PARTY IN THE PITS
es, and the “WoodyMart” coolers are al-
TEAM BUILDING
ways fully stocked. “We may run out of
Some of the best teams in drag racing are made up of people
race fuel or engine parts, but we NEV-
who can work together seamlessly under pressure, but also let
loose and have fun with each other once the day’s racing is over.
ER run out of beer!” boasted Woody.
Parked alongside his teammates Micke
and Carter, the two rigs combine for
the ultimate chill experience.
Woody’s crew chief, Brent Sansoucie,
is known for being a larger-than-life
personality, even when sober. “Get
a 30-pack in him, and he’s ready to
call out anyone right then and there,”
laughed Woody, who hails from the St.
Louis region and is loyal to the Anheus-
er-Busch family of beers. “Brent’s good
at letting his ass override his mouth
when it comes to talkin’ smack, with
or without booze.”
From grassroots racing to the high-
est level of the sport, being able to
kick back and enjoy a job well done
(or make a frustrating day suck a little
less) is an important part of the agenda.
For working-class hero and NHRA Top
Fuel driver Scott Palmer, maintaining
one’s sanity is essential.
His crew, nicknamed the “Nitro
Rebels” because they
stick to their guns and
do things their own way,
are nothing but serious
when it comes to rac-
ing. “We’ve got a great
group of people and
friends, and we make
sure to keep the fun
factor alive and not let
business take over,” he
explained. “If you don’t
love to drag race, you
can’t be on our team.
We have to work twice
as hard as a Kalitta car
or a Force car because
we’re still a fairly small
group, and there’s not a lot of party time running
a fuel car, but, after-hours, we try to get a little
socializing in.”
In his rare moments of down time, Palmer
watches boat racing on a television mounted on
the side of his trailer. In his cooler is “the cheap
stuff,” Keystone Light, because he prefers to save
his money for parts. One of Palmer’s dogs even
gets in on the action, as he likes to chill out –
literally – by sitting inside the cooler. Lastly, a
at home.
special bottle of Norwegian liquor (a gift from
Ironically, it’s “Drink Hard Racing” driver
fellow driver Thomas Nataas) sits unopened, and
the guys plan to crack into it to celebrate their
Tommy DeLago who has quite an intellectual
first 3.70-second elapsed time.
perspective on partying. “Being competitive and
“We’ll stand around hanging out with fans, having fun, one is actually a byproduct of the
and we’ve made a ton of friends over a cold beer. other. You go somewhere to kick ass and with
We’ve even met some of our sponsors that way, the amount of work you put in, and the stress on
and that’s our favorite thing – people being able
yourself, you drive yourself to the point where you
to come here and just hang out because we’re
have to have a drink to relax your brain enough
still normal guys who just happen to be stand- to be able to make good decisions the next day,
otherwise you’ll just burn yourself out trying so
ing behind the rope,” added Palmer, who spent
hard all the time. You need to have some kind of
his pre-racing days painting cars in his garage
vice to relax,” shared the man who races his ’67
Nova and sponsors Bob Malloy’s Nitro Harley as
well as Alex Hays’s Ultra Street Mustang.
The ridiculously competitive environment of
racing goes hand-in-hand with cutting loose and
having a few cocktails. Relaxing becomes a nec-
essary evil, and spending time with “track family”
is all just a part of the program. The teams that
are in it for the long-haul have got the strategy
figured out, and DeLago nailed it when he said,
“it’s not about the equipment you have or what’s in
your cooler, it’s about the people you’re with.”
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“PART OF BEING COMPETITIVE IS THAT YOU
ALSO HAVE TO HAVE FUN. RACE HARD, PLAY
HARD - THAT’S HOW WE DO IT.” SAID STANLEY.