Drag Illustrated Issue 148, September 2019 | Page 26

Dirt Team Player M ark Ingersoll’s approach is simple, but as history has proven, also very effective. “I just like be- ing part of the team and winning, taking something and trying to figure it out and make it better,” Ingersoll says. Ingersoll has made plenty better as a Pro Stock crew chief, but he’s fine with deflecting singular credit for the praise of the entire team. To be certain, there’s plenty of success In- gersoll could claim as his own. He worked as a crew chief for Allen Johnson Racing for 13 years, helping lead Johnson to his first Pro Stock world championship in 2012, adding a second straight title when Jeg Coughlin Jr. won with the team a year later. He’s now working with Coughlin again at Elite Motorsports, where he went following the 2014 season. That means he was also a key cog in Erica Enders’ dominant championship season in 2015. He’s seen what it takes to succeed and he knows how difficult it is. That’s why, Ingersoll says, he’d much rather do it with a group like Elite than worry about getting all the credit by himself. “Everybody on our team has been around and won a lot, so there’s no time where we’re making decisions on our own,” Ingersoll says. “Some- body has to pull the trigger, but when you do it as a group, four guys are stronger than one guy. You don’t always agree, but at least you can see somebody’s view. “Sometimes, you’re so locked in and believe your way is the only way. I think this approach helps the team. Before, I’ve made the decision and lived with it, but as a group I think we do better. We all work together well.” Ingersoll works with the likes of Rick and Rickie Jones and Brian “Lump” Self at Elite, and that impressive brain trust has yielded impressive results. Ingersoll worked closely with Cough- lin two years ago, Alex Laughlin a year ago and Enders this season, learning plenty about each along the way. But as he learned with Johnson almost right off the bat, there’s a difference between running well when nobody is watching as opposed to do- ing it well during a championship round with all eyes on you. “The biggest thing I learned with Allen is know- ing how to race to win,” Ingersoll says. “When we first got fast, we got on the pole several times, but we couldn’t finish the deal. We had built up to it and then we learned how to win. Until you make runs on Sunday, you don’t know. You can test all you want, but it’s not the same. Qualifying and racing are two different deals. On race day, you have to give yourself a chance. Sometimes you’re the first car out, sometimes you’re the fifth pair out, but it’s all about knowing your surroundings.” Ingersoll has been adept at that type of race management for well over a decade, but with rule changes in Pro Stock, the learning process is never complete. It’s become a lot more detailed with the inclusion of electronic fuel injection, and working on the car is now much more specialized. It’s crewmember gymnastics in between each round, but Ingersoll simply views it as a different type of challenge. “It takes a lot more than one guy,” Ingersoll says. “We all work together anyway, so that’s why it’s not really that big of deal.” Nobody puts more pressure on Ingersoll than himself, and he admits he’s usually the one who lacks patience. But even that has developed – thanks to some help from team owner Richard Freeman – and Ingersoll believes it’s made him a better tuner. Enders is still looking for her first win of the season, and the trio of Laughlin, Enders and Coughlin have just one win in 2019, but Inger- soll believes their time is coming at the perfect time of the year. “We put the pressure on ourselves because I feel like we’ve got the best guys and the best team,” Ingersoll says. “We haven’t showed that this year, but I feel like we’re coming into our stride. We’ve got the right stuff, it’s just a matter of putting it all together.” DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 26 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com DI DI DI Issue 148 Mark Ingersoll contributes years of experience to Elite Motorsports’ Pro Stock trio By Josh Hachat