MASSEY: LEARNING COOL 101
Thu, 2009-03-19 11:00
Be happy for Spencer Massey, but not because he’s earned the driving gig of a lifetime. Be happy 
because he’s learning the swagger from the king of swagger – his team owner Don “Snake” Prudhomme.
“He's taught me a lot about presenting myself better,” Massey admitted, when asked about the most valuable lesson he'd learned from Prudhomme.
“I'm not the most clean cut guy and Snake is THE clean cut guy. He's Mr. Smooth. He has the best looking stuff out here. Look through the staging lanes with all the Top Fuel cars and ours is one of the best looking one out there. Not that he's really had to clean me up, but you know, it’s the image there and that's what he's helped me understand.”
Be happy for Spencer Massey, but not because he’s earned the driving gig of a lifetime. Be happy
because he’s learning the swagger from the king of swagger – his team owner Don “Snake” Prudhomme.
“He's taught me a lot about presenting myself better,” Massey admitted, when asked about the most valuable lesson he'd learned from Prudhomme.
“I'm not the most clean cut guy and Snake is THE clean cut guy. He's Mr. Smooth. He has the best looking stuff out here. Look through the staging lanes with all the Top Fuel cars and ours is one of the best looking one out there. Not that he's really had to clean me up, but you know, it’s the image there and that's what he's helped me understand.”
Forget driving tips from a four-time world champion with 49 victories in 68 final rounds.
Massey is clearly enrolled in Image 101 lectured by Professor Prudhomme, who holds a doctorate in “cool”.
Image trumps driving tips from the Snake.
“You gotta look like you're worth it,” Massey said of what he had learned. “That is basically it. Look like you're worth it and act like you're worth it.”
Massey was clearly worth the investment of time and effort for Prudhomme. Driving with the financial backing of nitro legend Gene Snow and facilitated by Mitch King, Massey made his Top Fuel debut in 2008 and won the first two IHRA Top Fuel events he entered.
Massey led the points from start to finish and won an IHRA world championship.
Still, he had so much to learn from Prudhomme.
“We never had any big sponsor deals, never had to worry about it. We just got out there and raced,” Massey said of his IHRA experience. “We were just a bunch of good ‘ole boys from Texas who wanted to have fun and that's what we did. We didn't have to worry about PR stuff.”
Welcome to the world of Prudhomme, kid.
“This is drag racing today. This is the world now. PR and marketing and looking clean and doing the right job is the name of the game. That's what I am here to do,” Massey explained.
Prudhomme initially signed Massey as a spare driver in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding driver Larry Dixon and whether he would leave DPM and join Alan Johnson’s new venture.
Massey was officially named Dixon’s replacement in December.
His hiring meant no more getting his hands dirty with the chores of
maintaining the race car. That kind of an directive can be a tough pill
to swallow for an up-and-coming driver whose mantra is being a hands-on
driver.
“I'm standing around here twiddling my thumbs waiting to jump in and help somebody, but I'll get my head chopped off if I do because everybody has their job,” Massey admits. “Back in the shop I get to help anybody, doing the heads or helping do whatever it takes which is cool because at least they let me do that.”
The crew, Massey holds them in high esteem.
“It couldn't be any better working with Donnie Bender and Todd Smith and this entire crew. They are the salt of the earth and the best out here,” Massey said. “I feel like we have the car that is very capable of getting the win every race that we go to; it’s just little fine things that bite us and that’s part of drag racing.”
Massey has been counseled not to worry, not to feel pressured. The wins, he has been told, will come in time. If only he could be that relaxed.
“Nobody is really putting pressure on me to win,” Massey said. I have the pressure to do my job. I think I give myself more pressure than anybody else gives me, because I want to try to cut a light, I want to try to keep it in the groove. It's my job to do all that and if I don't do it we don't get a win light. The pressure it always there.”
The pressure of getting adopting the Prudhomme swagger, is, for the moment, the most overwhelming.
because he’s learning the swagger from the king of swagger – his team owner Don “Snake” Prudhomme. “He's taught me a lot about presenting myself better,” Massey admitted, when asked about the most valuable lesson he'd learned from Prudhomme.
“I'm not the most clean cut guy and Snake is THE clean cut guy. He's Mr. Smooth. He has the best looking stuff out here. Look through the staging lanes with all the Top Fuel cars and ours is one of the best looking one out there. Not that he's really had to clean me up, but you know, it’s the image there and that's what he's helped me understand.”
Be happy for Spencer Massey, but not because he’s earned the driving gig of a lifetime. Be happy
because he’s learning the swagger from the king of swagger – his team owner Don “Snake” Prudhomme. “He's taught me a lot about presenting myself better,” Massey admitted, when asked about the most valuable lesson he'd learned from Prudhomme.
“I'm not the most clean cut guy and Snake is THE clean cut guy. He's Mr. Smooth. He has the best looking stuff out here. Look through the staging lanes with all the Top Fuel cars and ours is one of the best looking one out there. Not that he's really had to clean me up, but you know, it’s the image there and that's what he's helped me understand.”
Forget driving tips from a four-time world champion with 49 victories in 68 final rounds.
Massey is clearly enrolled in Image 101 lectured by Professor Prudhomme, who holds a doctorate in “cool”.
Image trumps driving tips from the Snake.
“You gotta look like you're worth it,” Massey said of what he had learned. “That is basically it. Look like you're worth it and act like you're worth it.”
Massey was clearly worth the investment of time and effort for Prudhomme. Driving with the financial backing of nitro legend Gene Snow and facilitated by Mitch King, Massey made his Top Fuel debut in 2008 and won the first two IHRA Top Fuel events he entered.
Massey led the points from start to finish and won an IHRA world championship.
Still, he had so much to learn from Prudhomme.
“We never had any big sponsor deals, never had to worry about it. We just got out there and raced,” Massey said of his IHRA experience. “We were just a bunch of good ‘ole boys from Texas who wanted to have fun and that's what we did. We didn't have to worry about PR stuff.”
Welcome to the world of Prudhomme, kid.
“This is drag racing today. This is the world now. PR and marketing and looking clean and doing the right job is the name of the game. That's what I am here to do,” Massey explained.
Prudhomme initially signed Massey as a spare driver in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding driver Larry Dixon and whether he would leave DPM and join Alan Johnson’s new venture.
Massey was officially named Dixon’s replacement in December.
His hiring meant no more getting his hands dirty with the chores of
maintaining the race car. That kind of an directive can be a tough pill
to swallow for an up-and-coming driver whose mantra is being a hands-on
driver. “I'm standing around here twiddling my thumbs waiting to jump in and help somebody, but I'll get my head chopped off if I do because everybody has their job,” Massey admits. “Back in the shop I get to help anybody, doing the heads or helping do whatever it takes which is cool because at least they let me do that.”
The crew, Massey holds them in high esteem.
“It couldn't be any better working with Donnie Bender and Todd Smith and this entire crew. They are the salt of the earth and the best out here,” Massey said. “I feel like we have the car that is very capable of getting the win every race that we go to; it’s just little fine things that bite us and that’s part of drag racing.”
Massey has been counseled not to worry, not to feel pressured. The wins, he has been told, will come in time. If only he could be that relaxed.
“Nobody is really putting pressure on me to win,” Massey said. I have the pressure to do my job. I think I give myself more pressure than anybody else gives me, because I want to try to cut a light, I want to try to keep it in the groove. It's my job to do all that and if I don't do it we don't get a win light. The pressure it always there.”
The pressure of getting adopting the Prudhomme swagger, is, for the moment, the most overwhelming.
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