Richard Freeman has been around drag racing long enough to know the quickest way to fall behind is to convince yourself you’re close enough.
That’s why while much of the Pro Stock conversation has centered on KB-Titan Racing’s dominance over the last year and a half, Elite Motorsports arrived at Bristol Dragway with fresh hardware, fresh ideas and a renewed push to close the gap before the Countdown begins.
The effort started the moment the haulers rolled out of Epping.
“As a program, we’ve run better the last three or four races and here we have three new engine combinations that got done,” Freeman said in Friday’s pre-race press conference. “The guys, we flew home on Sunday from Epping. We got home at 3 AM.
“Monday morning, those guys were there working on some new combinations and the stuff got drove [to Bristol], left on Wednesday, got here on Thursday. So we’re excited to see how that goes.”
Elite brought three new engine combinations to Bristol, hoping to find the kind of performance that can turn close losses into round wins. The first public look came Saturday as Erica Enders and Troy Coughlin Jr. began putting the new pieces through their paces.
Freeman isn’t searching for a miracle. He’s searching for hundredths of second.
Working alongside Carl Foltz and CFE, Elite introduced a revised cylinder-head package aimed at redistributing power and improving overall performance. The project remains in its infancy, but the early signs gave Freeman reason for optimism.
“It’s stuff we’ve been working on with Carl Foltz with CFE,” Freeman said. “I don’t know yet. I can’t really tell. Erica made a really nice run right there with it. Looks like we probably could have went .65.
“So we’ll see. If we could do that, I’d be happy with it.”
The rollout wasn’t seamless.
“We only could get about three of them done,” Freeman said. “We hurt one in Aaron’s car Friday night. So right now her and TJ are the only ones with it in.”
When asked exactly what changed, Freeman wasn’t interested in creating mystery around the project.
“Cylinder head stuff, yeah,” he said.
The reason for the effort was straightforward.
“We’re just moving the power around, trying to catch up with our competitors who travel really well and have done a great job for the last year and a half for sure,” Freeman said. “So we’re closer, we’re closing in and just trying to get ready for the Countdown.”
The Pro Stock effort isn’t the only thing occupying Freeman’s attention.
One of the more interesting developments inside Elite Motorsports has been the relationship between the Pro Stock and Top Fuel programs. Personnel who spent most of their careers working in separate corners of the sport are now sharing information daily.
Freeman believes that’s creating benefits that don’t always show up on a qualifying sheet.
“The other thing that’s probably the best is how our teams have worked together, not just the Pro Stock and the Top Fuel side,” Freeman said. “We got our engine guys on the Pro Stock side and they’re Mike Domagala and Neal and Stretch, all of them, Mike Green, I mean, they’ve spent a ton of time together and we got a lot of cool things that are in the works and working.
“To me behind the scenes, that’s what’s been the coolest thing to watch because you’re watching worlds cross, paths across that haven’t been crossed much, if ever before.”
And if the right opportunity presents itself, Freeman isn’t opposed to expanding further. Elite has explored adding another nitro operation, though Freeman admitted assembling the right personnel has proven far more difficult than finding race cars.
“We’re working towards maybe having a second car if we could get something done,” Freeman said. “As we go a little longer, that’s getting tougher and tougher to do. Just tough to put a team together.”
He isn’t committed to another dragster, either.
“No, it don’t have to be anything,” Freeman said. “We’re open to a Funny Car, but we’d have to have the right people to do that. And so that brings up another element of struggle because there’s just not a lot of them out there.”
The Pro Stock cylinder-head program isn’t finished. The nitro expansion isn’t finalized. The Countdown hasn’t started and Freeman isn’t pretending otherwise.
“We’re just moving the power around, trying to catch up with our competitors who travel really well and have done a great job for the last year and a half for sure,” Freeman said. “So we’re closer, we’re closing in and just trying to get ready for the Countdown.”
