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Cub Scout Crew Chief Comes Clean

January 21st, 2012 by Ian Tocher

The DI Special (#4) looked pretty good, but wasn't quite fast enough when it counted.

This drag racing stuff is tough!

I served as crew chief today for my eight-year-old son, Robert, in his Cub Scout Pinewood Derby debut. We finished 14th of 20 entries in his class.

Mimicking Bruton Smith’s palatial zMAX Dragway, we were running four wide, with everyone making a pass in each lane and the finishing order determined by each entry’s average ET. The Drag Illustrated Special, as I dubbed our creation, came in third its first time out, but brought up the rear in all three subsequent runs.

Robert was a little disappointed, but I was proud of the way he handled the losses. In fact, win or lose, all members of Pack 1486, Den 11 were very good sports about the results.

Confession time: last night in final prep before the cars were impounded for Saturday morning’s race, I added a little super glue to hold the axles in place, but a little wicked its way over to the left front wheel and practically seized it up. Being the thorough crew chief I am, I immediately recognized the problem, but with no time to make major repairs I merely bent that wheel up so it no longer made contact with the track. I figured there was no sense in telling my driver, though; no point in giving him something to worry about when he went to the line.

I really don’t believe it greatly affected our outcome, but I do have to admit I felt kind of bad when Robert showed up after it was all over, demonstrated the bad wheel and innocently said, “Look Daddy, I think this might have been our problem.” I did admit my mistake to him then and promised we’d do better next year.

And the winner? Oh, that was some kid with a car obviously built by a professional woodworker, or at least a very talented amateur. I was tempted to lodge a complaint with the tech stewards, but instead just took a look at his car and gained a few tips for my next attempt on the Pinewood circuit.

Like I said, I was a crew chief today.

– Ian Tocher

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More of that next generation John has been talking about

I could hardly contain my excitement. I was literally jumping for joy in my driveway this past Sunday. You guessed it: my little boy, Max, figured out how to pedal his new tricycle. It was magical. We only had one day to accomplish this you see, as here in Midwest during the winter months a day where it’s safe to go outside is a rarity, so it felt pretty amazing when Max put together in his little three-year-old head the movement required of his legs to get this bitchin’ trike to move forward.

So, I can only imagine how proud John Force must be of his daughter, Courtney, as she prepares for her debut season behind the wheel of a Nitro Funny Car down in Palm Beach, Florida, this week. It’s no trike, but I’m certain it’s equally difficult.

We’ve heard John Force ranting and raving about his next generation of drivers for what seems like an eternity now, and we’ve seen all of the drivers he’s developed go on to achieve great success on the drag strip. Well, don’t expect it to end anytime soon.

The plan has been pretty clear from the onset: to ensure that the success of John Force Racing continues beyond the inevitable departure of John Force, himself, from the driver’s seat. And it seems like he’s done a damn good job. Even though the big boss man has proclaimed that he’s not quite ready for retirement – and proved it with his sure-to-be-the-thing-of-legend performance in Pomona in 2010 – it’s pretty apparent that he’s got a team that can keep the gold rings coming in Robert Hight, Mike Neff and now Courtney Force.

Both Hight and Neff are more than talented enough to continue winning John Force long after they’ve run out of floor space to hold the trophies at the shop in Yorba Linda, but it’s safe to say – at least in my opinion – that winning isn’t the only thing John Force is hoping to maintain after he steps out of the limelight.

Fact of the matter is that there’s no replacing John Force. You might be able to find a driver that’s as talented as he is, but there’s a real good chance they won’t have one-eighth the personality, charisma and salesmanship that Force has in his clutch-foot alone.

The 15-time champ’s 23-year-old daughter is by all indications the female version of her father – albeit better looking. While John, like the rest of us, has a lot of faith in Courtney’s abilities and competitive drive, it’s my opinion that he’s looking for something more from her than he is everyone else. He’s looking for her to be the next generation ambassador and promoter of the sport of drag racing that he’s been for decades.

John claims Courtney is just like him – outspoken, emotional, driven. Courtney even admits it. And the both of them agree that she was born to drive a Nitro Funny Car. We can only hope they’re right.

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