
■ TAKING A BUSINESS-LIKE approach to his racing career is already
starting to pay off for 20-year-old Justin Hutto. With a dream to one day
race Top Fuel, Hutto has seen the benefits of marketing himself in 2018,
earning a chance to drive a B/DA Comp Eliminator dragster owned by
former chassis builder John Green.
The opportunity came after Hutto established a presence on social
media and put together his own marketing deck, setting up a big future
for Hutto.
“You never know who is watching,” Hutto says. “At this point I can
see racing professionally as something that’s possible with the right
circumstances and I’m trying to get to that point.”
The early stages have gone well for the Houston native. He won mul-
tiple championships in Jr. Dragster growing up, moving into Stock in
2015. He started driving his father’s Corvette in the class in 2017, winning
a NHRA divisional race later that year. The car has battled a number
of issues this year, but Hutto stayed active on social media, posting a
video on YouTube that included a number of great reaction times from
a particular weekend. Green saw that video and Hutto was driving in a
Comp dragster later in the season.
“It’s the way I presented myself. I was trying to market myself,” Hutto
says. “This is a dream come true, really. I couldn’t be happier.”
With a professional website and plenty of content on social media,
Hutto has taken a forward-thinking approach in all aspects surrounding
his race future. It paid off for 2019, as Hutto will race Green’s Comp
dragster and the Stock Corvette as part of a full schedule, and he has no
plans of slowing down.
“I have somewhat of a platform, especially for people my age, and I
want to show them you can achieve whatever you want,” Hutto concludes.
“I want to be an example.” – J O S H H AC H DI
AT DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
100 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 139