PHOTOS : RICK BELDEN , STEVEN WILSON |
Through the ups and downs of a drag racing career that started in the Junior Dragster ranks , Cassie Simonton has become a most versatile driver and crew member . She ’ s driven and worked on some of the most powerful , ill-handling race cars in drag racing . Her winner ’ s circle experiences have taken place as close as five minutes from home in the cornfields of Brownsburg , Indiana , and as far away as the sandy megastrips of the Middle East . The most recent chapters of Simonton ’ s eclectic career began in 2014 when her driving opportunity in the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car class dried up . She soon received a call from the Lagana brothers to join their Top Fuel team as a clutch assistant and tire specialist at a few races . She picked up the role quickly and was called up to handle the same duties on Bob Vandergriff ’ s Top Fuel dragster . The position on the full-time operation kept Simonton on the scene for a year and a half before the passing of Vandergriff ’ s sponsor , Josh Comstock , forced the longtime team owner to cease operations .
“ It was unfortunate that things had to end the way they did , but I totally understand where Bob was coming from ,” Simonton sympathized . “ Stuff like that happens in racing . There were no hard feelings there . I was able to meet a lot of really cool people , and by the end I was working with Jason McCulloch and Ron Douglas . The hard work has paid off in that I have my name out there now . If something changes , I have opportunities to move around .”
Another door swung wide open when her friend and former competitor , 17-time NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car world champion Frank Manzo , called Simonton to work on the NHRA Pro Mod
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he was tuning and maintaining for Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani and then-driver Von Smith . Just a few races in , the Al-Anabi Performance team won big at the NHRA US Nationals near Indianapolis .
“ When [ BVR ] shut down , Frank was the first person to call . It wasn ’ t at first supposed to be like a full-time job – I was just going to a few races with them on the East Coast and move on . Thankfully , Michelle [ Manzo , Frank ’ s wife ] worked hard to get me on full-time . It ’ s been a
big honor to work with Frank . I ’ ve learned a lot .”
For Simonton , a Minnesota native , another unique aspect of working on the Manzo-led AAP team is the ability to work side-by-side with her fiancé , Mikey Giaffino , who she met in 2012 when he was a primary crew member on Manzo ’ s Al-Anabi alcohol Funny Car . In addition to team mates and engaged couple , the duo can also be described as driver and car owner , as Simonton has been known to get behind the wheel of Giaffino ’ s supercharged Pro Modified Maverick typically driven by Top Fuel pilot Scott Palmer .
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“ A lot of people think we ’ re crazy because we live together and work together , but we both have the same passion for the sport ,” Simonton pointed out . “ We both love working on the cars . It ’ s just our life ; this is what we do . It ’ s cool to be able to experience it all together . This is something we can talk about down the road after we get married , that we were able to work together , work for Frank Manzo and win races . It ’ s been a cool experience .”
One of the cooler experiences for Simonton came over the 2016-2017 offseason . The AAP team was flown over to Qatar to compete in the Arabian Pro Series to contend for a title with teams from several other countries .
“ I never thought I ’ d get to experience racing in the Middle East ,” Simonton admitted . “ Big thanks to KH for bringing me over there . Being able to work with Frank and Michelle and the team , and Moe [ Atat ], who was an excellent driver , was a great experience . We won two races and went to four finals and ended up winning the Arabian Pro Series championship . It came down to the final round at the last race . It was very exciting .”
The 2017 season looks just as promising for Simonton , who clarified she hasn ’ t given up on the driving side of her career , but is focused on her work as a crew member . She ’ ll continue to work alongside Manzo and Giaffino on the AAP 1969 Camaro , this year driven by Mike Castellana .
“ I ’ m still going to be working for KH on the Pro Mod car . Hopefully we ’ ll have a few weekends off so we can take Mikey ’ s car out again and get more experience driving that Pro Mod . Maybe I ’ ll have some other opportunities to drive another car at a couple races if everything works out . Right now I ’ m just going to concentrate on working on this car and doing well .” - NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
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