CCRA Crew Chief Spotlight

[Tabitha Draughon]

This year CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association is going to do something a little different. In past years, we have done Sponsor Spotlights & Racer Spotlights but this year, we're going to do a Crew Chief Spotlight (Thanks to good friend, Candy Blinson for the suggestion)! The crew chief position is one of the most vital roles of any job at the track; although I don't think many crew chiefs in drag racing consider it a job. We're going to start out 2023 with none other than Mr. Terry Roland. He is the 2021/2022 Back to Back Championship winning Crew Chief & as also selected by CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association racers as the 2022 Crew Chief of the Year. Like most will agree, I think Mr. Terry earned this title!

Mr. Terry is 77 years young & lives in Columbia, SC. This is a father/son team with Raymond holding the title as driver of his Ford Maverick. Mr. Terry got into this additive sport by attending a drag race with Raymond at Darlington Dragway. Mr. Terry has been crewing for Raymond for 25 years. He says that his Most Memorable win was the 2022 final CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway in which Raymond had to win the race to clinch his 2nd points championship. Although Raymond has performed well at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway, Mr. Terry's favorite track is Rockingham Dragway. Some of his roles as crew chief both on & off the track include: recording stats, tire pressure, discussing ET, checking track temperature, & assisting in the engine building process. This father/son team broke out the later part of 2022 with a new engine combination which required quite a bit of updating to the trusty Ford Maverick to be able to stand the new, faster ET's they were expecting. Mr. Terry says that one of his least favorite things of being crew chief for Raymond is discussing the ET. I mean, he doesn't want to be blamed by driver if he loses & listened to dad on what to dial! 🤣 Being the crew chief for his son, Mr. Terry has to listen to Raymond complain about heat & track conditions. The funniest story that Mr. Terry has with his son will be a story we've all read about before as it was on Raymond's driver spotlight in February 2022. They were at Rockingham Dragway & a header got caught on something on their trailer. They removed the header at the track & carried it with them back to their hotel. Tom Gould (The Grey Ghost) was in the room next to them & he thought they were fugitives trying to saw off their handcuffs. Mr. Tom was relieved the next morning when he stepped out his hotel room & saw Terry & Raymond come out of their room with said header. This will be a story that is brought up in the Roland Team pits for many years to come!

Be sure to congratulate Mr. Terry Roland on being selected as Crew Chief of the Year for 2022 when you see him at the track this year. If you pay attention to him, you'll see him performing his roles flawlessly. Thank you for your support Mr. Terry & we look forward to seeing you in March!!!