THE ADVENTURES OF THE PIT PET, ADRL HOUSTON
I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several drag races this year and I have such a great time that I like to write about my experiences. I’m definitely not enough of a motorhead to be able to report on the technical aspects of racing, but I do like sharing the interesting things I see and hear while hanging out with the teams. I was very surprised to learn that many of the teams don’t know each other very well unless they’ve been racing together for years. They recognize the other drivers’ names and their cars and they wave as they pass in the staging lanes, but often that’s as far as it goes. After spending time with various teams, I understand how that happens. There is a lot to focus on throughout the day to ensure that your car makes it down the track in the manner that you expect and walking next door to see if your neighbor likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain is not part of it. So we’ve decided it’s time to devote a corner of the web to getting to know the teams! And since the teams do such a great job of taking care of me, giving me water, and patting me on the head, my dad has started referring to me as the Pit Pet.
I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several drag races this year and I have such a great time that I like to write about my experiences. I’m definitely not enough of a motorhead to be able to report on the technical aspects of racing, but I do like sharing the interesting things I see and hear while hanging out with the teams. I was very surprised to learn that many of the teams don’t know each other very well unless they’ve been racing together for years. They recognize the other drivers’ names and their cars and they wave as they pass in the staging lanes, but often that’s as far as it goes.
After spending time with various teams, I understand how that happens. There is a lot to focus on throughout the day to ensure that your car makes it down the track in the manner that you expect and walking next door to see if your neighbor likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain is not part of it. So we’ve decided it’s time to devote a corner of the web to getting to know the teams! And since the teams do such a great job of taking care of me, giving me water, and patting me on the head, my dad has started referring to me as the Pit Pet.
Like many others, I was looking forward to a weekend of great racing in Houston at ADRL’s season opener after a cold and dreary winter. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us. I was planning to spend the weekend with Pro Extreme Motorcycle World Champ Scott Gray but since our weekend was cut short and I want to do his story justice, I’ve arranged to hang with their team in Valdosta. Instead I will just write about some interesting moments from our abbreviated race weekend.
Before qualifying started on Friday morning, Dad did a photo shoot with Brian Daniels and Tom “Slick” Myers. I did my part to make sure Brian smiled by dancing around behind Dad. You have to give Dad credit for doing whatever it takes to get in position for a great shot. I think with a harness and crane we could suspend him over the track for some great bird’s eye view pictures of the cars crossing the finish line.
Throughout the race day I take food and drinks to Dad at trackside. I also enjoy goofing off with the other photographers, like Chris Graves, Danny and Gena White, and Bret Kepner. I made one of my visits just after Jason Scruggs had an incident that resulted in an oildown and I learned that the mishap was Dad’s fault! Prior to Scruggs’ run, he had made the comment that so far the race had been pretty clean with no delays or car issues. He jinxed it! Upon learning this news, I had no other recourse but to kick his butt and Chris Graves (MaxCacklePhotos.com) caught the action.
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