A Great Start to the Countdown for Spencer Massey

Heading into the 2011 Countdown to the Championship, Spencer Massey was 3rd in points with 3 wins and 5 final round appearances. Once the points were reset after Indy, he was 50 points behind Del Worsham. Fast forward to today and Spencer is now the points leader with a 65 point lead over Antron Brown after 3 countdown races. You might be asking how he was able to accomplish a 115 point swing in such a short period of time. The answer is that he’s won a race and has been to all 3 finals in the countdown. Spencer’s path to the points lead has been impressive. Along the way, he’s steadily been beating the best of the best. Here is brief summary of Spencer’s incredible run so far:

• In Charlotte, Spencer beat perennial powerhouse Larry Dixon in the semifinals, but came up short to Antron Brown in the finals. Following Charlotte, Spencer was in 2nd place just 16 points behind Antron Brown.
• In Dallas, Spencer’s path to the finals included beating Al-Anabi powerhouse Del Worsham in the 2nd round and his DSR teammate Antron Brown in the semifinals. With his win over Antron, he took over the points lead. Spencer smoked the tires in the final round and handed Bob Vandergriff his first ever top fuel win.
• In Reading, a race I personally attended, Spencer broke through with his first countdown win of 2011. To achieve the win, he had to beat 7X champion Tony Schumacher in the 2nd round, Larry Dixon in the semifinals and Del Worsham in the finals. He had a bracket car pretty much all weekend, running a steady stream of 3.77s. In the finals, Del Worsham ran the quickest ever ET with a 3.735. Spencer ran a 3.770 and yet still came away with the win on a holeshot! At the end of the event, Spencer increased his lead to 65 points over Antron Brown.

At this point, Spencer has to be considered the favorite to win the championship. He’s had the most consistent car in the countdown and if it continues, he will walk away with the Top Fuel championship in just his 2nd year as an NHRA driver. Besides having a consistent car, Spencer is the best leaver in top fuel and usually averages around a .060 light.

While Spencer is a great driver, it takes an entire team of people to be successful. These are the guys behind Spencer’s success:

• Todd Okuhara – Crew Chief
• Phil Shuler – Crew Chief
• Scott Okuhara – Car Chief
• Tom Boyington – Mechanic
• Mike Knudsen – Mechanic
• Shane Boyington – Mechanic
• Justin Jones – Mechanic
• David McCombs – Mechanic
• Jason Jones – Mechanic
• Jay Ryskey – Mechanic
• Last but not least, you cannot forget about all of the people back in the DSR shop that manufacture the best parts and pieces

I had the pleasure of talking to Spencer and watching him race at 4 events this year. He is a true professional at driving a race car, interacting with fans and at conducting himself in interviews. He has great respect for the sport and his organization. He refers to his team owner as “Mr. Schumacher”, which reminds me of when the great Derek Jeter refers to his team owner as “Mr. Steinbrenner. Overall, Spencer is a class act and would be a great person to represent NHRA as a top fuel champion.

Spencer, Steven and I on Saturday October 1st at the Uni-Select Auto Plus NHRA Nationals