Drag Illustrated Issue 153, February 2020 | Page 8

LETTER from the EDITOR Wes Buck Founder & Editorial Director 660.988.2313 wes@dragillustrated.com Scott Dorman Publisher 615.478.5275 scott@dragillustrated.com Mike Carpenter Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike@dragillustrated.com Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief 440.986.1480 nate@dragillustrated.com Nancy Koeppen Chief Operating Officer 573.552.5551 nancy@dragillustrated.com Will Mandell Senior Sales Executive 615.426.0465 will@dragillustrated.com roots-blown Pro Modified Camaros in the 2020 Arabian Drag Racing League winter series. In addition to talking about Todd’s championship hopes, he spoke about the powerful relationship he has with his son. Ty grew up at the racetrack follow- ing in father’s footsteps. As soon as he was old enough, Todd was teach- ing Ty how to work on the cars. Then, almost immediately after stepping out of Jr. Dragsters, Ty strapped into a Pro Mod to make his licensing runs at 18 before enjoying a brief stint in PDRA Pro Boost. Today, he’s an integral crew member on his father’s team, handling all the transmission work on the AAP Camaro. Ty has also raced as an AAP teammate in Qatar, this year hopping in the Camaro Mike Janis drove to the 2018 NHRA Pro Mod world championship. The two Tutterows have led the way in Qatar this year, with Todd taking out Ty on multiple occasions on his way to sweeping the first three of four races. Passing on his knowledge and talent to his son might be one of Todd’s greatest accomplishments yet. Ty shares his father’s work ethic and mechanical ability in the pits, while also possessing the same prowess behind the wheel. Since a young age, Ty shared his Todd’s boyhood dream of becoming a professional drag racer, and fortunately for him – and the sport of drag racing, which is in serious need of the next generation of Todd Tutterows – he’s had the perfect teacher to help guide him down that path. Who knows, maybe the next time a Tutterow is on the cover of Drag Illustrated, it won’t be Todd. Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief 8 | Drag I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Feel free to email me at nate@dragillustrated.com and follow me at facebook.com/nitronate1320 and nitronate1320 on Instagram and Twitter. Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van@dragillustrated.com Josh Hachat Editor-at-Large 660.988.2313 josh@dragillustrated.com Caroline Fox Customer Service / Office Manager 660.988.2313 caroline@dragillustrated.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ian Tocher, Ainsley Jacobs, Kelly Wade, Bobby Bennett, Brandon W. Mudd, Tommy D’Aprile, Allyson Johnson, Pete Epple PHOTO DEPARTMENT: John Fore III, Van Abernethy, Rick Belden, Tara Bowker, Shawn Crose, Jason Dunn, Paul Grant, Chris Graves, Ron Lewis, Will McDougle, Joe McHugh, Gary Nastase, Mark J. Rebilas, Roger Richards, Cole Rokosky, Chris Sears, Jason Sharp, James Sisk, Ian Tocher ADVERTISING SALES: 615.478.5275 SUBSCRIPTIONS & CUSTOMER SERVICE: 660.988.2313 customerservice@dragillustrated.com DRAG ILLUSTRATED MEDIA, LLC 902 Kings Road, Kirksville, MO 63501 P: 660.988.2313 F: 660.665.1636 www.dragillustrated.com Copyright © 2020 by Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Drag Illustrated is a registered trademark of Drag Illustrated Media, LLC. Printed and mailed by Royle Printing in Sun Prairie, WI. All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim. The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own, and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. Issue 153 T odd Tutterow first landed on the cover of this magazine just over a decade ago. He was a few months away from securing the 2009 American Drag Racing League Pro Extreme world championship, one of the 19 cham- pionships he’s acquired in his career. From the gritty eighth-mile drag- strips of the Carolinas to the palatial megatracks of the Middle East, Tut- terow has found season-wide success wherever he’s gone. The NHRA Pro Mod world championship has eluded him so far, but “King Tut” fully plans on changing that this season. It’s one of the reasons why we chose him to cover our first-ever Season Preview Issue. That first Tutterow cover story started with a tale from Tutterow’s high school auto shop teacher, who, 25 years after laughing at Tutterow when he stated his dream of becoming a professional drag racer, surprised the then-flourishing driver by showing up at a race at Dunn-Benson Dragstrip (now GALOT Motorsports Park). After telling what is essentially Tutterow’s life story in racing, DI Senior Staff Writer Van Abernethy goes back to the high school shop teacher, Maurice Hayes, who says one of the great- est lessons he’s ever learned was courtesy of his student, Todd. “I learned from Todd Tutterow to never make light of a kid’s dreams,” Hayes said. The teacher-student theme exists in this month’s new cover story too. In this version, Todd is the teacher and his son, Ty, is the student. Editor-at- Large Josh Hachat spoke with Tutterow from the trackside garage at Qatar Race Club in Doha, Qatar, where he and Ty were racing side-by-side in a pair of JT Hudson Sales Executive 660.341.0063 jt@dragillustrated.com