Drag Illustrated Issue 136, September 2018 | Page 90

SUP E R TU N ER S
Todd Tutterow Pro Mod
G
ood luck trying to take the tuning reigns from Tutte-
row, who has prospered despite taking on every role he can. That’s
just the way he likes it and the track record speaks for itself. But Tut-
terow has also been flexible and open to new ideas, a major rea-
son why he’s stayed relevant and at the top of the heap for decades. It’s also
gone a long way in earning the respect of fellow drivers and legions of fans.
I try to keep an open mind and I’ll try any-
thing. But you have to think out of the box. Just
because you used to do something that way
doesn’t mean it still works. I go off the hip and
adapt, and it’s really gotten easier as far as the
driving because it’s all automated. The tracks
are perfect and that’s the reason the cars have
gotten faster – the tire technology and the track
prep technology.
The torque converters are getting better and
better and the tuning windows open way up. I’m a
clutch guy by heart, but when something is avail-
able and it’s better… If you don’t have it, you’re
at a disadvantage.
For me, it’s a personal satisfaction. I’ve never
had anybody tune my stuff. It’s just a matter of
experience.”
“There are just a few of us (DIY guys) left.
There’s very few of us who drive our trucks, set
up, drive and tune. There’s been enough money
that’s come in the sport that you can buy a car
and pay someone else to do all that.
I’ve been doing it for years. I tune my own car
because I drive it and I also tune other people’s
car. That’s something I’ve always done, basically
do everything but paint the car.
Yeah, it may be a dying breed. There are very
few people that can still do it all. Brad Personett
is one. There’s a few left, but teams have got-
ten bigger.
It’s such a long process to pick up stuff, gain
that knowledge and learn, and continue to add
to it. It has gotten more specialized and there’s
so much technology involved.
Rick Jones Pro Stock
T
he noted car builder is also a top crew chief f or Elite
Performance, making the calls on Erica Enders’ two Pro Stock world champi-
onships. But there’s nothing DIY about Pro Stock these days. Instead, it’s like a
2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that must be put together every hour several times a
weekend. Having it all click is never easy, but getting it to do so is part of the thrill for Jones.
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The driver comes back and also tells you things
and you have to tie it all together and make a
decision. You make a list on every run and you
make the best, educated guess you can.
At this level, that’s a lot of pressure, so you
have to have a really good group of people, a good
core of people. Everyone works well together.
Everything has to jive together. The engine guy
has to believe in the crew chief, and we have to
pull from everybody.
Ultimately, drag racing is about grip. The hotter
it is, the less grip it has, so when the track gets hot
that goes away. When the track is hot, you have
to put more bite in the car. If you go up there and
it’s 85 degrees, you may pick up 50-80 pounds of
grip. The rubber gets tighter and you can’t go up
there with the same amount of bite because your
car can have too much grip and be slow.
It’s all about grip and how much available
grip the track has to how much bite you have
in your car.”
“It’s definitely very sophisticated anymore, es-
pecially with the EFI stuff. You’ve got an engine
tuner, an engine guy who does all the mainte-
nance, a clutch guy, a back half guy and so on.
When we come back after a run, there’s a lot going
on, and Rickie (Jones, Rick’s son) and me look
at all the data.
EFI has made it more difficult. You have a tuner
just for that. It didn’t really used to be that way. It
has gotten way more sophisticated. There’s more
data, more things to pay attention to and more
things to watch.
After we come back from a run we’re always
tuning to the track because the car changes. The
racetrack gives you ‘X’ amount of grip. When it’s
good you make changes, when it’s bad you make
changes. That means you have to work on trans-
mission ratios, clutch, get the optimum power
to the rear and you need really good notes. It’s
very hard. You have to have a lot of experience
to know what to do.
Issue 136