JIM HALSEY
JIM HALSEY’S life is practically consumed by drag racing. He and
Cathy Crouse, his girlfriend of over 30 years, own and operate
Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Maryland. Around a dozen
weekends a year, they also run Halsey’s Brandon Switzer-tuned,
Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro in PDRA Pro Nitrous and outlaw Pro
Modified events along the East Coast. ¶ Halsey was preparing to defend
his 2019 PDRA Pro Nitrous world championship when the COVID-19 public
health crisis sent the racing world – and the
world in general – into a shutdown. The one
bright side to the extended offseason was the
additional time it gave Halsey to focus on
adapting to Maryland’s ever-changing guidelines
for reopening.
A few days after Halsey opened the 2020
PDRA season with a No. 1 qualifying effort and
semifinal finish at the East Coast Nationals, the
veteran nitrous Pro Modified racer spoke with
Drag IllustrateD about the challenges he’s faced
as a track operator, as well as how he’s looking at
the season as racer.
In dealing with all the regulations as a result
of COVID, what has been the biggest challenge
you’ve faced while trying to reopen and start
getting back to normal operations?
The biggest challenge for me was getting a
game plan together, thinking you’re operating
within your provided guidelines, then at the last
minute getting the rug pulled out from under
you. That happened to me several times. The
governor would post our regulations, then we’d
spend a couple days coming up with a plan to stay
within those regulations. The county would step
in, or the governor would change the guidelines.
What’s the current status there?
We are allowed to have racers and crew only.
We’re limited by physical distancing. No more
than 10 people to a race team. They’re supposed
“THE BIGGEST
CHALLENGE
FOR ME WAS
GETTING A GAME
PLAN TOGETHER,
THINKING YOU’RE
OPERATING WITHIN
YOUR PROVIDED
GUIDELINES, THEN
AT THE LAST MINUTE
GETTING THE RUG
PULLED OUT FROM
UNDER YOU.”
to stay in their pits with each other. We keep
them apart in the staging lanes. Hand sanitizer
throughout the facility. We have designated
people for restroom cleaning, which we did that
anyway. We’re also keeping an eye on the starting
line and keeping it clear of big crowds.
How has this situation forced you to make
changes as a track operator?
Not allowing us to have spectators right now
kind of hurts programs. As far as the racer side
of things, we’ve had to change pricing to cover
costs and it costs the racer more. Once we get to
where we can open up 100 percent, those costs
will go back to normal.
One thing I did do is we usually don’t do live
feeds for our Street Car Shootout events, but this
past weekend at the last minute we put together
a pay-per-view live feed that was about half the
cost of what the general admission would be to
allow spectators to watch some racing.
What was your takeaway from that?
It was received positively. We didn’t get the sales
that we were hoping for, but with a last-minute
program put together like that, that’s not surprising.
Do you plan to continue that for future
events this year?
The ones that would attract more spectators,
we are planning on doing it. Unless we get permission
to open up to spectators. As soon as we
do that, we’ll play it by ear.
[Editor’s note: a few days after this interview,
Halsey announced Cecil County Dragway was
given permission to allow spectators.]
This is your Pro Nitrous championship defense
season. What’s it been like going from
a dominant year to now having to wait until
late May to start the PDRA season at GALOT
Motorsports Park?
To be honest with you, we were spoiled. We had
such a good year last year. We lost in the semifinal
at GALOT because of a loose fuel line. We had a
fast car. That was like a reality check for us. We
were very anxious to get back to racing.
After setting records, winning races and securing
your first major series championship
last year, where does that leave you for 2020
as far as your goals?
Repeat. Defend our title. DI
72 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157