CCRA Crew Chief Spotlight

[Tabitha Draughon]

CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association Crew Chief Spotlight

Finley Dalrymple from Wake Forest, NC is our youngest crew chief so far in CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association. He is 14 years of age & is the head crew chief for his grandfather, Mr. Joe Huestis. Finley has held this title for the last 3 years but he's hoping in about 2 years, that the roles are reversed. He obviously got into racing by attending races with Grandpa Joe. Although 2 years doesn't seem like a lot, Finley has to prove to Grandpa Joe that he can cut better reaction times than him before Mr. Joe is willing to give up the driver's seat 😀. Finley says that Farmington Dragway is his favorite track. We hope they are able to get the necessary repairs done to their track so CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association can make their yearly appearance there later in August. There isn't yet a win that is memorable between Mr. Joe & Finley but Mr. Joe went 3 rounds at the GALOT Motorsports Park NHRA Southeast Division 2 race & that was exciting for them. His crew chief duties include checking tire pressure, helping with the weather station, & keeping track of the log book. Finley thinks like a lot of us do I'm sure when he states that his least favorite part of the job is "hurry up & wait". His driver's biggest complaint is the inconsistent reaction times. Finley recalls a funny racing story being the one time that the race car starting rolling off the trailer with no one behind the wheel & Papa Joe chasing the car in the pits. He said he's never seen Papa Joe move so fast to get the car stopped. 🤣

Papa Joe & Finley can be found on race weekends running with CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association & some local NHRA Southeast Division 2 races. We look forward to seeing Mr. Joe & Finley this coming weekend as we "re-kick" our CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association season at KDS Motorsports. Be sure to stop by & tell them hello!!!

[DRAKE VISCOME]

Originally Posted by Tabitha Draughon

CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association Crew Chief Spotlight

Finley Dalrymple from Wake Forest, NC is our youngest crew chief so far in CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association. He is 14 years of age & is the head crew chief for his grandfather, Mr. Joe Huestis. Finley has held this title for the last 3 years but he's hoping in about 2 years, that the roles are reversed. He obviously got into racing by attending races with Grandpa Joe. Although 2 years doesn't seem like a lot, Finley has to prove to Grandpa Joe that he can cut better reaction times than him before Mr. Joe is willing to give up the driver's seat 😀. Finley says that Farmington Dragway is his favorite track. We hope they are able to get the necessary repairs done to their track so CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association can make their yearly appearance there later in August. There isn't yet a win that is memorable between Mr. Joe & Finley but Mr. Joe went 3 rounds at the GALOT Motorsports Park NHRA Southeast Division 2 race & that was exciting for them. His crew chief duties include checking tire pressure, helping with the weather station, & keeping track of the log book. Finley thinks like a lot of us do I'm sure when he states that his least favorite part of the job is "hurry up & wait". His driver's biggest complaint is the inconsistent reaction times. Finley recalls a funny racing story being the one time that the race car starting rolling off the trailer with no one behind the wheel & Papa Joe chasing the car in the pits. He said he's never seen Papa Joe move so fast to get the car stopped. 🤣

Papa Joe & Finley can be found on race weekends running with CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association & some local NHRA Southeast Division 2 races. We look forward to seeing Mr. Joe & Finley this coming weekend as we "re-kick" our CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association season at KDS Motorsports. Be sure to stop by & tell them hello!!!

Joe Huestis & family... long SPECIAL...can be found in Webster's...under CLASS...imagine that

[Tabitha Draughon]

CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association Crew Chief Spotlight

This week we take a short trip up I-95 South to Rowland, NC; home of Mr. Marvin Strickland Jr aka Bootie. Marvin is 66 years young & is crew chief for his son, Joseph. He has been holding this title for the past 7 years after giving up the driver's seat to Joseph. He got involved in racing from his father racing Modified Eliminator before he took over at the young age of 14. At that point, he started running IHRA & NHRA Stock Eliminator after experiencing Bristol Dragway's Spring Nationals in the 70's. Marvin says that GALOT Motorsports Park is his favorite track & his most memorable win came at GALOT Motorsports Park from Joseph's CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association win in 2021. His crew chief duties include recording the weather & time slip data after each run. Marvin says his least favorite part of the crew chief position is paying for the diesel fuel in the motorhome to get to the track. Joseph's biggest complaint about his crew chief dad is that he talks too much. Anyone that knows Marvin knows he loves to talk & cut up! ;-) When asked about a funny racing story, the reply I got was "everyone that knows me, knows I'm an a**hole so everything is funny".

