Mike Henkelman
Nitro Member
Some folks made some comments here about missing some of the race reports I used to write, and a few even sent me email. And while I love posting the reports, I haven't been going to many races lately. So I thought I would try something different, and give my two cents on whats happening lately in the sport. And I vow (holding up hand) to give my real thoughts on matters. If anyone digs it, I'll keep em coming.
First off, I want to talk about John Forces racing show. I love it because it's a complete train wreck. Totally disfunctional to the point of me loving John even more then I did before. The daughters crack me up too. My favorite Forceisms include "It's my design room! I can build anything in here! If I can dream it, I can build it! Ain't you never had no dreams?!?!" to which one of the girls replies "Where can we put the spa?" and the wind comes bleeding right out of his sails. When he buys his brother a new truck, I was actually touched. I have met John a couple times, and he is a sweet guy. And I doubt that anyone loves this sport more then he does. Some day I'll get Capps to take me over there and see if I can sneak a beer with em.
Some of the folks on here have been jabbering about Ashley...that she doesn't want to drive a funny car. I think she looks at a flopper the way I look at a Double Double from In and Out burger...sure it's a little intimidating at first but if you can get over the initial shock factor, you devour it one step at a time. And then later that night, you remember what you did that afternoon and start to get sick. Ashley is going to be fine. Lets face it, these Fuel Funny Cars are NO Joke. You couldn't get me to climb in one if you told me Pamela Anderson was in the audience and wanted to see me do a burnout. Sorry Pam, those flopper guys are nuts. And I say this was some experience as my old man drove the alcohol cars for 20 years. Well guess what, he's nuts too. Certifiably crazy. And when you look at the other cast members like Capps, Force, Bazemore, TJ, Medlen...these guys look like possible cast members for MTV'S JackAss. If they didn't have these cars to drive, they would be trying to jump off cliffs in a shopping cart. Ashley will be just fine, because she's SURROUNDED by crazy people. Force, Medlen, Height, Coil, Prock...'Nuff said.
So Kenny is coming back in a funny car. Im watching this one with some mixed curiosity. Kenny is the smartest crazy person I know of. But Funny Car is a wierd place right now. There is alot of talent out there in that class. Now don't get me wrong, KB is one of the best drivers to ever go down the 1320. He can drive ANYTHING. So that is a non issue. The question is, will he be able to acquire the talent to put the car up front? Good question. I will answer it by telling a brief story about some meetings I had with Kenny last year. I had some folks that were looking to put a deal together with NHRA, and I needed his input on a few line items that they gave me. Now I have done business with some Fortune 500 companies, so I can smell IQ a mile away. Kenny has it leaking out of his ears. This guy is probably the smartest business man in all of Drag Racing. I would put him up against anyone. The man is a brilliant guy. So I will summarize by saying: Look for this team to execute a flawless marketing strategy, make a flawless presentation, and run that car like they stole it. That is how Kenny Bernstein operates.
Erica Enders. She is sitting out a race or two is what I am hearing. I don't know any of the details on this deal at all. I have no idea exactly why she left Cagnazzi Racing, I don't know what her deal is with Don Shue or with Mopar. But mostly, I have no idea why The Don wants anything to do with these Pro Stock cars. Don't get me wrong, I love the class but I would never want to compete in it. I have to lease a motor for some frigtarded amount of money (a motor that lots of other people have by the way) and then HOPE that we can find that 3-4 THOUSANDTHS that give us the edge we need. Man that is a tough deal. But we all dig Erica, and we all pull for her. Don, hit AJ with another grand per weekend if he will brush up against the pro stock cars on the way to Tony's trailer. I bet they run 3-4 hundreths quicker.
Lastly, you guys want to know someone I met that is really cool? NHRA's Rob Geiger. It's true. I had never met the guy, and was introduced to him by Baca at the Sonoma race. We chatted about his days covering stories for the Dallas Cowboys during their superbowl years. Then later in the day, one of our guys from Mach One was riding around on a scooter and the motor seized. Rob saw him, and used his scooter to push him all the way back to our pit. Thats just cool. It was great to meet you Rob, you're a coolio dood.
