Pro Modified journeyman Tommy D’Aprile arrived at San Antonio Raceway for the IHRA Texas Nationals just in time to see Mel Bush’s radical bubble-top 1962 Chevrolet Bel-Air roll out of the trailer. Instead of getting the joys of instant elation, he saw a dinged up ride backing out slowly.

Apparently a few items came loose inside the trailer en route to the race.

“Nothing significant or nothing that hurt anything,” D’Aprile explained. “It was nothing that a little red duct tape couldn’t fix.”

One has to understand, nothing can really dampen the enthusiasm of D’Aprile, the up-and-coming driver who first burst onto the fast doorslammer scene in 2006 as the driver of Quain Stott’s Corvette honoring the U.S. Military fighting abroad. Pro Modified journeyman Tommy D’Aprile arrived at San Antonio Raceway for the IHRA Texas Nationals just in time to see Mel Bush’s radical bubble-top 1962 Chevrolet Bel-Air roll out of the trailer. Instead of getting the joys of instant elation, he saw a dinged up ride backing out slowly.

Apparently a few items came loose inside the trailer en route to the race.

“Nothing significant or nothing that hurt anything,” D’Aprile explained. “It was nothing that a little red duct tape couldn’t fix.”

One has to understand, nothing can really dampen the enthusiasm of D’Aprile, the up-and-coming driver who first burst onto the fast doorslammer scene in 2006 as the driver of Quain Stott’s Corvette honoring the U.S. Military fighting abroad.

The sponsorship dissolved and the upbeat D’Aprile rested on the sidelines until a new program came along. The Bush operation offered D’Aprile the opportunity to come out and play again.

“This is a great opportunity for me because the crew we have here has been with me for a long time,” D’Aprile said. “When you look at that, along with Mike Janis tuning the cars and maintaining them up in Buffalo, you have a great situation to be in.”

D’Aprile is high on showing his appreciation.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity,” D’Aprile said. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do and when sponsorship fell through with Quain we had to sit out a little while but then this came along and I couldn’t be happier.”

When last season began and he was unsigned, D’Aprile never subscribed to the negativity which suggested his 15 minutes of fame was complete. He chose to stick close to his morals and he admitted this was what he felt would pay off in the end. This program, according to D’Aprile, is his reward.

“I never really felt the opportunity with Quain was going to be my last,” D’Aprile said. “We just ran when we could last year to fill the void. I learned that you have to do the best you can with what you have and you always have to treat people the way you’d want to be treated at all times. That’s very important.

“I think back and if it weren’t for Quain, I wouldn’t be here. He gave me my first shot. He gave me the confidence to let me know that I could drive. I have to credit him and I credit Mel now for allowing another opportunity.”

In the big picture, D’Aprile says, the fans are the determining factor when guys such as himself get another chance.

“We are entertainers, no matter what we do with the race car,” D’Aprile said. “We are going to do that because that is the business we are in. It’s important to get the fans involved regardless of what you do, even if you give one of them the opportunity to sit in the car. Our car is different and that provides us with the opportunity to get an inside track on being a fan favorite.

“This is not one of the Corvettes or Firebirds, it’s different,” D’Aprile said. “I think they can appreciate someone who strives to be different.”

 

Team owner Bush drives a similar 1962 Bel-Air in the Top Sportsman division. He’s a hobbyist having

retired from running his construction company some years ago. He handed the keys to the business over to his sons and now spends much of spare time running his car and having fun.

What inspired this particular make and model in a class dominated by Corvettes, Camaros and Firebirds? For Bush, history made up his mind.

Bush was a good friend of drag racing legend “Dyno” Don Nicholson and wanted to build a car similar to a model and make his friend made famous.

“When I was just a kid I bought one of those 409s,” Bush said. “I’ve always liked this body style. They were a dominant force back then with others like Hayden Proffit and Dave Strickler.

Bush lives in Port St. Lucie after relocating from Utica, New York. He undertook the challenge as one of his first major moves into drag racing. 

“Building the first car was a tough project,” said Bush, who drives the reasonable stock looking version in Top Sportsman. “Trying to find pieces for that car was the toughest part. We pulled a plug off of the stock 1962 Chevy to make the body for the Top Sportsman car. That was real difficult and took a long time to get the parts for it.

“When we started to do the Pro Modified car, we pulled a plug off of the Top Sportsman car. We modified it even more to improve the aerodynamics. The Top Sportsman car is not that aerodynamic, but it looks an awful lot like a real 1962 Bel-Air bubble top. The Pro Modified looks like one, but not as much.”