The Strickland Racing team races NHRA Southeast Division 2, some NHRA national events as well as the CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association. Joseph won on day #1 at KDS Motorsports just a few short weeks ago. I don't think they will be in attendance at our next race at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway on June 24th & 25th as I think they are going on a family cruise. Joseph just recently graduated from UNC Charlotte, taken a new job, & is also getting married later in this year so racing might have to take a backseat in 2023. We look forward to having them race with us when their schedule allows.

See y'all at the track soon!

[Tabitha Draughon]

CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association Crew Chief Spotlight

Danny Waters Sr, from LaGrange, NC, gets all of the focus this week. He is 69 years young & is the crew chief for his son, Danny Waters Jr. Danny Sr. has held this title for 30+ years & hopes that there is many more years to come. Danny Sr. got involved in racing from his father & his brother & has now passed it along to his son & grandson, Crayden. Danny states that KDS Motorsports is his favorite track & if he would have given any other answer, I would have been in complete shock. KDS Motorsports is home to Danny Waters Motorsports & there has been tons of memories shared between their family at this facility. His most memorable win with his son, Danny Jr, came from the old IHRA days when they actually ran one another in a finals (not sure of the class or track but maybe one of them will chime in & share). I'm sure you are all familiar with Danny Sr. but holding a different title. He is also the head of tech for CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association & the "official" card drawer. He stays very busy at the track whether he is in his crew chief role or CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association role. As far as his crew chief duties, he sums it up & says "almost everything"! Danny says that his least favorite job is loading & unloading the cars & I think we've heard that quite a few times from other crew chiefs this year. As driver, Danny Jr's, biggest complaint is there isn't enough time to play golf during the racing outings. Danny Sr. laughingly says that there is something funny that happens at every race & that there are too many memories to list them all.

The Waters Racing Family can be found at local tracks such as KDS Motorsports, Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway, & GALOT Motorsports Park as well as some big money bracket races. Most will recall a little over a month ago, Mr. Danny's Stock Eliminator car had a misfortunate accident with son, Danny Jr. behind the wheel while working on it at Danny Jr's shop. Luckily, Danny Jr. didn't suffer any major injuries but was sore for several days to follow & his shop took quite a beating. I've talked to both Sr. & Jr. & the repairs to the shop are close to completion which means the car is next on the list. We hope to see Danny Sr. or Danny Jr. back behind the wheel of the Camaro before years end at a CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association race. Be sure to tell them hello next time you see them at the track!

[Tabitha Draughon]

CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association Crew Chief Spotlight

Ms. Janine Mathis from Snow Hill, NC is our Crew Chief to focus on this week. She is 63 years young & is crew chief for our very own, Mr. Dennis Pope. She has fulfilled this position for approximately 2 years now. Dennis is also the one to blame for getting Ms. Janine involved in the racing scene. She says that GALOT Motorsports Park is her favorite track. Although Dennis has had multiple wins over the last 2 years, especially at Rockingham Dragway, Janine has had other obligations & was unable to be present to share one of his wins with him. (Yes I've talked total junk to her about this on multiple occasions &#129315 She says that her duties as crew chief is making sure Dennis has everything he needs. She has also been a help with several events that we've held at the tracks & also like the pic posted, she's one heck of a babysitter!!! Washing & cleaning the racecar is the least favorite part of her crew chief duties. Janine states that Dennis' biggest complaint is that awful 🔴bulb that none of us like to see. Although Janine didn't list any funny racing stories for me to share, I'd probably say that having her sister with her at one of our races at Farmington Dragway a couple of years is one of her highlights. These two ladies definitely had a fun couple of days at the track.

Dennis typically races all CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association as well as some local NHRA Southeast Division 2 races. As stated above, I think Rockingham Dragway has became his favorite track over the last few years as he has a winning record there so I know he is looking forward to our upcoming CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association event there in August. Our next race has been rescheduled twice already so we're hoping that the 3rd time is the charm & we can complete our race at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway. Looks like I'll need to talk quite a bit of junk to Janine between now & them so she'll be in attendance at our remaining races for the 2023 season.

We look forward to seeing everything in a few short weeks. Mother Nature, please be nice to us! 🤞🤞🤞