So that's it for now. Give me some feedback, and I'd love to hear what you have to say on some of these issues.
Piece And Much Respect!
Mike Henkelman
First off, I want to talk about John Forces racing show. I love it because it's a complete train wreck. Totally disfunctional to the point of me loving John even more then I did before. The daughters crack me up too. My favorite Forceisms include "It's my design room! I can build anything in here! If I can dream it, I can build it! Ain't you never had no dreams?!?!" to which one of the girls replies "Where can we put the spa?" and the wind comes bleeding right out of his sails. When he buys his brother a new truck, I was actually touched. I have met John a couple times, and he is a sweet guy. And I doubt that anyone loves this sport more then he does. Some day I'll get Capps to take me over there and see if I can sneak a beer with em.
Some of the folks on here have been jabbering about Ashley...that she doesn't want to drive a funny car. I think she looks at a flopper the way I look at a Double Double from In and Out burger...sure it's a little intimidating at first but if you can get over the initial shock factor, you devour it one step at a time. And then later that night, you remember what you did that afternoon and start to get sick. Ashley is going to be fine. Lets face it, these Fuel Funny Cars are NO Joke. You couldn't get me to climb in one if you told me Pamela Anderson was in the audience and wanted to see me do a burnout. Sorry Pam, those flopper guys are nuts. And I say this was some experience as my old man drove the alcohol cars for 20 years. Well guess what, he's nuts too. Certifiably crazy. And when you look at the other cast members like Capps, Force, Bazemore, TJ, Medlen...these guys look like possible cast members for MTV'S JackAss. If they didn't have these cars to drive, they would be trying to jump off cliffs in a shopping cart. Ashley will be just fine, because she's SURROUNDED by crazy people. Force, Medlen, Height, Coil, Prock...'Nuff said.
So Kenny is coming back in a funny car. Im watching this one with some mixed curiosity. Kenny is the smartest crazy person I know of. But Funny Car is a wierd place right now. There is alot of talent out there in that class. Now don't get me wrong, KB is one of the best drivers to ever go down the 1320. He can drive ANYTHING. So that is a non issue. The question is, will he be able to acquire the talent to put the car up front? Good question. I will answer it by telling a brief story about some meetings I had with Kenny last year. I had some folks that were looking to put a deal together with NHRA, and I needed his input on a few line items that they gave me. Now I have done business with some Fortune 500 companies, so I can smell IQ a mile away. Kenny has it leaking out of his ears. This guy is probably the smartest business man in all of Drag Racing. I would put him up against anyone. The man is a brilliant guy. So I will summarize by saying: Look for this team to execute a flawless marketing strategy, make a flawless presentation, and run that car like they stole it. That is how Kenny Bernstein operates.
Erica Enders. She is sitting out a race or two is what I am hearing. I don't know any of the details on this deal at all. I have no idea exactly why she left Cagnazzi Racing, I don't know what her deal is with Don Shue or with Mopar. But mostly, I have no idea why The Don wants anything to do with these Pro Stock cars. Don't get me wrong, I love the class but I would never want to compete in it. I have to lease a motor for some frigtarded amount of money (a motor that lots of other people have by the way) and then HOPE that we can find that 3-4 THOUSANDTHS that give us the edge we need. Man that is a tough deal. But we all dig Erica, and we all pull for her. Don, hit AJ with another grand per weekend if he will brush up against the pro stock cars on the way to Tony's trailer. I bet they run 3-4 hundreths quicker.
Lastly, you guys want to know someone I met that is really cool? NHRA's Rob Geiger. It's true. I had never met the guy, and was introduced to him by Baca at the Sonoma race. We chatted about his days covering stories for the Dallas Cowboys during their superbowl years. Then later in the day, one of our guys from Mach One was riding around on a scooter and the motor seized. Rob saw him, and used his scooter to push him all the way back to our pit. Thats just cool. It was great to meet you Rob, you're a coolio dood.
So that's it for now. Give me some feedback, and I'd love to hear what you have to say on some of these issues.
Piece And Much Respect!
Mike Henkelman
