All Chad Head has ever known is drag racing.
Jim Head, his father, is one of NHRA’s legendary innovators and he was a standout driver in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Jim began his racing career in 1964 and he has been a fixture on the NHRA national circuit since 1980.
Although Chad has been around racing his entire life, he really had no plans of driving at all, but that changed when he began competing in the Nostalgia Funny Car ranks a few years ago.
“I was able to get in a top-notch Nostalgia Funny Car,” said Chad, who made around 35 runs in the Nostalgia Funny Car. “The base tune-up was put in by Del Worsham and those guys put the car together and my dad’s crew guys would come and work on it. I had the best of the best parts. The car was put together flawlessly and it was tuned flawlessly. It really could not have been any better for a guy who never stepped on the gas. I was very fortunate and that helped me out tremendously.”
Despite Chad’s success and enjoyment in the Nostalgia Funny Car, it wasn’t the plan to take over his dad’s place in the cockpit in their family-owned and operated nitro Funny Car.
“Going from the (Nostalgia) car to the big car was like night and day, it was definitely a big change,” Chad said. “Even after (Nostalgia racing) there really was no plan for me to drive his big car. I was working for Alan Johnson (Chad worked as the director of racing operations for Al-Anabi Racing), and I was very happy. I had no intentions of leaving. It wasn’t until we went on vacation and we talked about the business and with the business came the racing, and the rest is history.”
Jim Head is the president of Head Inc., the family’s construction business, and Chad is an integral member of the Columbus, Ohio-based operation.
“It is life-changing,” Chad said about driving and working for his father. “We have two very, very competitive things in our lives. The construction business is extremely competitive. Every job we bid, we want it and the job we do we want to be perfect, and we want the next job and the next one and the next one. Then you have the racing and that is a competitive sport. You want to go faster than the guy in the other lane every race.”
In Chad’s rookie year in 2013, he competed in 17 races and finished 15th in the points, highlighted by his runner-up finish to John Force at Reading. Last season, Head ran in 19 races and placed 15th in the points again.
“The first season we had some success and the second season we kind of lacked a little bit,” Chad said. “I probably didn’t do as good as I should have.”
This season Chad plans on running all 24 events. He’s presently 13th in the points after five races. The NHRA Mello Yello circuit makes a stop at the SpringNationals Friday through Sunday in Houston.
“I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and I’m going to continue to make them,” Chad said. “I’m just trying not to continue to make the same ones. The car is definitely getting more and more consistent. I still struggle to keep it in the groove sometimes, whether it is me or whether it is way the car has run. You have to get your sh*t together and have a lot respect for these cars. I’m happy to be driving a nitro Funny Car and be able to be with my father and my family. We are competitors and we are never happy with anything except winning. Anybody who says they are happy when they lose, they are in the wrong sport. This is what we do and we take it very seriously. We run it like a business and we are trying to be very competitive. We spend our own money at it, and I think we do a pretty good job. This year we are off to a better start and the car is more consistent than it has ever been. When dad makes adjustments, the car is responding, which is great. Dad makes 100 percent of every call on that car and as far as I’m concerned he always will until we quit racing.”
Like every driver, Chad wants to win races, and he is realistic about his 2015 goals.
“If we could get in the top 10 that would be absolutely huge, but if we don’t make it in the top 10 I don’t look at it as a failure,” Chad said. “There are several good teams in past years that have not made the top 10. I don’t think people realize just what it takes to get in the top 10, especially as a single-car team. I definitely want to go some more rounds and hopefully win our first race. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and dad has been patient with those mistakes.”
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