[coverattach=1]Sandahl and Dennison prepared for what will be their toughest season yet
Hanson, Ma – As Winter slowly turns to spring in Massachusetts, drag racers are putting the final touches on their equipment for the 2009 season. Jon Sandahl of Tube Chassis Designz racing is pulling double duty.
Sandahl is the owner of Tube Chassis Designz, the successful Hanson, Ma based chassis fabrication shop. Business this winter has been good. “It’s great helping the local racers get their cars back on track for the coming season, but it doesn’t leave a lot of time for my own stuff,” Sandahl said with a laugh. “That being said, we’re going to be ready for 2009 and we plan on mounting a strong defense of our title.”
The road will not be an easy one as the points battle in the Wild Street category that Jon won in 2008 was tight and basically came down to the last race in order for him to win the championship. “The competition has improved ever year, I cannot remember making one easy lap in all of 2008,” Sandahl remembered.
Competing in the explosively popular Outlaw Racing 10.5 tire program at New England Dragway, Jon’s title came in the Wild Street division which is a heads up class that limits its competitors to a maximum elapsed time of 8.5 seconds. This design is in place to promote lots of close racing and also to keep a control on costs.
“Racing the series here at New England Dragway has its own unique challenges,” Jon said. “Jeff Prock at Applied Nitrous Technology deserves a lot of credit for helping us nail the setup on this car through the year. When we start the season the weather is anywhere from 40-50 degrees, it will spike in the 80-90 range through the summer and be back down in the 40’s by the end of the season. To have this car making the power that it does, as consistently as it does through that range of conditions speaks volumes to his ability.”
The competition and camaraderie is first class in this style of racing. “The racers who participate in the different classes involved in the Outlaw Racing program are all grassroots racers,” Sandahl said. “We’re all people who work hard and have had made our own way in both business and drag racing. These cars are the results of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. We’re all friends in the pits but man, once we’re on the track, it’s all business.”
Like any good racer, Sandahl has a great team of supporters and sponsors behind him. He’s not shy about sharing their names either, “There are so many great people who I work with on supporting our team, it would have been impossible for us to win a title without their help. Fred Brown of FB Transmissions builds incredible, bomb-proof units. Mike Becker at Harland Sharp, has been a great help as well. Bill Trovato of BTR performance built our maintenance free 555ci Big Block Chevy and there’s Jim Sartori, his contributions and support have really been immeasurable over the years.”
When the orange, nitrous huffing Nova cranks up in the coming weeks, the rest of the field better be ready. These guys are coming back with their game faces on and their guns loaded. Could it be a repeat in the making?
Hanson, Ma – As Winter slowly turns to spring in Massachusetts, drag racers are putting the final touches on their equipment for the 2009 season. Jon Sandahl of Tube Chassis Designz racing is pulling double duty.
Sandahl is the owner of Tube Chassis Designz, the successful Hanson, Ma based chassis fabrication shop. Business this winter has been good. “It’s great helping the local racers get their cars back on track for the coming season, but it doesn’t leave a lot of time for my own stuff,” Sandahl said with a laugh. “That being said, we’re going to be ready for 2009 and we plan on mounting a strong defense of our title.”
The road will not be an easy one as the points battle in the Wild Street category that Jon won in 2008 was tight and basically came down to the last race in order for him to win the championship. “The competition has improved ever year, I cannot remember making one easy lap in all of 2008,” Sandahl remembered.
Competing in the explosively popular Outlaw Racing 10.5 tire program at New England Dragway, Jon’s title came in the Wild Street division which is a heads up class that limits its competitors to a maximum elapsed time of 8.5 seconds. This design is in place to promote lots of close racing and also to keep a control on costs.
“Racing the series here at New England Dragway has its own unique challenges,” Jon said. “Jeff Prock at Applied Nitrous Technology deserves a lot of credit for helping us nail the setup on this car through the year. When we start the season the weather is anywhere from 40-50 degrees, it will spike in the 80-90 range through the summer and be back down in the 40’s by the end of the season. To have this car making the power that it does, as consistently as it does through that range of conditions speaks volumes to his ability.”
The competition and camaraderie is first class in this style of racing. “The racers who participate in the different classes involved in the Outlaw Racing program are all grassroots racers,” Sandahl said. “We’re all people who work hard and have had made our own way in both business and drag racing. These cars are the results of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. We’re all friends in the pits but man, once we’re on the track, it’s all business.”
Like any good racer, Sandahl has a great team of supporters and sponsors behind him. He’s not shy about sharing their names either, “There are so many great people who I work with on supporting our team, it would have been impossible for us to win a title without their help. Fred Brown of FB Transmissions builds incredible, bomb-proof units. Mike Becker at Harland Sharp, has been a great help as well. Bill Trovato of BTR performance built our maintenance free 555ci Big Block Chevy and there’s Jim Sartori, his contributions and support have really been immeasurable over the years.”
When the orange, nitrous huffing Nova cranks up in the coming weeks, the rest of the field better be ready. These guys are coming back with their game faces on and their guns loaded. Could it be a repeat in the making?
