Dirt
LYLE BARNETT
and , of course , his first 250 mph run .
Barnett knocked out a lot of impressive firsts , showing the poise , precision and talent of a racer who is seemingly ready to thrive in his rookie NHRA Pro Mod season in 2021 .
But with so much on the line during the initial test session and Barnett also wanting to make a good first impression , he was quick to admit his nerves were racing .
“ That morning , I was ready to vomit ,” Barnett says with a laugh . “ This is a big deal and I want to prove I ’ m capable of filling the seat and make everybody here feel like they made the right decision .”
From the first burnout , Elkes and the rest of the team knew they had their guy .
Barnett impressed on that first burnout , making a quick 60-foot pass . He went to the 330 on the next pass , going 3.91 to the eighth mile while not under power .
That was already the quickest he had been to the eighth mile , and he made a couple more passes that first day , eventually letting out at 1000-foot . By then , he was already going 5.80 at 215 mph coasting to the quarter mile , which had Barnett all sorts of excited .
“ It was a huge relief and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders just after making the first 60-foot hit ,” Barnett says . “ It was a very successful way to
start and I think it puts us way ahead of schedule . For a first outing , it really couldn ’ t have gone any better . Justin was really pleased with the progress we made and we ’ re all learning in different areas .”
By the next day , Barnett was making full quarter-mile passes , posting at least a couple of runs in the 5.60s . It was a massive jump forward for Barnett , but he proved to be more than capable of the task .
He went 5.689 at 253.37 before finishing the session with the massive blast of 5.678 at 253.09 . It was a lot to take in over the course of just a few days , but Barnett welcomed it , fully admitting there is still plenty left to learn .
“ The car drives so well , you don ’ t really feel how fast you ’ re going ,” Barnett says . “ But just running to 1,000-feet , it ’ s apparent you ’ re hauling ass . There ’ s a lot to think about and things to try to understand , learning about where you are on the racetrack . It ’ s something I have to continue to learn . I ’ ve never been over 200 [ mph ] before this , so getting comfortable and learning how to drive it is going to take some seat time .”
That may be the case , but Elkes lauded Barnett ’ s ability and attention to detail . He shut off at precisely the exact moments when he was supposed to , showing a natural ability to read the track , which can only bode well for the future .
“ You could tell there just a natural ability to feel a car , reacting to what the car needs without me having to tell him ,” Elkes says . “ I ’ ve worked with a lot of drivers and for someone that green in this class to respond how he did , that tells me there ’ s a lot of natural talent there . It ’ s super exciting .” DI
22 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 164